Does anyone have property they rent out? Or have experience dealing with renters in general?

My boyfriend is renting out his 4 bedroom house by the room while he's in Hawaii. I've been the 'landlady' while he's gone, collecting rent and whatnot. We're starting to run into some problems. We're new to renting out property and I admit we made some mistakes that we're paying for now.

Would like to start out with some tips before I go into all the details of the issues we're having. It's likely that my house would be rented out and we'd buy a place downtown or in Austin at some point. Given that, I'd like to get a better handle on this!

Is it better to manage yourself or pay a company to do it for you?

Just a preview of some of the issues we've run into

- renter gives 30 days notice then doesn't pay up, we had the deposit but that doesn't cover utilities. find out from the other 2 guys that the dude is still staying there so we had to change the locks (another $100 gone). dude shut off his phone, won't return any phone or email contact. why would he? he got a free place to live for a month

- one of the guys in the house is an absolute idiot. he's more trouble than he's worth and is always disputing the utility bills. i dont know how this is possible! the set up is that the utilities are in my bfs name and i send them copies of the bills and what the split is (usually 3 ways or 2 depending on how many people are living there. bf maintains the smallest bedroom in the house for his stuff). this guy has moved to a different room in the house (master) and now that his old room is empty he wants to move back into it to save money.

i don't have the time to fuck with the rental and i'd prefer to pay someone.

halp!


[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 8:15 PM. Reason : djf]

4/21/2010 8:14:01 PM

When I just got out of law school...and heck, even now because of the economy nobody can pay rent....I felt like all I did was small landlord/tenant shit. So I guess I have a decent amount of advice to give.

First two things you MUST DO. This might seem trivial, but tons of first time landlords don't do these two things: (1) Make them sign a lease and (2) Make them give you a security deposit. Make sure it's a good lease. Have a lawyer friend draw one up for you for a small fee or just check over one. And the security deposit allows you to kick those fuckers out as soon as you're allowed and at least have a month's rent covered. Lots of kids will try to stick around and pay rent if they know they won't get that security deposit back.

Most of this stuff can be avoided by making sure you rent out to dependable people. Make sure you check their references (I would make it so they have to list at least two landlords, but if they're college-aged, one would be fine). If their past landlord has one bad thing to say about their payments, then decline them. The majority of these college kids just don't get it. Run credit checks if you can.

Scare the shit out of them. A friend of mine had me talk to a couple of his renters a few months ago after he had gotten burned by his past renters. I pretty much went in there and said this..."Pay your rent guys. It's that easy. If you don't, you'll be kicked out as quick as possible in a legal way (then I would show them South Carolina Landlord/Tenant Law that showed how quick they could be evicted). Then I'll take you to small claims court and get everything you owe your landlord. Then you'll have to pay court costs and reasonable attorney's fees, which will probably be around $150 an hour. If you can't pay at the time, then you'll have a judgment against you that will be attached to you until you pay it. Even if you finally pay it, your credit will be fucked and it will be impossible for you to ever get a loan or buy a house in this economy. So just pay your fucking rent." And those kids pay their rent about a week early every month.

You can also get their parents to co-sign their lease. This way the parent's are liable if the kids can't pay.

By the way...all this might not mean anything if landlord/tenant law in Texas is that much different...but most states are pretty similar. Find the landlord/tenant in Texas and read over and be sure what your rights are as a landlord. Highlight them and show them to your tenants before they sign the lease. Make sure that they know you mean business. But you really just need to be picky with your tenants. Sit down with them, get to know them, let them know how you're invested in the property and that you will be on their asses if they don't pay. At the same time, if they're good tenants, then you'll be a great landlord. You put a little extra time in the beginning, and you won't have to worry so much during the tenancy.

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 8:56 PM. Reason : .]

4/21/2010 8:54:31 PM

this is the kicker.. we have security deposits & leases on everyone

the regret, didn't run background checks or reference checks

the worst of it, is the terrible renter the one who pays late every month and is a total dick fart, actually lived with my bf before he moved to hawaii! i never liked the dude. he is constantly calling my bf complaining about stuff. he called and said he smelled something. umm ok. so i went over there and big surprise the place is a wreck and the toilet isnt even flushed! how the fuck do you call and say "something stinks" when the place is a pig stye!?!?

i want to kick the dude out and start doing it right with background checks and reference checks. unfortunately we need the rent money for the mortgage especially since one room has been sitting unrented for 2 months and we're out all the utilities and key change on that one

i do agree, we need a more legally sound agreement that abides by the texas laws. we're using some microsoft word agreement.

spring is here and i KNOW we're going to have trouble with this fucker mowing the lawn and shit (which is in his agreement)

4/21/2010 9:01:24 PM

I tried to look up the Landlord/Tenant Law online, but apparently they are one of the few states that doesn't offer it. You have to ask for some sort of handbook/pamphlet. You need to get your hands on that.

Once you do...grab that and find the shit that shows you can evict that "dickfart." Go online (or not online, the way Texas rolls) and find out how to file an eviction notice. Fill it out (don't file it) and take that along with the handbook/pamphlet with the proper laws highlighted and show the renter that you will evict him if he doesn't start paying his bills on time and start taking care of the house. I know you say that you need him as a renter, but you'd also probably be better off getting him out of the place, cleaning it up, and finding another renter as soon as possible. But I can almost promise you that it will scare him into actually paying bills on time and cleaning up a bit. He'll probably be able to find another place to rent about as easy as you'll be able to find a renter to replace him. So his only option might be to shape up.

That's just what I would do. It sounds like you've found your problem though. Gotta be more picky with renters.

4/21/2010 9:10:59 PM

i like where your head is at. i will definitely look into that

i think this guy doesn't see a problem with the way he lives. my bfs dad went over to investigate a "rat" problem (which ended up just wasting his time since there was no proof) and the dude had a fucking shit laying in the toilet

wtf.

hes just a dirty human being. the house doesn't even have a vacuum cleaner in it. trust me, i think everyone is getting evicted when my bf comes back next month and sees that i was in fact NOT exaggerating and how gross the place is.

thanks for the tips and attempting to look up the texas law. i have a laywer friend here, i'll see if she can dig up some stuff for me since she'll know where to look!

4/21/2010 9:45:55 PM

Use a roommate agreement and make them jointly and severably liable for rent.

+1 for the parents cosigning. At the very least, get the parents' contact info (next of kin/emergency contact) so you can tell them how retarded their kid is being.

4/21/2010 10:34:12 PM

we're dealing with young professionals, not people who rely on mom and dad for rent money

i'd like to rent the house to a family and just have to worry about dealing with one person who is locked into a 12 month agreement. current deal is month to month so my bf has the freedom to kick people out w 30 day notice

4/21/2010 10:49:46 PM

Quote :

"current deal is month to month so my bf has the freedom to kick people out w 30 day notice"

You can do a year lease and still kick people out with 30-days notice.

You really need to grab that handbook/pamphlet on Texas landlord/tenant law before you start to rent again. It will help you immensely when you go in to talk with future rents. Because I promise you they have no idea what their rights as tenants are.

4/21/2010 10:56:47 PM

you're right. im going to get on that

right after i get back from vacation next week (leaving tomorrow)

4/21/2010 11:02:26 PM

Kicking these guys out and getting new tenants with the bills in their own name will go a long way towards simplifying your issues. If you know these guys are bums you're only burning yourself by continuing to deal with them. Plus it will give you the opportunity to set up proper lease/deposit agreements and check references.

4/23/2010 9:04:46 AM

you have to have a solid lease, this includes conventions on state of the unit, how clean it is, carpet cleaning/replacement, repairing/repainting etc. make it known that this comes out of the security deposit and you can and will pursue them for additional damages if it exceeds the amount of the deposit.

make sure you do background and credit checks (employment checks etc)

pretty much what everyone else has been saying


make them take the utilities in their own name, all of them.

4/23/2010 3:21:00 PM