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 fines 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