Would you share your Property Rental Agreement

[tranger2]

Finally finished a remodel of a house and ready to rent. I've been searching the web (biggerpockets.com, landlord.com) and have conversed with several people from this site to get advise.

For you landlords, do you gave examples that work best for Oklahoma that you would be willing to share? I'm not trying to be lazy, I spent HOURS and HOURS researching this stuff. But I have found talking with people who have faced problems and made additions to their document to prevent the problems in the future to be the most helpful.

Also, do you Require a certain credit score?
Do you pay an online company for background checks or do you research it yourself?
Any other nuggets of wisdom?
As always, I appreciate any advice your willing to take the time to give....

 

[mr ed]

www.oscn.net its free.
if they had excellent credit they would own a home.
90% of renters have had evictions or other credit problems at one time or another.
most rental agreements on the net are long and ridiculous (6-10 pages)
I use one I got from Burkharts office supply 20 years ago. its kind of crappy 1 legal size sheet printed both sides but meets all Okla laws.
Been doing it for 20 years and after a while you get a gut feeling just having a conversation with them as to whether they would be a good renter or not.
1. confirm where they work and how long they have been there.
2. drive by where they live now

How much you going to charge for deposit?
Most people are charging almost a months rent now.
If they can't pay deposit and rent at same time it means they don't make enough to pay your rent on time.

 

[tranger2]

Lets say the house they are currently staying is not being kept up. How do you reject a renter if you have a bad feeling? Do you just not answer, verbally reject it or provide something in writing?

 

[swampratt]

I get 650 deposit and first month rent up front.. some ask if they can pay the deposit later I say NO.
mr ed got that right on the money.

If the current renters are not keeping the place up tell them to clean it up.
You need to clean this up this is not acceptable .
My last renter a preacher. let his dog crap and piss all over the floors and did not clean it.
He was not supposed to have a dog and I told him this was unacceptable.. he moved out in a month. No deposit was refunded and he was mad at me, said I duped him and he had been duped by better people than me. His exact words.

Whatever..
Bad feelings do not count,, especially if they pay the rent every month.
You can call code enforcement on them or Department of human services if the inside is filth ridden and there are children there.

My wife called DHS on her sister.. yep she is that nasty. Her mother reported her also,, I tried to help them by cleaning and buying trash bags and cleaning supplies.
That lasted 1 day.. then back to "white trash" ville

 

[steelfingers]

Take pictures. Lots of pictures and keep receipts of the work on the house. Unless your in an area that rental's are hot, limiting to a credit score is going be tough for you.

 

[mr ed]

Lets say the house they are currently staying is not being kept up. How do you reject a renter if you have a bad feeling? Do you just not answer, verbally reject it five something in writing?

I usually put a sign in the yard and an ad on Craigslist.
Usually on Wed. and accept applications thru Sunday. Telling each prospective renter I will decide on Monday and let them know.
Generally I will have about 5-6 applications.
Weed out the ones not making enough. Need to be making 4-5 times rent.
Run the others thru OSCN.
Then the one or two left I drive by where they claim to live.
Once during the day so I can see how trashy they are and once at night to see how many cars are in the yard.
Our southern cousins are particularly bad about a man and wife? showing up to rent. Then the next thing you know theres 15-20 living there in shifts.

One thing to note is; whether you allow pets or not, have a line in lease about if they are found to have a pet they must move or pay like a $500 non-refundable pet deposit.
The #1 reason people move out of apartments is to get the kids a pet.
That's why I'm phasing out carpet in all my houses and going ceramic tile on slabs and putting a real good sealer (4-5 coats)on the ones with hardwood floors.

And I do call everyone and say sorry !

 

[tranger2]

Anyone have a lease to own agreement they would share?

 

[gmar]

Anyone have a lease to own agreement they would share?

Send me a PM on Monday, I think I have one on my computer at work.

 

[tranger2]

gmar didn't have one....anyone else?

 

[MacFromOK]

Running thru an old Windows legal app, and found a few points you might want to make sure are covered...

- Legal description of property.
- Terms (beginning/end dates of lease).
- Use of premises allowed/prohibited.
- Security deposit.
- Payment schedule.
- Late payment fee.
- Non-sufficient funds (overdraft fee).
- Remedy if tenant obligations not met.
- Reasons for termination of lease (if any).
- Arbitration conditions (if any).
- Property tax responsibilities.
- Number of occupants allowed.
- Assigning or subletting.
- Parking priviliges.
- Furnishings.
- Storage limitations, including yard area (if any).
- Remodeling/improvements allowed (if any).
- Maintainence responsibilities (painting, etc.).
- Landlord access to premises.
- Utilities/services responsibility.
- Insurance (propery and liability) obligations.
- Landlord indemnity for tenant's use/misuse.
- Hazardous/flammable materials (insurance).
- Destruction/condemnation of property (fire, etc.).
- Whether property liens allowed by tenant.
- Existing mortgage obligations (if any).
- Renewal terms (if applicable).
- Governing law state.
- Notification methods required by both parties (email, registered letter, etc.)
- Severability (if one part of agreement becomes null, the rest remains in force).
- Whether lease may be modified by one or both parties.
- Holdover penalties (if tenant maintains possession after lease expires).