Oops, landlord saw tenant _ _ _ ed!

I recently read a blog post about a landlord who walked in on one of his tenants at an inconvenient time. And I thought it might be worthwhile to pass along in the hope that you can avoid making the same faux pas.

This landlord does routine maintenance on his rental homes. And one afternoon he stopped by a rental house to change the air-conditioning filter. No cars were in the driveway or carport. He knocked a few times on the door. No answer. So he let himself in.

He walked down the hall with his ladder and new filter in hand. As he was passing one of the bedrooms, he saw the tenant with her back towards him sitting at a computer. She was stark naked with nothing but her headphones on. She caught his reflection in the monitor and jumped up screaming for him to get to the f*@# out!

The poor guy tried to explain that he hadn’t seen any cars out front and knocked on the door before entering. The tenant, still fuming, told him to leave and in the future give proper notice before entering.

It turned out the tenant’s car broke down the night before and was at the mechanic’s shop. And she was able to work from home that day. The headset was so she could listen to a recorded conference call, which kept her from hearing the landlord’s knocks on the door.

Fortunately, the tenant eventually cooled down and overlooked what had happened. But it could have easily turned the other direction. She could have called the police; she could have tried to sue the landlord; or she could have tied to break her lease. Even if the landlord would have escaped legal repercussions, his cost in time and money could have been significant.

States have laws on how much notice you need to give to enter a rental. For example, here in Florida you need to give 12-hours notice to make repairs. In Connecticut it’s “reasonable notice,” whatever that means.

I suggest you become familiar with your State’s law. You can find a source here. It just might save you an embarrassing moment.

And for more tips on managing your rentals, order a copy of What You Must Know BEFORE Becoming a Greedy Landlord today. 

How to walk the tightrope of raising tenants’ rents

You likely find that the cost of operating your rental homes continues to increase year after year. Be it labor, insurance, or taxes … rarely do prices fall. And that’s not even considering a big expense, such a complete air conditioning system. So where does that leave you when it comes time to renew a tenant’s lease and raise the rent? It makes the decision even harder if you have a good tenant you’d hate to lose.  

We still live in a free market society; you can try to charge whatever you want. But to stay in business your rents do have to stay in line with the supply and demand in your area. What’s more, I’d rather have a good tenant who pays $1,200 a month than a problem tenant who pays $1,500.

Most tenants are honest, hard-working people who simply want a decent place to live. So run your rentals like a business that has customers. And if you want to keep good, long-term tenants who will not balk at a reasonable rent increase, be proactive.

That means inspect regularly, respond quickly, and be creative. Look at how to improve things throughout the year. Reward early payments, offer extra services like direct deposit, or tenant insurance. Even a gift certificate to a local pizza joint can go a long way.

Other good gestures, for example new paint or carpet or even a security system if they pay the monthly monitoring, could also assure tenants that they’re getting their money’s worth.  

Want more ideas on how to become a successful landlord? Then click here to order your copy of What You Must Know BEFORE Becoming a Greedy Landlord.