It doesn’t seem like that long ago I was writing checks at grocery stores and malls. But if you’re like me now, you hate getting stuck behind the person who whips out the checkbook to buy cat food instead of using a debit card. Times have changed since the debit card and most people rarely…Read More
It happens more often than you think—the lease will expire in the next month or two and an excellent tenant leaves you a message about possibly renewing. However, she wants to negotiate a lower rent. If you’ve learned anything about a good landlord/tenant relationship, it’s that it is important for both parties to get what…Read More
While more landlords and tenants are turning to electronic deposits to take care of the rent, there are still plenty of rent transactions that take place using a good old-fashioned paper check. We hear from nervous tenants that say their landlord hasn’t cashed their rent check yet. When tenants write a personal check, it gives…Read More
When a cart driver wanted to get his mule to move, he could choose between two methods to get the animal to go forward—a carrot to entice or a stick to hit. Today, the idiom of the carrot and the stick has come to mean a policy of motivating people into action by offering a…Read More
Rather than a lengthy and costly eviction process, some landlords are offering a “Cash for Keys” program to get problem tenants to move out. Even the best tenants can run into some financial difficulties, and it’s up to each landlord to determine when to give someone a break and when to start the eviction process. When…Read More
When it comes to managing rental properties, technology can ease many of the burdensome tasks you face as a landlord. Whether you are seeking a way to electronically remind tenants about the rent due date or set up mobile payments, the convenience associated with improved rent collection technology will transform the way you deal with…Read More
Many landlords ask that a tenant pay rent for the first and last months of the tenancy when the lease is signed or an agreement to rent the property is made. Asking for the first month’s rent payment makes sense: it covers the current or upcoming month, the first month the tenant will actually be…Read More
We answer questions from landlords calling in regularly about how to collect past due rent. And while we don’t advertise this, we are quite capable of answering these questions considering just a few years ago we owned a licensed collection agency. How to Start the Rent Collection Process Assuming you have screened properly, it’s inevitable…Read More
Rental security deposit refund disputes are the number one reason for post-tenancy litigation Here’s a great question that we got from a landlord recently. The reason it became an article is because of the potential problems a rental security deposit refund can cause. To see what I mean, check out this quick news article about…Read More
One of the easiest ways to collect rent is by setting up direct deposit rent to the landlord. This makes it easy to collect rent each month because the money is automatically withdrawn from the renter’s bank account into the landlord’s account. Just because something is easy doesn’t always mean it’s a good idea though….Read More
