Thanks
to the overabundance of lawyers, the days of verbal agreements meaning anything
are all but gone. So instructions you give a new tenant on what they should do
if they have a problem must be in writing. Otherwise if you end up in court,
you could be out of luck.
I suggest
putting together a one-inch thick binder — a Tenant Handbook. I say a
binder rather than a pile of papers stapled together, because then it is more
likely to stay in the open, such as on the kitchen counter with cookbooks. You
might want to put the lease in this binder, too.
Among
the items you should include:
What to
do if the toilet overflows? Turn off the water at the base of the toilet. Show
them how to use a plunger.
What to
do if the water supply to the washer springs a leak? Turn it off.
How to
turn off the water supply to the house.
What to
do if a circuit breaker trips? Breakers trip for a reason. Don’t turn it back
on.
You
might think that someone with average intelligence would know how to shut off
water pouring out from under a kitchen sink. But believe me, some people just
don’t. Or just don’t care. And guess who gets stuck paying to clean up the
mess.
For
more ideas on buying and managing rental properties, pick up a copy of What You Must Know BEFORE Becoming a Greedy
Landlord. It’s available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon.
You can also order it from Barnes
& Noble, Booklocker,
iTunes,
and kobo.
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