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7 Common
Bad Landlord Mistakes
Free Landlord Help for Bad Landlords PART 1
Bad
landlords
who lose money land themselves in hot soup are often not crooks. They
are mostly regular rental property owners who have made nasty mistakes.
Avoid becomiing a bad landlord with our free landlord help on
the
most common and fatal landlord mistakes.
Mistake 1:
Discriminating Tenant Applicants on Purpose or Accidentally
While
it's natural that every landlord will want the best possible tenants
for their rental property, be careful not to end discriminating anyone
based on their age, sex, race, disability or family status.
While
it's well within your landlord rights to reject having seven people
living in your 2 bedroom apartment due to overcrowding, you are not
allowed to decline someone as your tenant simply because she has kids
(because you are worried her kids will trash up your place). Click here to learn what
are your landlord tenant rights when choosing tenants.
Therefore
be careful when you are interviewing your tenants and avoid
asking
questions with any hints of discrimination. Otherwise they may take
your offensive question and use to complain to your local fair housing
authorities.
If
you are unlucky enough to be blacklisted by the housing authorities or
tenant websites as a bad landlord, it will severely affect the future
supply of tenants for your rental property.
Mistake
2: Not Being Careful When Screening and Choosing Your Tenant
Most
seasoned landlords will tell you that just choosing the right tenant
will eliminate 80% of your future problems. Research has shown that in
most countries about 3 out of 10 are bad ones so learning how to weed
them out is crucial.
However
many new or bad landlords do not
know or simply cannot be bothered to screen their tenants carefully.
Asking your potential tenants the right questions, learning how to read
their body language and making sense of their application forms are all
important skills of effective tenant picking.
If you want more free landlord help and advice on choosing the perfect
tenant, Click
here for our free landlord help on landlord
tenant screening.
Mistake
3: Lying to Tenants or Making Verbal Promises that
You Can't Keep
Remember
when it comes to rental agreements, the promises that you make to your
tenants are legally binding. Even if it's just something that you said
and is not included in the written lease agreement, your tenants will
still be able to hold you responsible in some cases.
When
you want to reject someone as your tenant, avoid
lying to them such as claiming that you have already found a new
tenant.
Instead
politely let them know that you wish to interview more
people before making your choice. Some people have been wrongfully
accused of being bad landlords or even sued for discimination when they
were just trying to tell a white lie.
Be
extra careful when you are making promises when signing of your
rental agreement. If your promise is the reason why your tenants chose
you, they can simply break the lease agreement if you did not keep your
word.
For example
if you promised them a new water heater in a
week's time and you did not install it on time, they can simply move
out of your property and refuse to pay you rent.
Mistake 4: Failing
to Maintain Your Rental Property in Habitable Condition
While
your rental property does not have to glitter like a royal palace, you
have to at least maintain the condition of your property to meet your
area's housing safety and health standards.
If you are facing messy repair problems and need free landlord help, Click here to
learn how to carry property landlord repairs and keep your rental
property in good shape.
If the property damage is not due to neglect or abuse by your
tenants and affects this habitable condition of your property, then
it's up to the landlord to fix it.
Once
your tenant informs you of the
damage, you will usually have 7 to 14 days to make repairs. If it is an
emergency situation such as a total electrical failure, you will have
to fix the problem within 24 to 48 hours.
After this
time limit, your tenants can choose to end their rental agreement with
your and make a complaint to the local housing
authorities. If you do not want to be blacklisted as bad landlords, do
remember to make your repairs on time.
Are you ready
to avoid more bad landlord mistakes and dangerous pitfalls?
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