If you receive frequent complaints about noise you should investigate the possible sources of noise disturbance. If the noise is persistently coming from a particular source that is within your control i.e. a tenant on your rental property, you must address the issue with the offending party and take appropriate action. If the noise is […]

Noise is one of the most common tenant complaints in multi-family housing. You should take their complaints seriously and respond with an acknowledgement of the complaints. Ignoring a complaint from tenants is never a good business practice. Listen to what your tenants say is the problem. If this is their first rental they may not […]

Strong lease clauses protect the landlord’s business. A strong lease is a risk management tool to defend against known risks and a risk preventative measure for unexpected events. A lease agreement is a legal contract that governs the landlord-tenant relationship. The lease transfers possession, use and enjoyment of the rental premises from the landlord to […]

First check your state statutes and local ordinances to see if home-based businesses are addressed by statute or codes. Whether you should allow a tenant to operate a home-based business from your rental unit may also depend upon the type of business and the business practices involved. Some cities or jurisdictions may have ordinances that […]

Potentially the issue of most concern is that you and your friend don’t formalize the arrangement as a business relationship of landlord and tenant. A landlord should always keep his professional life separate from his personal life. If your friend rents from you, you are his landlord.  You should require your friend to follow the […]

You should research what your state’s statutes say regarding the issue. An oral lease in most states is a legal contract enforceable against landlord and tenant if the rental term is month-to-month or for a term of one year or less. However as a practical business matter, all leases of any duration should be in […]

Typically landlords require a new tenant to pay the first month’s rent and a security deposit at the time of move-in. Some landlords also collect the last month’s rent as well. Whether the practice of collecting last month’s rent is a good business practice may depend upon the landlord’s business necessity and/or market conditions.  Whether […]

Employers use pre-employment screenings to quickly and effectively qualify an applicant to determine if the applicant can be advanced as a candidate for employment. While application forms serve to collect basic applicant information, written and/or oral questions asked during pre-employment screenings provide additional information to determine if the applicant’s qualifications meet job requirements. With appropriate […]

Compensation for a resident manager may be dependent upon the manager’s duties and responsibilities, the number of hours worked, the work schedule (days and time), on-call availability, employee benefits, and comparable wages/salary paid for similar job positions in the local rental community. Compensation can be paid as a flat salary or by an hourly wage. […]

Once the decision to employ a resident manager is made, your next consideration is to define the manager’s duties and responsibilities. By writing a detailed job description, you have a better idea of the skills and knowledge required for the job, how to determine the expected work schedule, and what to offer in compensation. For […]