Each April the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), together with local communities and fair housing organizations, commemorate Fair Housing Month by hosting community events to highlight HUD’s fair housing enforcement efforts, enhance public awareness of their fair housing rights, and emphasize the importance of ending housing discrimination. In remarks by the HUD […]

The best business practice is to be truthful, and provide information that can be supported by actual experiences, written documents, and tenant records. Contacting landlords for tenant references is an important tenant screening for verifying applicant information. Due diligence is always a requirement for business protections for persons and property. Factual information provided during a […]

When a tenant doesn’t pay the rent on time (beyond any statutory grace period allowed by the lease agreement or required by state law) the landlord should serve the tenant with a “pay or quit” notice. If rent is not paid by the end of the period required by state law, the landlord can take […]

Whether it is a good idea to install a new heating/cooling system rather than continuing to have an old one repaired depends on (1) your future plans for the property; (2) for a rental where you pay the electricity, the reduction of operating expense expected; (3) for a rental where the tenant pays the electricity, […]

Co-employment is a business model used by professional employment organizations (PEOs) to partner with small to mid-size businesses to cost effectively outsource the management of human resources, including employee benefits administration, safety and risk management, regulatory compliances, tax filings, payroll processing, workers compensation and other employee-related benefits and services. The business organization (client) and PEO […]

Rental property inspections are conducted for a variety of reasons to assess the condition of the property in order to protect (1) the owner’s financial investment, (2) the physical property, and (3) tenants’ health and safety. The owner/landlord inspects his property to make sure the tenants are compliant with lease terms and conditions; there is […]

There can be many reasons why allowing tenants to do repairs is not a good idea. Depending upon the scope of work and the tenant’s skills and abilities, there could be issues related to legal responsibilities, quality of work, liability, possible worker’s compensation insurances, unemployment insurance, income tax liabilities, potential mechanic’s liens, and an unhappy […]

While the Fair Housing Act covers most housing, in very limited circumstances, the Act exempts owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent, and housing operated by religious organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members. The Act provides an […]

Tenant onboarding welcomes the new tenant to the rental unit by providing detailed information on rental policies, procedures, rules and regulations. The onboarding practice helps the tenant understand his/her legal obligations and duties by landlord-tenant statutes and by the lease terms and conditions. The goal of the onboarding session is to familiarize the tenant with […]

Tenant hoarding can affect the health and safety of the resident tenant, his neighboring tenants, and the landlord and his rental staff. Hoarding can create health and safety issues such as unsanitary living conditions, fire hazards, pest infestations, mold, plumbing failures, blocked entry/exit passages, trip and fall hazards, and potentially, structural damage to the rental […]