RENTAL APPLICATIONS AND
LEASE AGREEMENTS
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPLETE AGREEMENTS
Once you have a tenant in your community you are, for lack of a more politically
correct way of saying this… stuck with them. Keeping this in mind, there are a
few things you can do to improve the quality of future tenants and help you
collect from those tenants who end up owing you money.
If you have to evict someone and you go through all the trouble of getting a
judgment, you should have the information available in your files to help you
collect on that judgment.
In order to help you collect on a judgment, you will need some key information
in your file. It is very important to keep in mind that the only time you can
collect this information, is when the prospective tenant makes application for
residency. Therefore, use a comprehensive application.
To protect yourself, you should ask for the following information in your rental
application:
• Complete two year rental and employment history for all applicants; get
addresses and phone numbers for all employers and former landlords.
• Current mailing address, date of birth, social security number and marital
status of all adult applicants. The full names and ages of all underage
occupants.
• Waiver by Applicant which provides that you can use the formation for
verification and for purposes of collection, if necessary
• At least one non-resident contact for each applicant should you need to notify
someone of an emergency or you need to locate a tenant to collect a debt.
If things go wrong, and you are prepared, you have a better chance of recovering
your loss and keep profits up.….but only if you can find and serve the tenant
and garnish the tenant's wages.
Remember that your judgment is effective for 5 years, renewable indefinitely and
accrues interest at the legal rate.
Don't throw your money away. Use a complete application and keep good records.
With proper notice, we can renew your old judgments and we handle garnishments
if you know where your tenant works.
We already discussed the importance of a good rental application and the fact
that the application can help screen tenants and give you information to collect
a debt.
The next step once you have verified the information on the application and are
satisfied the applicant is qualified is to execute a written lease agreement.
keep in mind all Fair Housing Laws when making this decision.
Your lease, in addition to standard term and rate information should also
include or reference any addendums and all must be signed and dated by the
tenants and the landlord.
Your lease or any referenced addendum must list all monetary expectations,
including but not limited to late fees, court costs, attorney fees, pet charges,
fines, etc. These fees are only collectable and enforceable if the tenant agreed
to them and the only contract that will hold up in court is a signed and dated
contract.
Be sure your lease expressly defines finesť as additional rent or you may not be
able to evict a tenant for unpaid fines.
If you have an old lease agreement that you have been using for a long time it
is most likely outdated and should be reviewed by a knowledgeable attorney to
make sure you are in compliance with current laws.
Any modifications you want to make after the tenant signs the lease and moves in
that include fines or sanctions must be signed by the tenant to be effective.
If you are renting a dwelling unit like an apartment or park owned mobile home,
be sure to do a walk through with the tenant before they take occupancy. During
the walk through, write down the condition of each room and any defect that is
present. If there are defects that the landlord needs to repair get the repairs
done as soon as possible and clip the receipts to the walk through. This will
help you reconcile the damage deposit and come to a fair and enforceable
decision of how you manage the refund.
Remember, a signed lease is the only type of enforceable lease and the only way
to protect your ASSets.
ABANDONMENTS: Most of our clients know we handle the legal process after a home
has been abandoned, but you may not know why it is so important to act right
away.
If there is a lender involved, state statutes only allow for 60 days rent prior
to notification, if you delay you will lose money.
The mobile home will deteriorate rapidly and most owners will not come back….so
waiting is costing you money.
A notice from an attorney gets attention and will encourage someone to pay who
would otherwise string you along.
If the notification process does not produce payment from either the lien holder
or the owner, title to the home will most likely end up in the parks name. The
process takes an average of 72 days and the cost for this service is typically
less than 2 months space Rent.
Once you have title you can sell or rent the home and start earning money on
that space again.
Feel free to call Chris Francis in our office if you have questions. (480)
994-4732.
CHRISTOPHER FRANCIS
Williams, Zinman & Parham P.C.
Business Development Manager
480-994-4732
480-206-7580 Cell
CHRIS@WZPLEGAL.COM
