Over 70 million Americans have been arrested. If you only rent to tenants with sparklingly clean backgrounds, you may find yourself limited when it comes time to fill vacancies. While many landlords are hesitant to rent to people who have spent time behind bars, it's worthwhile to do you research and ensure you're not infringing on a person's right to housing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is committed to protecting a felon's right to rent a place to live. While you're certainly allowed to ask about an applicant's arrest history, denying a person solely because of their criminal background could land you in court.
At the same time, you want to factor your current residents' safety when considering renting to someone with a criminal background. Consider asking applicants with a record to write out the circumstances surrounding their arrest, trial and sentencing. Not only will you learn more details about whether the crime was a violent one, you'll also have a written record to point to showing that you at least attempted to be understanding of their background. Blanket policies forbidding felons are sure to land you in legal hot water, after all. If your community is home to families with children, your hands may be tied. Those who are registered on the sex offenders list may not live near children, giving you the freedom to deny their application outright. The best way to handle a felon who wants to live in your community? Develop your policy before they apply. Don't wait to cross the bridge when you come to it. Create a policy in writing that lists your preferences for those with a criminal history. Perhaps you're willing to rent to those with drug or other non-violent crimes on their background check, but you draw the line at murder or assault. Wherever you draw the line, make it clear before you have an applicant show up eager to rent from you. Keep an open mind when considering felon tenants. If a person has a recent clean history and has managed to keep down a stable job, they may very well be a fine tenant. Still, always bear the safety of your other tenants in mind when making such a decision. - Scott Safadi, Cal Bay Property Mangement
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Hoarders have been the source of fascinating reality television shows for years. While it's one thing to watch a person confront their mental health challenges, it's another thing entirely to be their landlord. In many cases, the tenants are lovely people who struggle with serious mental health issues. While you might not be a mental health expert, you likely recognize that the problem is bigger than you are. Cal Bay Property Management's Scott Safadi recommends handling such challenges with sensitivity and empathy. With that said, however, hoarding often results in serious property damage. If you're eager to protect your investment, you simply can't turn a blind eye to the potential breach of your lease. In many cases, you may have the grounds to evict a person who is unwilling to change their habits. Anyone blocking entrances and exits, interfering with the sprinkler or HVAC system, or keeping old food that could attract mice and roaches is definitely worth considering evicting. Of course, sometimes you'll just have to deal with housing dirty tenants. If their mess isn't directly impacting your rental or other tenants, you'll likely have to put up with the way they choose to keep their living space. If you're eager to make a plan, though, consider documenting a problem tenant's ongoing choices. Also keep track of any warning letters or written complaints you send to such tenants. They'll come in handy should you need to build a case against them. Perhaps the kindest option when dealing with a hoarding tenant is to offer your support and assist them in getting the mental health treatment they need. Not everyone is open to changing their ways, but talking with their loved ones and family members about your concerns is also a good idea. Offer help finding professional help and a cleaning service who can help get the ball rolling on a cleaner lifestyle. However you choose to help hoarding tenants, doing so with grace and kindness can ensure a bad situation doesn't make a turn for the worse. While hoarders may be hard to sympathize with, they deserve your respect and understanding. They do not, however, deserve to damage your property. Finding a balance between these two ideas can be difficult, but strike the right balance and everyone can win. - Scott Safaid, Cal Bay Property Management If you've worked in the property management world for some time, you've likely seen blog posts and news articles about the best ways to avoid bad tenants. There are countless pieces online about techniques to weed out the bad tenants from your stack of applicants, but few articles get to the real heart of the issue: simply put, bad landlords attract bad tenants.
That's not to say, of course, that even the best landlords don't sometimes encounter bad tenants. Cal Bay Property Management's Scott Safadi acknowledges that even the most experienced of property managers can allow bad tenants to slip under their radar on occasion. The reality is, though, that most seasoned landlords know that you get out what you put in. Bad Landlords Fail to Do Their Homework The easiest way to prevent bad tenants from moving in is to do a thorough background check on each applicant before approving their move in date. Bad tenants don't appear from out of nowhere, and chances are good they'll have a poor credit score, history of misbehavior at other properties and a job history that's full of short-term positions. While none of these warning signs is necessarily proof that someone will be a bad tenant, they are certainly red flags about whether a person is responsible or not. Fail to do your background checks and thoroughly vet your tenants and you could be inviting a bad tenant to move into your community. Once the lease is signed, it's a long year ahead to contend with them. Bad Landlords Ignore Tenant Requests When a tenant makes a request, reasonable or unreasonable, a good landlord hears them out and offers them a solution or a denial. Either way, tenants need explanations for your decisions or they'll feel powerless and not heard. This sense of powerlessness can lead to general apathy about where they live. Good tenants, on the other hand, take care of their living space because they like and respect their landlords. They want to keep their home nice for their own purposes, but also because they want to respect your property and by extension, you. Bad Landlords Look the Other Way Attention to detail can get you far as a landlord, but failure to pay enough attention can land you in hot water with your tenants. Whether you have laziness or the fact that you just aren't detail-oriented to blame, bad landlords who look the other way on tenant violations create more trouble for themselves. - Scott Safadi, Cal Bay Property Management Welcoming a new tenant to your community can be one of the most fun experiences you'll have as a property manager. You get to show off all that you've worked hard to help build and make a person or family comfortable in their new home. Unfortunately, this exciting time can also be a stressful one for both new tenants and property managers. Scott Safadi of Cal Bay Property Management recommends property managers follow these best practices to ensure the smoothest possible onboarding process.
Work from a new tenant checklist There's nothing like a handy checklist to ensure you're accomplishing everything you need to do to get a new tenant moved in to your property. A simple list of bullet points with details on what you need to take care of before move-in day can help you streamline an otherwise stressful experience. So what goes on your checklist? That depends greatly on the amount of screening you opt into, how many steps are involved in the move-in process and how in-depth your lease may be. Be sure to include any prep work you might need to take care of in the unit before move in day. Make repairs Even when the previous tenant leaves a unit sparkling clean and as good as the day they moved in, chances are good that they overlooked something minor. The worst way to begin a relationship with a new tenant, though, is to move them in somewhere less than stellar. Before handing over the keys, do a thorough walk through of the apartment. Look for an hint of a problem and address it immediately. While many property managers include this kind of inspection in their move-out procedures, fewer go through as thorough a process when moving a new tenant in. Go through the lease with the tenant Ideally, you and your tenants will always see eye to eye about their time living in your unit. Realistically, even the most laid back tenants will try to push your rules in one way or another. Even if they put up a fight, they won't have a leg to stand on if your policies are clearly spelled out in your lease. - Scott Safadi, Cal Bay Property Management |
AuthorScott Safadi leverages extensive experience in the real estate industry to serve as the CEO of Cal Bay Property Management (CBPM), which he founded in Palo Alto, California. Archives
January 2020
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