A Question

Discussion in 'Landlord & Rental Property Questions' started by dianethare, Jul 20, 2014.

  1. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    My Agent called me yesterday, told me he has a tenant but the tenant has some rules that i ought to abide by;

    {Take to note that the house has a lot of repair work required/renovation as i had stated in another thread and funds are low so my aim was to rent out the way it is and whatever rent i get, i spruce it up slowly}

    1..he is a neat guy so the same will go for the property
    2..has a small family {as in children are small}, where he is staying currently, he is comfortable, thereby if he is to coming stay in my house, he requires a contract of 6yrs before he is evicted
    3...he does all the repair work, note the rent is not alot for starters...$100 per month...out of this, a part goes to the agent, another part goes to the repairs and i get the pennies :(
    4...as for the repairs he does them how he sees fit not what i say
    5...the way the agent spoke is like he's really siding with this guy....felt like professionalism is being side-kicked...

    Its a catch 22...desperation can lead one to making regretful mistakes and am down that road {note the previous tenant, requested to do the same repairs, he never did}....another query is it the work of a tenant to do repairs or the landlord?

    Share your thoughts and point out the red flags that i may be so blinded to see...I will greatly appreciate :)
     
  2. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    Oh my... Maybe others will have different ideas from mine, but a few things you said raised red flags for me. The first thing was the tenant having rules... say what? Tenants don't get to make the rules. Yes, the house should be up to standard, but a potential tenant doesn't get to make rules and boss the landlord around. I'd think your property manager would have known that and turned this potential renter down!

    But even more than that... a 6 year lease?! SIX years? No way does that sound like a good idea.

    I never even heard of something like this. Never once.

    It would be the responsibility of the landlord to keep the property repaired and safe. Sometimes tenants will help with repairs for a reduction in that month's rent, but with the rent already being so low, I'm not sure that's a good idea in this case.

    Keep in mind that my answers are just from my own experience. With the rent you mentioned, I'm thinking maybe your property is in another part of the world, so perhaps things like tenants making demands are more common in your area.

    Seriously, though, even if you live where tenants are able to make these rules, your biggest red flag should be that 6 year thing. Is that common? I'd not lock myself into a possibly bad tenant for more than a year.
     
  3. Determined2014

    Determined2014 Guest

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    That is your property first of all, so you get to make the rules, the two of you can come to an agreement but you do not have to abide with the tenants rules, six year lease agreement ? only agree to it if he terms on the lease state that you as the owner of the property can terminate the lease anytime you want to.
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2014
  4. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    @ Kate...tenants are subject to rules given out by the landlord where i live, this is someone trying to trick, manipulate and take advantage of my current situation, its a good thing that the whole situation played out itself the way it did because the agent is as good as fired, i mean once you throw professionalism out of the window like that, what are we going to be talking about?...true colors have been shown. :(...am fed up!! Thank you so much for your helpful input/advice Kate...i 'm grateful :).
     
  5. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    Reading the fine print...both the tenant and agent wanted to blind me up, i had put up that notion{what you are suggesting Determined2014} but he refused, he wants everything done as par his terms, it can't work, someone i 'm more mad at though is the agent, because the tenant is his friend so professionalism can be sidelined and friendship to be favored...this is a business not a playground...boy, ain't i boiling right now:mad:
     
  6. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    I'm so sorry to hear that you have these terrible problems with tenants (and your manager :() Diane. I am glad to hear that you caught on in time and fired him, though. Working with a friend to take advantage of you... totally unprofessional and unacceptable.

    You're welcome for the input. I just wish there would be something we could do to help you find a good tenant and put all of this bad stuff behind you.
     
  7. ReinbachThe3rd

    ReinbachThe3rd Active Member

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    I REALLY dislike the idea of a tenant doing repairs unless they're trained and qualified to do so. There's a lot of 'handymen' out there that think they know what's wrong and then you get a call at dinner that there's a water pipe busted out. Who knows if this guy is good or he's just going to do stopgap fixes that turn into very expensive problems when he's gone?

    If he's a trained electrician and wants to do some wiring/repairs on electrical stuff? Sure okay. If it's just some yahoo who wants to play Tim the toolman Taylor? No way.
     
  8. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    I don't know Kate...sometimes i feel like i jumped from the frying pan into the fire, he doesn't yet know he's fired, i set up a meeting with him tomorrow and will call it a wrap...turns out he{agent} is colluding with the former tenant...he is the main henchman in the above stupid idea, again to the authorities tomorrow...i 'm so tired :(...i wish too i was in your area...maybe use your property manager...and make this nightmare go away...anyway let me see how it goes...fingers crossed.
     
  9. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    I borrowed a leaf from a relative of mine on the same issue, he explained that repair work is solely the work of the Landlord not some stranger from anywhere...the Landlord hires a repair man that he deems fit to do the repair work at hand but someone here feels that they are entitled to do whatever they see fit with a property that doesn't belong to them, i think not :(...thank you ReinbachThe3rd for your input :)
     
  10. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    How did this meeting go for you? Corruption just gets its nasty claws into everything, doesn't it? :(
     

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