As a Lake Elsinore landlord, finding the right resident to rent out your property is the most vital step in leasing, and you need to spend significant time checking references and income and performing background checks. However, irrespective of how much due diligence you perform, you may still encounter issues with residents. Here are some of the top five things residents try tricking landowners with.
Paying Rent
The first is not paying rent on time. Residents will try to exploit landlords and come up with excuses for why they have not timely paid their rent. Popular excuses vary from “I’m waiting for my paycheck from work to come in” to “You haven’t repaired damages in the house, so I shouldn’t have to pay rent until they are fixed.” The best way to prevent these excuses is to keep records of rent collection so your residents can never claim they paid you when they have not, always stay up to date on crucial repairs on your property, and keep up with routine evaluations of the property to make sure everything is running smoothly.
Extra Occupants
Next, residents try to get away with a person living at the property who is not on the lease. A lot of people rent in areas where they know people or have friends, which is not an issue until your resident has a friend living with him or her you had no idea about. If someone is staying at the property and isn’t on the lease, various problems could arise, from damaged property to noise complaints. The best way to keep this from happening is to make sure to include in the lease that no other person may live in the property except those on the lease and that failure to comply will result in eviction.
Furry Friends
The third thing residents try to get away with is having pets in a “no pet policy” property. Many residents will wait weeks or even months after moving in to try and sneak a pet into the property without the consent of the landlord and without paying a pet fee. Avoid this by maintaining regular evaluations on your property and checking whether any pets have appeared.
Accidental Damages
The fourth thing is damages. Accidents happen and items break, but who ends up paying for the damages? If your lease is in order, and you do evaluations before and after with the resident, you won’t have to be the one who pays the price. Make sure to create a list and do a walk through the property together on the first day your resident moves in, noting all preexisting damages. Then, the day before your resident moves out, walk through the property with the same list that has all the preexisting damages so your resident can’t argue that they did not cause the new damages to your property.
Avoiding Evictions
The fifth and final thing residents try to get away with is dodging eviction. Residents will try and argue, and sometimes even take legal action, that they are being falsely evicted. To avoid these conflicts, have a clear and concise lease that states the rules exactly and states what qualifies as terms to evict. This way, if the resident tries to take legal action, you have a good chance of winning your case, and if the resident refuses to move, you can take legal action to remove them from your property and get it back on the market to rent.
In Conclusion
Don’t want to deal with the hassle of problematic residents? With Realevate Specialists, you won’t have to. We can handle everything from damages to complaints and evictions, keeping your identity safe and keeping your mind sane. Don’t stress yourself out over a bad resident; let us do the work for you.
To find out more about the services Realevate Specialists offers, please contact us online or call our Mission Valley office at 858-997-2100 or our Temecula office at 951-461-0100 for more information.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
