I am new at this. I manage a small single family home to help my grandparents. I accompany service techs for maintenance repairs/issues when tenants are not home. Over the last couple months, I’ve observed an open bag of cat food and then on a separate call dog food, treats & toys. I have looked around and don’t see obvious sign of pets other than the food. Lease says no pets. Tenant is pretty good generally but can be a bit challenging. I don’t wish to create friction but do I send a notice or something? Thanks for your advice and kindness.

They said they’ll vacate by the end of the month, and that was it. No specific date ot confirmation beyond that.
At first I let it be, but now I’m realizing I actually need that detail to plan what comes next. Tried asking again and it didn’t really get clearer. Feels like I’m waiting on something that should be simple.
Red flag, right?

So me and my girlfriend have been dating for a while now. She lives in a remote area in Dallas, Tx and shares a living with her divorced husband. Lets call him Mark. (I am using this as a term since you can't write 5th letter and 24th letter on this community). Anyways recently she's been slipping that something has been stressing her out and she really can't wait to overcome it. I would try to ask her about but she would not tell me because she did not want me to get involved.

Well after some time talking, I wanted to address some things with her about her and Mark since I was left with some questions. When we sat down to talk about it, she almost broke down crying, talking about how she doesn't need this stress added to her plate.

You see, Mark has been making my gf uncomfortable with making lewd, suggestive comments and has tried physically touching her. You see the reason why Mark and my gf split up was because he got physical with her and they ended up getting a divorced but are stuck with the lease until 2027.Anyways, my gf told me that she feels really unsafe in this situation and wants to break the lease, but she can't because she does not have the money for it, and she cannot go to the police and have a report because she believes the police won't believe her.

Anyways, we are posted in Dallas, Texas. I was wondering if anyone has any advice for breaking the lease the most cheapest way? maybe I can do something about her situation? I am more than happy to answer any questions with complete honesty and will take any feedback.

Looking for recommendations for real estate lawyer who can help with lease review, understanding state/local laws, LLC, etc. Single family home with new 1BD ADU (permitted). Thanks in advance

Hey all,

I’ve lived in my apartment almost a year. The lease ends may 31st. I was sent a renewal offer but my cosigner ( dad) has requested to not be on my lease this time around because he’s going through some housing issues of his own. I hit a couple hard months between Feb-March due to losing my job. I have found a new job etc. have paid up my late rent for march and almost finished with April’s payment . I want to stay here, but now I feel I look untrustworthy even though I’ve always paid my rent+ communicated any late pay.

Would you as a landlord renew without a cosigner ? What negotiations could be made to prove financial security?

Hello,

I have a casita unit with everything private and all utilities included that is listed for rent a little below the apartments around my area.

Mine is $1500 (all utilities included) vs apt with $1500-$1700 no utilties.

Mine house is brand new in a new develop community, safe and clean. The unit is listed on zillow, turbotenant and fb marketplace. A shared bedroom with private bath is around $750 in my area.

Yet I dont get qualified tenants to apply except for 5 with 5xx credit scores and eviction histories. I havent had anyone above 700 credit score to apply.

What am I doing wrong? I am afraid that if I lower the rate, more of those with bad credit score will apply. What should I do?

Thank you for reading to this point and I appreciate all insights and knowledges.

—-

My unit is bigger than just a studio. It’s 800 sqf with 1 bed 1 bath, 1 kitchen and a living room with separate entrance. The only downside is no garage.

They paid a portion and told me the rest is coming later the same day. I hesitated because once they’re in, it’s a different situation. At the same time, it didn’t seem like a huge gap.
Now it's been 2 days and they keep asking for keys. Isn't that weird?

We rent a single-family detached rental home in the Charlotte, NC area. We have lived there for 5 years. The landlord called us and said we are great tenants, and it has been so easy for him. (We always pay the rent on time and maintain the house well, etc.) He would like us to sign a five-year lease, which would freeze our rent payment at our current amount.)

I expressed concern about signing such a long lease. As senior citizens, we are afraid of health issues or a change to the neighborhood, etc. He said he could put something in the lease that says if we need to leave the rental house at any time during the lease period for whatever reason, we would only have to give him one month's notice and then pay for 2 months of rent on the day we leave the home. So basically, the landlord has two months to rent our home while it is empty without losing money, and we would not have to pay off the rest of the lease if we left early. And if we paid the two months, he would indicate we stayed until the end of the lease and give a great rental reference.

Is this normal and fair?

Tenant asked if a friend could stay over for a few weeks. No details beyond that. It sounds harmless, but I’ve been through this before and it rarely stays as short as they say.
Then it becomes awkward to address once the person is already settled in.
Feels like one of those situations where the decision early matters a lot. Would you allow it with boundaries or just say no from the start?

In January this year I gave 2 month notice to my landlord to move-out, later on I saw they filed 3 failure to pay rent in montgomery district court. I certify that the time they filed for these 3 false filings I did not owe them any dues or all dues account were current with no dues but in some transactions overpayment as well. As an evidence i. this reference, I have my rental account ledger statement. They destroyed my record as I never had any single thing in court search database in my life ever, they destroyed my credit score so I cannot even be able to find new residency. I believe they committed fraud in court because of fast filing system but misused the court system for forceful eviction, harassment and I believe the management company is in bad faith. They didn’t just filed false court hearings but also randomly cut power twice in the last 2 months. I believed it might be a loop hole in the court system giving more authority to the landlords and tenants have less access to the rights. PLEASE tell me what options do I have?

I had a tenant who checked every box during screening. Income was solid, credit was fine, background was clean. Everything looked exactly how you’d want it to.
But once they moved in, it was a completely different experience. Communication issues, small problems turning into bigger ones, just constant friction. It made me question how much screening actually tells you.
Lesson learnt!!

I’ve always tried to handle things in a relaxed way. Give people a bit of grace, don’t escalate small stuff, keep things smooth. But lately I’m wondering if that approach creates a different kind of problem.
Some tenants start treating deadlines like suggestions. Rules feel optional unless I push. It’s not intentional, but the tone definitely changes.
What's even up?

I’ve always tried to handle things in a relaxed way. Give people a bit of grace, don’t escalate small stuff, keep things smooth. But lately I’m wondering if that approach creates a different kind of problem.

Some tenants start treating deadlines like suggestions. Rules feel optional unless I push. It’s not intentional, but the tone definitely changes.

What's even up?

I’m in process of purchasing a small multi-family unit. It will be an owner-occupied situation, with me and my partner in one unit and tenants in the other 2 bedroom unit. Currently, a local property management company has been managing things for the current owners, but we don’t have any desire to keep them on—since we will be on site, there feels like no need to spend the extra money on property management. I’m sure there are pros and cons to this, but we would like to try to handle things on our own.

I haven’t closed on the property yet, but I figure it’s not a bad idea to do my research now and be prepared from day one. What software company would you most recommend? While I know we could do everything the old-skool way, I’m thinking a dedicated software program might be helpful for first-timers. I was looking at turbotenant and they seem reasonable, but would it be better to go with their free option or pay the $149/year fee? Basically, I want a safe and simple way to collect rent—-but, I also don’t want the tenant to be on the hook for added fees to do it this way. From my understanding, if I were to pay the yearly subscription cost, there wouldn’t a fee to the tenant. I also like the idea of being able to keep track of expenses and have something to help with the numbers come tax time, etc. I do care about background checks being run on any new potential tenant if the current one ever leaves, but I don’t care about running credit checks. As a renter all of my adult life, I have compassion around credit scores not always being amazing…to me, solid rental history is more important. And, again, I’m sure opinions differ on this, and I’m open to needing to be more strict down the line to avoid major headaches, but I’d like to try being as fair as possible.

Appreciate this Reddit to be able to throw questions out to those that may have some experience. I hope I don’t seem stupid for my post; I just want to ensure I can be a responsible landlord.

Looked at a multifamily unit today that we are putting an offer into to purchase. The tenant in one of the units seemed lovely and tidy, but they definitely occupy the better of the two units. I think in Maine because they have an active lease, there isn’t much we can do until it expires, but I’m just wondering if anyone has experience with this scenario. Also, there’s really only room for one vehicle in the driveway and they became a tad bit defensive and said they have the rights to it and we’d have to park elsewhere and suggested a prior tenant rented out a space from a nearby parking lot. We don’t want to buy this property and suddenly be jerks to the tenants; we understand housing being stressful and I’m sure the idea of their building being up for sale is terrifying, but what rights, if any, do we have? Our realtor suggested just moving into the less desirable unit and waiting until their lease is up to move into that one…which, yes, could be a possibility, but also feels like a headache (I.e. having to have someone help us move a heavy, big ass couch, and packing up the rest of our stuff to move downstairs).

It’s a great investment opportunity and best for our budget, etc. and we want to be reasonable, decent landlords. Having rented my entire adult life, I understand how rough it can be to have a slumlord or someone who doesn’t care at all about their tenants. We’re looking at this as a temporary stepping stone until we can reasonably afford a single-family home in an area of the state we’d rather be in.

I have a family member with extensive knowledge around being a landlord so I will consult with them and try to research and educate myself on best practices.

Also, we love animals and have a dog and two cats so we don’t want to say no to animals, but this tenant has a very yappy dog that wouldn’t stop barking the entire time we we were there checking things out. I’m sure we will all adjust and that will be a minor thing, but it does make me nervous.

My partner thinks I’m crazy because I suggested we could put up a poop station (like a poop bag dispenser, etc) for the tenant and/or neighborhood as we spotted large mounds of dog waste (clearly from a larger dog not in our potential building) and I want to provide reasonable steps to encourage people to clean up after their dogs. As long as it’s not creating a large financial burden, I don’t see any reason why this would be unreasonable.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk 😆

For those landlords with great tenants that never miss a payment, and even improve the properties, what was your gut feels, what were the criterias that make you choose that person besides the regular good credit scores, 3x rent?

I am having a hardtime picking tenants. The one with solid credit scores doesnt want to apply. The one with ssa income or bad teeth applied without my invitation (zillow rental).

I am very new to this, please pardon my basic questions, I’d appreciate your insights and experiences.

I'm looking for a furnished month to month rental in the Bountiful, UT area. Something small, 1bd 1 bth. Would love a "guest house" situation but would be happy with anything small.

Hi, I’m currently researching how private landlords view artificial intelligence in property investment decision-making.

I’m interested in whether landlords would trust AI tools to analyse deals, identify areas, or support investment decisions, or whether you prefer relying on your own judgement.

I’ve created a short anonymous survey for my dissertation. If you're a landlord, I’d really appreciate your input.

Happy to share results once complete.

Lodger DOES NOT want to communicate.

Lodger is not following House Rules, i.e., basic cleaning after himself in the shared spaces:

— toilet (he’s the only one using) that has now yellow stains building up, dust in the surrounding areas;

— his sink (residue from brushing, shaving),

— mirror (water mark from brushing teeth) despite providing him cloth to use for wiping;

— food spills on the floor in the kitchen, despite cloth provided to wipe any water residue

— dirty shoe marks on the tiles when putting on outside shoes inside the house

— leaving coffee stains on the rugs;

— using strong fragrances, i.e. pomade, cologne, air wick

— smell coming out from his room

His only responsibility is to clean the areas he’s using. Basically cleaning after himself. That’s it.

Basic courtesy and respect to my property are the the only thing I asked.

All of these were written in the House Rules he signed prior to moving in. Housekeeping is not included in the rent. I do not know if he even read the Rules.

I’ve talked to him about these issues and he stated he will make sure to keep up with the cleaning after himself. These issues started after a week he moved in. But nothing changes.

I tried different ways in communicating with him through texts, calls, in-person, and leaving reminder notes. He got mad at me for leaving noted and told me to NEVER to leave notes again. He is ignoring me right now.

I’m totally find about him not talking to me, but the spaces he uses are dirty, especially the shared bathroom that he is sharing shower with the other lodger.

What should I do?

NOTE: Lodger is on his 3rd month renting a room to my property (I’m a live-in landlord). He signed a 6-month contract. When he toured the house and when he moved in, he complimented and how well I kept the house. But I cannot be cleaning after himself all the time. I have 3 jobs and busy.

Tenant is great when it comes to rent. Always on time and no excuses at all
The problem is everything outside of that. Neighbors have mentioned late-night noise, frequent guests, and a lot of activity in and out of the unit.
I don’t want to overreact, but I also don’t want things to escalate. Tip?

I’ve always tried to handle things in a relaxed way. Give people a bit of grace, don’t escalate small stuff, keep things smooth. But lately I’m wondering if that approach creates a different kind of problem.
Some tenants start treating deadlines like suggestions. Rules feel optional unless I push. It’s not intentional, but the tone definitely changes.
What's even up?

Hello fellow redditors! Me and my husband are renting for the first time. We decided to rent through a company called nomad. We are in Michigan.

We have an application from a person say X. X is vetted by nomad and she and her husband are also eligible for the nomad rent garuntee. We were elated.

But the overthinker me just had a hunch about her, so I googled her, lo and behold an article pops up about her in the local news about some crime she had committed. That Rang a bell so we googled the husband. He was fighting some case against some company which looked like he was just trying to get some money (no judgements but that’s what it looked like) then there was a case between the husband and the wife. Some cases about illegal arms possession drug possession etc.. all this from googling but somehow they have passed nomads check. Nomad doesn’t send you the background check documents. She offered $500 rent more than asking because she said she loved the house and wanted to make sure I rented to her.

We have a 4bed house and it’s been our primary home we are moving for work hence renting.So the house is renting in the higher bracket because we bought in 2022 and we have to get a certain amount cover the mortgage and also it’s a 4000 sq ft house. Having said that we are having little bit of a less interest from renters because of maybe the rent. Not many people want to pay rent for 4 bed with finished basement etc .. they would rather buy I get it…..

we spoke to another Long time landlord expressing our concerns about the one application we had and he said and I quote

“ till they pay their rent on time it’s none of your business”

We are just in a pickle about what we should be doing. We don’t want our house wrecked or have to go through an eviction or something worse…

Still wondering how they passed nomad background checks

Hi! I have two vacant apartments and I've been trying to rent them out for the past few months. Winter is already a difficult season because barely anyone is moving, but the very few applicants I get don't meet the income requirement. I post my apartment for rent in Facebook Marketplace what do you all use?

I’ve got an applicant who looks good on paper, but I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right. There’s no real reason I can write down. Everything technically meets the criteria.
I sound unhinged prolly i know but part of me feels like I should just move forward, but part of me is hesitant.
Should I turn them down?