The LPA Newsletter Mid - January 2008
Dear Fellow Landlord,
I hope your year is off to a good start. With life's many challenges, I know we can at least make the property management side of things better. Just one new useful idea can make a great difference! In this newsletter:
Ask the Attorney, with Eviction lawyer, John Reno
Article: What do I do when I have to Raise the Rent?
Truth & Lies. A look at what tenants may say and mean.
Free Form download
Recent Tenant Excuses
Recent Success Quotes
Please e-mail us if you have any questions or would like to add or share any material / information. Have a great month!
John Nuzzolese
John@theLPA.com
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Ask the Attorney
The Landlord Protection Agency® is proud to introduce John Reno, Esq., a highly experienced Landlord - Tenant attorney based on Long Island, NY.
We find that Landlords who contact us have often waited too long to commence an eviction, usually in an understandable effort to resolve problems amicably. Landlords need attorneys who will not compound the problem with unnecessary delays or expenses. For this reason, our main priority is immediate action. In most cases, we commence an eviction within 3 days of being hired and have our client's cases in Court within 7 to 10 days of being hired.
If you have a landlord tenant problem you'd like to ask a question about, please feel free to e-mail me your question.
Dear Mr. Reno: Last August my Tenants asked for a renewed lease, my husband gave them a signed lease but they never signed the lease and gave it back to us. The tenants needed the lease for school purposes. Is the lease still in good standing till it expires in August or invalid because we never got it back from them and I didn't know that my husband never got them to sign it. My tenants have been paying the rent late since October and didn't pay November and October until I gave them a 3 day notice to pay or quit, I would like to ask them to move on. Thank you. - Sarda Desmond, California
A: You are technically correct, but still in trouble. Yes, you should have gotten a fully signed lease from then. The problem is if you give them a notice to vacate, they're gonna show up in Court with that lease. It may not be signed now, but it will be then, and there's a strong likelihood it will be honored.
Dear Mr. Reno: My question, I had a judgment a former tenant was to pay several months of owed rent, he later filed bankruptcy. Is there any hope I could ever collect legally? Thank you, Debra, Georgia
A: Yes, but it's about the same hope Ralph Nader has of being president. Step One: call Bankruptcy Court and ask if your Judgment was "Discharged." If it was, your dead. If not discharged, call me back.
click for more from John Reno, Eviction Attorney
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What do I do when...
I have to Raise the Rent?
Have you noticed when you go to the supermarket that the prices seem to be going up? How about on your real estate tax bill? Delaying a rent increase can be very expensive.
The subject of raising the rent is one of the most procrastinated tasks facing landlords. The reason is simple:
Fear of confrontation,
Fear of rocking the boat
Can’t afford to make the tenant mad- he might cause a vacancy
Tenant is like a friend – don’t want to damage our relationship
Fear of dealing with the tenant
The rent is high enough
There comes a time for every landlord when the rent has to be raised. It is not a pleasant subject from the tenant’s point of view, but it must not be overlooked. You must not procrastinate it because every day it is put off, it is money out of your pocket. Food out of your children’s mouths. Think about it at the supermarket checkout line. Every increase you don’t enforce really adds up.
You should have regular rent increases, even if only by small amounts. The tenant that is used to the same rent for a long period of time usually gets offended when the rent finally must increase, so it is better to make smaller gradual annual rent increases.
You can address the subject of raising the rent with the tenant in a conventional or LPA Lease agreement. By having a plan for scheduled rent increases, you'll get the equivalent of a raise in salary very year.
Let’s say you have only three house rentals that you don’t increase until you re-rent...
click here for the full article...
Printer
Friendly Version of this Article
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Truth & Lies
You'll Never Hear your Tenant Say ...
"My credit is bad because I am a deadbeat who goes from landlord to landlord."
Click here to read what they really say!
"I broke the dishwasher because, like an idiot, I sat on it."
Click here to read what they really say!
"I plan to rent out rooms to low-lives to help me pay the rent."
Click here to read what they really say!
Fee free to e-mail us what your tenant would never say but is really the truth!
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FREE FORM DOWNLOAD
Increase Rent and Renew the Lease
Notice to Renew Lease or Vacate EXPIRED DOWNLOAD
is a combination form which can be used as a lease renewal form or a tenant's notice to vacate. The form provides for a rent increase, as well as the preservation and extension of all the terms and conditions in the lease.
The landlord should send this form to the tenant at least one or two months before lease expiration to give the tenant an opportunity to consider any rent increase and to respond with enough notice time to vacate or renew tenancy according to lease requirements.
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FREE HTML Code for your Internet Ad's Pre-Screening Chart
I recently began using a basic little chart on my internet rental ads that have made quite a difference in setting up appointments. I used to advertise in local newspapers, but websites like Craigslist have been a helpful way to save advertising dollars!
Just paste the code below into your html internet ad so your prospects can respond by e-mail giving you the information you need to know before setting up appointments!
The code below is for the following chart:
Any questions or to arrange appointments, please
e-mail us with the following information:
Thanks!
Click here if the html code does not appear on your e-mail
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LANDLORD TIP
When executing a new lease, remember to staple an Intention to Vacate form on the back of the tenant's lease. Reminding the tenant to give proper notice and proper move-out procedure can make your life a lot easier when it's time to start looking for a new tenant.
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Tenant Excuses
"You never got back to me. I asked if I can pay you 3 months rent + $50. extra for EACH MONTH in 3 months." If he asked such a ridiculous question, I'm sure I'd have remembered it. Anyway, this what he told me and the judge in court. Ha ha. - Joanne, NY
"I already paid your wife."
No they didn't. When I asked her to describe my wife she couldn't. Of course she didn't have a receipt either. Then I informed her that I don't even have a wife! - Don S., Tampa, FL
"I haven’t paid the rent because of a payroll problem at work. I haven’t been paid yet." Right. I’ve been hearing this since November when I first bought this property and these mysterious payroll issues haven’t been resolved yet. I can’t wait to be rid of these deadbeats. - Marla, MS
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Quotations...
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it... You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt
"One of my biggest fears is having a tenant with more landlord - tenant knowledge and expertise than I have." - John Nuzzolese
"How much did your last tenant problem cost you?"
- John Nuzzolese
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Books by LPA Members
The Landlord Protection Agency is proud to recommend the following landlord books written by LPA Members, Dr. Dani Babb, Robert Irwin, Timothy Spangler, Tony & Sandy Midea and Dan Auito. Just click on the book for more information about it.
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