Depending upon your type of rental property, location of the property and applicable local ordinances and city/county codes, there are some common practices to help manage traffic flow in rental complexes. As example, you could consider: Traffic signs, the familiar STOP signs placed at intersections within the complex to require drivers to come to a […]

The Fair Housing Act requires all covered multifamily dwellings designed and constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991 to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. Covered multifamily dwellings are all dwelling units in buildings containing four or more units with one or more elevators, and all ground floor units in buildings […]

There are many issues that need to be researched before beginning a construction project. The following are just a few of the issues to consider. Scope of Work You should first define your project. A project description is the scope of work to be performed. The scope of work should identify specifically the work tasks […]

Tenant screenings are the tools to assess the applicant’s potential risk to the landlord’s business. Reference checking of the applicant’s current rental housing and his past rental history is an essential tenant screening. There is no better source of direct information regarding a tenant’s interactions with a landlord and neighboring tenants than reference checking with […]

Setting legally compliant occupancy standards requires careful analysis and understanding of applicable federal, state, and local law, municipal codes, and other published guidance. State and local regulations may differ in their compliance requirements and may be more or less restrictive than federal guidance depending on the circumstances. Landlords must develop occupancy policies that are legally […]

If a judgment debtor does not pay the judgment creditor voluntarily, the creditor will need to explore other ways to collect his judgment. The creditor must first discover whether the debtor has any assets that could satisfy the judgment. If a creditor does not have information about the debtor’s assets, the creditor may find it […]

In most states the landlord or agents of the landlord may access rental property for the business purposes of inspection, repair, alterations, or improvements provided the landlord complies with statutory notice requirements. This could include access to the rental property for contractors, tradespersons, or service technicians. The conditions for notice requirements and reasonable hours of […]

A lease option is an agreement between a landlord/seller and a tenant/buyer where they simultaneously execute a lease agreement for a specific term, with the agreement giving the tenant an option to purchase the property, but not the obligation to do so. The term of the option need not be the same as the term […]

The rental application process is a progressive series of business practices that collectively assess an applicant’s potential risk of lease default. The process provides opportunity for discussion and disclosure of important rental policies and rental standards that may affect a potential tenant’s decision to submit an application, subsequent qualification to standards, and potentially an offer […]

There are basic measures the landlord can take for tenant protections to adequately protect entry to rental units and common areas. Since a landlord has no way of knowing if a tenant has made duplicate keys of his rental unit, and whether those keys have been given to outside persons, the very best policy is […]