Rental Agreements (where?) & lawyers

[Frequitude]

Hey all,

This question was buried in a thread of mine earlier, but I wanted to ask the CP community specifically in a new thread.

I recently put my place on the rental market and have had a serious inquiry from a family coming from London...i.e. exactly the type of tenants I want. If everything goes well, I'd like to have everything ready for them when they get here.

What is the best way to go about getting a rental agreement?
Do I need to get a lawyer involved in the process? If so, Troutman would you be interested?

Thank you!

[V]

I just pulled mine off the internet. Probably not the best way to go, but I haven't had any problems, so it's been alright.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by V

I just pulled mine off the internet. Probably not the best way to go, but I haven't had any problems, so it's been alright.

Anywhere specific? If I were to do the same, should I look for something relevant to Alberta?

[Dion]

Photon has rental property. Send him a PM. I'm sure he'd be able to point you in the right direction.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I recently put my place on the rental market and have had a serious inquiry from a family coming from London...i.e. exactly the type of tenants I want. If everything goes well, I'd like to have everything ready for them when they get here.

umm this isn't someone willing to send you the rent up front is it?

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

umm this isn't someone willing to send you the rent up front is it?

Not as of yet! Go on......

The message did seem a little fishy:

Hello,
I am Dr. XXX XXXXX from the United Kingdom,i will be coming to the
states by the september and i need a conducive apartment that i will
be living for the whole year.I want you to get back to me if the one you advertised here is still available.I will be signing a one year lease for you apartment and will be staying alone with my wife and daughter. I will really appreciate a quick response to my inquiry.Please get back to me on drXXXXX5@gmail.com

Regards...

It was a response to my craigslist posting. Now I definitely think it's a scam. Kinda ashamed I briefly fell for it if true. Thoughts?

[Frequitude]

Though I would appreciate thoughts on the email above, I don't want to derail the thread too far from seeking good rental agreement/legal advice on renting out a place!

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Not as of yet! Go on......

The message did seem a little fishy:


It was a response to my craigslist posting. Now I definitely think it's a scam. Kinda ashamed I briefly fell for it if true. Thoughts?

S-C-A-M. If you post of any of Craigslist, Kijiji etc you will get these on a weekly basis.

How it works is they claim they can send you 12 months rent up front in Western Union drafts, these will arrive at your mailbox and look very authentic, they will then say they've had some unexpected accident/occurence/difficulty with the travel arrangements and will ask you for 3 months worth of rent wired back to them.

Once you've wired that $ back to them you will discover that the W.U. drafts they sent you are fake and worthless when you try to cash them.

I've seen way too many people fall for this than I care to mention and I always warn my clients about these emails - bottom line: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The kind of renters your place is catering to usually will want to come in person to check the place out and ask a bunch of questions before they scrunge up a month's rent + deposit. Then they'll ask you if you can cut them a deal, especially if they're from the East. If they can afford a year's rent up front no questions asked they can probably afford to buy instead, why rent?

PM me if you need any more help.

[Rifleman]

In terms of rental agreements, you can buy some from your local Indigo or Chapters. They have all sorts of legal documents you can buy, from wills, to setting up your own business, etc.

They are usually found on a spin rack, and are stashed in a corner somewhere. I recently found one on wills, in the Westhills Indigo.

[wooohooo]

I worked at a rental company over the summer. We had a few of those people through the email say they wanted to sign if we just gave them our bank account information haha.... yeah... and they were all from the UK and all doctors

As for rental agreements.... Our company had our own forms but there are some on rentfaster.
http://www.rentfaster.ca/forms.php

That should be about all you need. But make sure you fill it out all right or it could really really really bite you in the back in the future. Make sure everything is signed, dated, and the inspection report is filled out in a very specific manor.

Just some tips I picked up... I'm not sure if that is what you're looking for. Any questions just errr send me a PM

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Not as of yet! Go on......

The message did seem a little fishy:


It was a response to my craigslist posting. Now I definitely think it's a scam. Kinda ashamed I briefly fell for it if true. Thoughts?

Don't be embarassed, but that is definitely somebody phishing. DO NOT send them any more communications or personal information. Report this incident to the bank if you have sent them any info with respect to your accounts.

I got 6 phishing e-mails like this after posting my condo for rent on craigslist for a week... it was brutal. It is probably more worthwhile to post an add in the newspaper after being through this once myself. My craigslist and rent faster ads only generated one genuine hit... It turned out to be my tenant right now but that is not enough to choose from if you ask me. I will be posting an ad in the paper next time I have a vacancy.

As for a rental agreement, PM me for my e-mail address, I can send you one. Have it looked over by a lawyer if you like. I basically typed out an old paper copy of one provided by the Alberta Renters Association (or something like that). Rent faster also has a version that is similar. I picked up a book called "The Essentail Landlord's Kit" that had a bunch of different sheets, but I only really used it for the damage inspection report form.

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE RENTAL TENANCIES ACT BEFORE YOU SIGN OR HAVE ANYONE SIGN YOUR RENTAL TENANCY AGREEMENT. You may have already done this, but I need to make sure that you have done this.

Make sure that you get their Social Insurance Numbers and permission to run a credit check in writing. Also, a rental history check is nice. You can perform both an equifax and transunion credit check (the two major credit bureaus in Canada), as well as a rental history report by registering at www.rentcheckcorp.com. In order to be able to qualify as a landlord with Equifax or TransUnion, which will allow you to go straight to them for reports, you need to have something like 30 tenants total (or something like that). I just did this last month and it cost $130.

Be sure to conduct a damage inspection with the tenant BEFORE giving them the keys to the house. This is for both of your sakes.

You also need to deposit their damage deposit in an interest bearing account. I just plonked mine into a one-year GIC at Royal Bank that technically matures in one year, but you can cash it out after 30 days without interest penalty. Which for me was suitable as my tenants are on month-to-month right now.

Duplicate all keys. Keep all of your receipts.

[photon]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

Make sure that you get their Social Insurance Numbers and permission to run a credit check in writing. Also, a rental history check is nice. You can perform both an equifax and transunion credit check (the two major credit bureaus in Canada), as well as a rental history report by registering at www.rentcheckcorp.com. In order to be able to qualify as a landlord with Equifax or TransUnion, which will allow you to go straight to them for reports, you need to have something like 30 tenants total (or something like that). I just did this last month and it cost $130.

Just one thing, legally they cannot be compelled to give their SIN and you can't really refuse them if they don't (though if they go to the bottom of the application pile, that's fair ). You can still do a credit check without it, it's just a bit more difficult if they have a common name or your other info is incomplete.

I said this in the PM I sent but I'll re-state it here: Landlords make sure and read the privacy act in Alberta, every landlord organization (even if it's just you) is required to have a privacy officer, and there's specific requirements for private information and how it's to be handled.

You also need to deposit their damage deposit in an interest bearing account. I just plonked mine into a one-year GIC at Royal Bank that technically matures in one year, but you can cash it out after 30 days without interest penalty. Which for me was suitable as my tenants are on month-to-month right now.

You don't have to pay out that interest at this point as well, so it is a source of additional (though small) income.

Good advice.

[Frequitude]

Excellent excellent advice everyone. Thank you very much. Some PMs were sent and I'll keep you guys updated on the London doctor just for a laugh.

[Frequitude]

Thanks for your mail. i am indeed
serious about renting this unit and will be willing to offer you
months rent plus the security deposit in order to secure this unit
prior to our arrival.Could you be kind enough to let me know what the electricity/utility
cost would be ?as i will really need to have this unit to myself.
You can send me the lease application ,to enable be review it ahead of
time.i would eventually have it signed physically when i arrive.In my
opinion, appending signatories should be done properly and at best
physically.Please , send me a picture view of the living room and bed
rooms.
This is an international situation .With this arrangement, my
financier in the states,will be effecting your payment deposit to
you.I believe we can work together and ensure every arrangements that
we shall both execute in line with my taking up the tenancy should be
done accordingly to ensure we have a proper understanding.
In view of my work schedule, i would want us to finalise basic
arrangements. I will arrive the canada by the of september,with my
wife and daughter.
If you require any specific Question , pls let me know or you
can call me on my cell phone +447045741262,please dial as
presented for international
calls .
My due regards
Dr.Chips
+447045741262

Right on cue, except Dr. Chip seems to have forgotten to fill in the numbers for arrival date and number of advance checks...

[ken0042]

If you feel like stringing him along.... a few questions to ask:

- What airline and flight number will you be flying in on? I will arrange to have a car meet you at the airport.
- As you are involving two foreign countries in this transaction (which is not what I had in mind when making a local posting) please scan a copy of your airline ticket showing your arrival in Calgary so I can be certain of your being genuine.

I'd also send him a complex rental application.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

could you ask Dr. Chip why it burns every time I pee?

[BlackArcher101]

He sure seems edumacated for a doctor.

[Frequitude]

Dr. Chips,

My local renter fell through, so I am still interested. What date will you be arriving in Calgary and what is your flight number? I will arrange to have a car pick you up at the airport and bring you to my place.

Cheers.

Come onnnnnnn, response.

[photon]

Lol.. I tried stringing a few of these guys along and never got anything back. Mostly I try to get a $20 application fee for out of country apps and then I'll do the western union thing.

[Flames_Gimp]

ya i strung a guy along as well...(that sounds so gay)