How To Rent Your House Now Blog

OK, in this post I want to answer a very common question I get from tenants so I can help you as a Landlord understand the matter better.

The question is of course, “If my Landlord doesn’t fix xyz, can I stop paying rent?”.

The simple answer is “no”. You must ALWAYS pay your rent. But you do have recourse using the Courts or Landlord and Tenant board. The tenant can file a complaint after first informing the Landlord in writing of the problem that needs fixed and waiting the time period in the act.

Recently, a Landlord came to me with this same question. The tenant was withholding money for repairs which were verbally explained to him and never written down (big mistake on the tenant’s part). He asked if the tenant was allowed to do this and I said no way!

It happened to be a particularly bad tenant the Landlord was trying to remove in order to sell the property anyway and the thing the tenant did not realize is he opened up the door that would have himself removed that much faster.

In other words, if the tenant is not paying rent, serve them with an eviction for non-payment of rent immediately. The process can be found in more detail under this blog post (How To Evict a Tenant).

OK, I happen to know this particular Landlord would NEVER let his properties get in bad shape and it was simply the tenants way to stop paying rent (AKA, steal from the Landlord).

So Landlords, never let a tenant not pay rent for any reason. If something needs fixed, have them submit in writing to you a maintenance request and FIX IT!

If you are a tenant that happens upon this post, be sure to be active in your tenancy. If work is required and is not being completed, don’t just stop paying rent (as you are going to be kicked out for this). Instead, use the process the legal system has in place to remedy it.

As always, good luck with your own rentals.

Best, John

Top 3 House-For-Rent Questions

Most people ask me these three questions when they know I do house rentals.

1. How do I get rid of a bad tenant?
2. How do I rent a house fast (or rent a house that just won’t rent)?
3. What rental paperwork do I need to have/complete?

Let’s take them one at a time.

1) How do I get rid of a bad tenant?

It’s actually very simple and can be achieved in as little as 20 days but more likely a little over a month.

Eviction for non-payment of rent is of course the most common method. Usually a bad tenant to me is a non-paying tenant so this works out perfect. You can read How-to-evict-a-tenant for more info on evictions.

The other method is to of course pay them off. I have forgiven a month’s owed rent in return for an immediate vacancy of the property. Do not  go overboard on this and do a cost analysis. In other words, which is cheaper: eviction proceedings or forgiving money you were never going to see anyway? Be sure to have them sign the appropriate paperwork. In my area, I can have them sign a form that if they do not vacate by the agreed upon date, I can file a much faster eviction.

2) How do I rent my house fast?

Simple answer! By knowing how to market your property in these current times.

But what does that mean?

It means finding out how people are searching for rental properties in your area. In my area, that happens to be using Kijiji.ca. In some areas Craigslist.com may do better or even a local news advertiser. I strongly advise against using a larger newspaper as all you will get is useless calls instead of qualified leads.

Having trouble renting? Something is wrong then as the rental market is huge right now in this current economic climate. Is it the property’s condition? Perhaps the price is just a bit steep. Either way, remedy both quickly.

3) What Paperwork do I Need?

Renters Application: Be sure to use an application to weed out any potential problems as well as to gauge a future tenant’s reactions.

Credit Check: Available online. Check out the link to the right >>>

Lease or Rental Agreement: Perhaps the most common form you will need for your property. Knowing the difference between the two and what is important in the contract is vital.

Rental Receipt: By law, you are to provide your tenant with this document when asked. Be sure it contains all the relevant information the law requires. You can find a rental receipt template here.

Checklists: No one can remember everything all the time. I make use of rental checklists to make sure I am not missing anything as well as to have all the information in one place in the case of an eviction. It is hard for a bad tenant to fight against pure evidence and these checklists will provide that.

Many more questions are answered in my “House To Rent Your House Now Package” and I am even including audio and video of more common rental questions.

Good luck with your own rentals,

John

As always, you can send me your rental questions to rentitnow@hotmail.com.

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HOW TO RENT YOUR HOUSE

Enjoy!