I have never bothered. I have always made sure that the properties were internet-ready - ie, with up to date cabling but in my experience, people in this country prefer to do the leg work themselves, in order to get the best deal. Sometimes a bundled deal can be a much cheaper option for the tenant.
As a landlord myself I don't the idea of providing such an additional service. It's not an essential and if a tenant wants it then I feel a tenant should sign for it in their own name. But I don't pay for other utilities either so it would be in keeping with that policy.
When it comes to rental properties, the more you offer, the more you can charge but internet is a bit much. You may run into circumstances that require a tech or someone may download a file that is corrupt or illegal, leaving you responsible because they are looking at the IP address for the internet and it would be your name listed on the service. If a tenant wants internet added to their rent I could see maybe adding an extra fee with an extra contract.
Why have you decided not to pay utilities? I can understand not paying internet, but isn't it much easier for prospective tenants if they already have all the basic utility contracts when moving in? Saves them a lot of trouble and that alone probably would allow you to raise the rent a tiny bit higher than what rent + utilities were if paid separately.
You have no obligation to pay a previous tenets bills and if you show that you are a new resident then they legally cannot deny you service. Especially since the FCC just did everything but classify internet as Title 2. I've had this issue before and all I had to do was take my id to the company and another bill proving I got mail at that address. Don't let the corps fool you into crap like this. It might be their "policy", but "law" trumps policy EVERY time.
Mmmm, interesting post! Um, It depends, I think the landlord does not have a right to provide internet service. However, if there is internet service available at the time the lease agreement had begun, I suppose that the landlord and tenant can negotiate to have a "supply clause" in the lease agreement. Secondly, the landlord should also make it known that any breach of internet laws by the tenant will be the tenant's sole responsibility. This is only sensible as the tenant is his/her own person, notwithstanding the relationship that the tenant and the landlord shares- it would be ludicrous if a landlord is prosecuted for the crimes of his tenant, provided that the landlord did not play a part in it's doing.
This is absolutely the truth. Most times a company tries this, they can get away with it so long as you agree to take on the debt. The reason they'll try it is because the previous tenant has proven to be difficult to track down or get payments from, and they'll recoup payment in any way because God himself forbid that they lose even ten cents worth of potential profit. If you have the option, inform the company trying this that you'll be signing with their competitor and further attempt to coerce you to pay someone else's debt will result in legal action.
All I have are houses and duplexes with a minimum one year lease, so I never even considered it. Now if I had a 100 unit complex that caters to short term tenants, I'd think about it.
Meh, it seems like an unnecessary hassle. I have rented dozens of places myself, and internet has never been on the table, except for maybe large apartment complexes with close quarters. It doesn't seem like the kind of addition that would tip a person considering renting in the direction of signing a lease, its just not the kind of thing that would be worth the hassle to attract a good renter. Most people understand its their responsibility to get their own internet. Personally, I hate it when big apartment complexes include "free cable" because I don't watch TV at all, but I know I'm paying for that expense in my rent each month that I don't even use.
Offer it as a freebie and then have a router with wifi, setup a separate account for each user. If the tenenant wants to avail of the internet then have him sign a contract that he agrees he will not break laws etc. That way if the tenenant does something illegal, the landlord is off the hook. This is similar to ISPs who might be subletting internet connections from a bigger ISP.
