Rental Property Tenant Question

[Ruttiger]

I currently have a tenant that has been in my rental unit since June - she's a very tidy, pleasant, low-maintenance tenant - so far so good.

Her boyfriend is being transferred to Calgary and she is interested in having him move in - what things should I consider, look out for? Obviously I'd get an application from him, but is there any reason to increase rent with more people in the unit? Anything else to take into account?

Thanks CP.....

[photon]

Process his application just like you would process anyone else's. Amend the current rental agreement (or make a new one) so that they're named as a tenant on the agreement (which makes them 100% responsible).

I wouldn't think an increase is totally necessary unless utilities are included or something; but if you can and they go for it then go for it, I'd hate to lose a good tenant over a small increase though so that's something to judge.

[topfiverecords]

I understand the interest landlords have in increasing the rent for an additional person to cover increases in utilities, however unless you stipulated at the time of rental that the monthly rent would be different for a couple as opposed to a single person I find it unreasonable. If I'm a renter, why should you now be charging more if you weren't going to if you rented to a couple in the first place.

[photon]

Actually that's a good point, I forgot you said since June, you can't increase the rent no matter what, you can only increase the rent once a year.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Photon has covered it. Just make sure you're treating them as a new renter and getting them on paper.
IMO, a rental increase would be unfair. If you rented to a couple, they broke up and one moved out would you decrease rent? Unlikely

[Ruttiger]

Thanks for the feedback. To be clear, I wasn't angling for a way to raise rent - I was just wondering if there was a need to do it with more people in the space - just wanted perspectives.

[REDVAN]

I wouldn't raise the rent.

As for the lease- if you agree to the new person being an "additional occupant" I don't think you need to re-draft anything else. I was once an additional occupant and was treated just like the lessee (sp?).

[photon]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

If you rented to a couple, they broke up and one moved out would you decrease rent? Unlikely

I actually did that once! Figured it was better to work with her than to kick her out.

But she left 6 trips to the dump worth of garbage when she moved out. No good deed goes unpunished.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by photon

I actually did that once! Figured it was better to work with her than to kick her out.

But she left 6 trips to the dump worth of garbage when she moved out. No good deed goes unpunished.

And why good deeds are so few and far between. When I leave my place (which may be soon) I will shampoo the carpets, fill the nail holes in the wall, and install the cameras in appropriate places. Wait what?!

I believe in Karma. Not the religious karma but that the good deed you do make you walk taller and prouder kind of karma. Doing those good deeds brings you closer to your happiness. /cheese

The fact you did that has nothing to do with her, but everything to do with you photon. It's these good deeds that make us who we are.

However, I do believe that an extra individual is extra wear and tear. If the extra individual leaves then that is less wear and tear. Put this in the original document and you're good to go.

I was under the understanding that the rent could be changed 3 times a year?

[the-rasta-masta]

Didn't want to start a new thread, but I have a question.

I work downtown in Finance at an Oil and Gas company, and my landlord constantly hounds me on the first of each month to come and meet him halfway across downtown to give him the rent cheque. I am busy at work with lunch meetings/deadlines, and I find it unreasonable of him to expect me to take a half hour out of my day to walk over and hand him the cheque. I always tell him I can make myself available on weekends/after work to wait at the property for him to come pick it up, and he replies that he needs to be at the bank prior to that.

Yesterday I told him off by saying I find it ridiculous that he expects me to take time out of my working day to deliver a cheque for him, and that he can come to my office and I will run down and give it to him if it is so urgent. I also offered to pay via email transfer each month, but he does not accept that method of payment.

I know that post dated cheques would solve this problem, but I have been living here for 5 months now, and with a few repairs that I have been waiting on that are still not resolved, and meeting this landlord to give him rent is the only time I can get any response out of him for the entire month. (His excuses are that the repair is delayed because parts are on backorder... I need a fawcet fixed, and it seems like a fairly run of the mill fawcet...not buying this excuse.)

Anyways, again he is hounding me today to come meet him and I wanted to get some idea as to how this issue actually boils down.... is it my perogative to "deliver" the rent to him each month, or should he be coming by the property after work hours (which I will always make myself available for)...

Just wanted to know the specifics before I open this can of worms with him...

[mrkajz44]

Two things:

1. If he's not fixing what needs to be fixed in a timely manner I believe it would be prudent for you to withhold rent until the problem is fixed. As long as a reasonable amount of time has passed since the issue arose, it is the landlord's responsibility to fix it before collecting.

2. I look at the payment this way. You are obiligated to pay your rent. However, unless you for some reason agreed to deliver it in person, you are under no obligation to deliver the rent personally. That being said, keeping a landlord happy can be helpful if the delivery is not a huge issue. Pesonallly, I'd make a stand and see what he does

[MaDMaN_26]

Possibly helpful?
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/R17P1.pdf

I know he should be fixing your faucet but I do not how you enforce this. Also the fact he wants the check hand delivered each month is a sign I think he is living hand to mouth with it... possibly explaining why it so tough to get him to spend money on other things.

Is it just a washer? whats broken? I have heard before often its easier to simply fix small things yourself... Sure its not "fair" but time/effort vs. inconvenience comparisons are in order. if bills are not included and say the hot water is constantly leaking its probably costing you more to wait on him.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by fotze

You can raise rent for that? What if someone starts a relationship and it turns into sleepovers, at what point can you start charging more rent? 3 nights a week, having sex?

For my tenants there is a clause built into the rental agreement that states if someone moves in that wasn't on the original rental agreement, rent goes up by a certain amount. I think it's $25 or so. It's built into the agreement, nor for monetary gain, but if they become problem tenants, start harbouring extra people and it can be used as an eviction technique for non-payment of rent.

That being said, both my places are 1 + Dens and are rented by couples. I didn't raise rent after the first year, as they are both perfect tenants and my life would not change at all by receiving an extra $25 or $50 per month. The comfort I have in knowing they are taking good care of my condos is worth the $25 a month I could be earning if I rented to someone else. I'm not sure they would move out with rent going from $1,200 to $1,225, but I didn't see a need for it this year. If I owned many more properties, than $25 and $50 increases become much more substantial in total dollars.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

I was under the understanding that the rent could be changed 3 times a year?

It depends on how frequently you charge rent and how long the rental agreement is for.

[photon]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

I work downtown in Finance at an Oil and Gas company, and my landlord constantly hounds me on the first of each month to come and meet him halfway across downtown to give him the rent cheque. I am busy at work with lunch meetings/deadlines, and I find it unreasonable of him to expect me to take a half hour out of my day to walk over and hand him the cheque. I always tell him I can make myself available on weekends/after work to wait at the property for him to come pick it up, and he replies that he needs to be at the bank prior to that.

You are responsible to pay the rent to the landlord on the first of the month (or the date the rental agreement specifies), banks don't wait to take out the mortgages, so I think it's obvious that the rent would need to be paid on time as well.

Unless there's some sort of provision in the agreement, how you get the rent to the landlord on time is your responsibility. Expecting Enmax to come to your house to pick up your electricity payment, or Shaw/Telus to come pick up your payment for your Internet isn't reasonable.

If I had to go to every single tenant and collect from them every month, that would eat up at least two days of each month, and I don't have that many tenants.

If you can't hand deliver it, put it in the mail (early) so that they receive it before the first of the month. Or do post-dated cheques. Or send it via courier. Or drop it off before work, or the weekend before, or any number of other options.

Post-dated cheques makes the most sense.

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

Yesterday I told him off by saying I find it ridiculous that he expects me to take time out of my working day to deliver a cheque for him, and that he can come to my office and I will run down and give it to him if it is so urgent. I also offered to pay via email transfer each month, but he does not accept that method of payment.

So send post-dated cheques, or send it by mail early. He's not obligated to come to you; the rental agreement includes his address where the rent should be paid to, you are responsible to make sure the rent gets there on time.

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

I know that post dated cheques would solve this problem, but I have been living here for 5 months now, and with a few repairs that I have been waiting on that are still not resolved, and meeting this landlord to give him rent is the only time I can get any response out of him for the entire month. (His excuses are that the repair is delayed because parts are on backorder... I need a fawcet fixed, and it seems like a fairly run of the mill fawcet...not buying this excuse.)

The repairs are a separate issue; unless said repairs are causing the property to not meet the standards of health and safety, the rent and maintenance issues are separate.

If you can't get a response out of him about repairs and he's just a bad landlord, then you can either work with him or move, but you can't tie rental payments to it.

If getting in contact with him to discuss these issues is important and you want to be able to see him face to face while giving a rent cheque, I think that's a decent idea, but it still needs to fit within giving the rent on time, so the weekend before the rent is due you can give it to him then.

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

Anyways, again he is hounding me today to come meet him and I wanted to get some idea as to how this issue actually boils down.... is it my perogative to "deliver" the rent to him each month, or should he be coming by the property after work hours (which I will always make myself available for)...

You are responsible to pay the rent on time to the proper address. Some landlords will pick up rent as a convenience, but any landlord that has more than a few properties that would obviously not be a reasonable thing to expect, anymore than expecting Fido to come to your house and get the $ for your cell phone.

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

Just wanted to know the specifics before I open this can of worms with him...

Rather than opening a can of worms, how about trying to work with him.

Give him post-dated cheques for the rent, that will resolve the whole "who goes to whom" issue.

Tell him you understand things can get busy and missed, ask if there's anything you can do to help facilitate the repair. Say that you can arrange the repair as long as the repair guy can call the landlord to arrange payment or something.

There are times when I've simply forgotten repairs that were important just because I had so many things going on.. The tenants don't see that, and it's not my intent to not repair things, it's just sometimes things get missed.

Or he could just really be a crappy landlord, in which case you can either put up with it, or find a better place and landlord.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

1. If he's not fixing what needs to be fixed in a timely manner I believe it would be prudent for you to withhold rent until the problem is fixed. As long as a reasonable amount of time has passed since the issue arose, it is the landlord's responsibility to fix it before collecting.

That's a good way to get evicted. The tenant cannot unilaterally withhold rent for any reason other than not receiving a copy of the rental agreement to start tenancy. Even if the conditions of the property are unsanitary the tenant is required to pay the rent every month.

[photon]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Two things:

1. If he's not fixing what needs to be fixed in a timely manner I believe it would be prudent for you to withhold rent until the problem is fixed. As long as a reasonable amount of time has passed since the issue arose, it is the landlord's responsibility to fix it before collecting.

This is illegal. Unless it's a health and safety issue (i.e. no heat, no water, dangerous walls falling down), you cannot withhold rent for that reason.

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

2. I look at the payment this way. You are obiligated to pay your rent. However, unless you for some reason agreed to deliver it in person, you are under no obligation to deliver the rent personally. That being said, keeping a landlord happy can be helpful if the delivery is not a huge issue. Pesonallly, I'd make a stand and see what he does

You are obligated to pay the rent at the address specified on the rental agreement (or otherwise specified place of business in the agreement), why would the expectation be that someone has to come collect on your obligations?

[photon]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

For my tenants there is a clause built into the rental agreement that states if someone moves in that wasn't on the original rental agreement, rent goes up by a certain amount. I think it's $25 or so. It's built into the agreement, nor for monetary gain, but if they become problem tenants, start harbouring extra people and it can be used as an eviction technique for non-payment of rent.

That's a great idea! I haven't had much problem with this, but it does happen from time to time.

The other thing I'm doing more lately is putting new tenants on fixed 3 or six month terms to start with with the wording being that unless otherwise agreed upon by both parties the tenancy ends.

While it might increase turnover a bit, I'm finding I have less a problem with turnover and more a problem with terrible tenants despite looking good on paper, and this give us a "trial" period that I can just choose not to extend and they have to leave.. a periodic I'd have to go to court and all that jazz, this way I figure there's no agreement they're squatters!

Haven't had to enforce it yet though.

Originally Posted by squiggs96

That being said, both my places are 1 + Dens and are rented by couples. I didn't raise rent after the first year, as they are both perfect tenants and my life would not change at all by receiving an extra $25 or $50 per month. The comfort I have in knowing they are taking good care of my condos is worth the $25 a month I could be earning if I rented to someone else. I'm not sure they would move out with rent going from $1,200 to $1,225, but I didn't see a need for it this year. If I owned many more properties, than $25 and $50 increases become much more substantial in total dollars.

THIS!!!

I don't know how many times one of my properties with partners where the partners what to raise rents whenever possible and we've lost good tenants for it.. over and over and over. One month vacant and you've lost more than the increase would have gained. They never listen.

[photon]

Originally Posted by fotze

You probably don't forget the collecting of the money part of being a landlord do ya?

To be honest I do, my wife usually gives me a list of tenants that we don't have cheques for around the middle of the month (lots of tenants forget what they've sent too), and there's been far more times that I've procrastinated with it until AFTER the 1st than there should be.

My worst record so far is forgetting almost whole month for one person, they called me to ask why the rent hadn't been taken out yet.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by photon

The other thing I'm doing more lately is putting new tenants on fixed 3 or six month terms to start with with the wording being that unless otherwise agreed upon by both parties the tenancy ends.

While it might increase turnover a bit, I'm finding I have less a problem with turnover and more a problem with terrible tenants despite looking good on paper, and this give us a "trial" period that I can just choose not to extend and they have to leave.. a periodic I'd have to go to court and all that jazz, this way I figure there's no agreement they're squatters!

Haven't had to enforce it yet though.

For both of my places I had them on one year fixed term leases. I had never been a landlord before, so I was a little nervous about getting into it. A guy at work suggested it and I think it's great. I approached each one 8 weeks before the end of the contract and since they were both good, asked if they wanted to renew for another year. If they wanted a different term I'd work with them, but I was not going to go on a month to month. Both accepted and we are all happy.