Tenants | Renting Well

2013 Rent Increases for Canadian Landlords

We’re a couple of weeks into 2013! We’ve compiled a list of the allowable provincial rent increases for Canadian landlords, for tenancies that fall into 2013. Keep in mind – not all provinces have rent controls. Here goes.

Ontario‘s 2013 rent increase is 2.5 %. You can check it out here.
In Quebec, some specific rules apply to residential rent increases. For leases longer than 12 months, the landlord and the tenant are free to adjust the rent during the course of the lease. If the duration of the lease is 12 months or less, the rent may not be increased during the course of the lease. There is no cap on rent increases or fixed rates of increase however the tenant must be given proper notice in writing. Read about it here.
Prince Edward Island‘s allowable 2013 rent increase is 5% for a heated premises, 3% for an un-heated one, and 1.5% for a mobile dwelling in a mobile park . You can check it out here.
British Columbia‘s allowable increase for 2013 is 3.8%. You can check it out here.
In Manitoba, the allowable rent increase for 2013 is 1%. Read about it here.
Saskatchewan‘s details are here. No increases are allowed during a fixed-term lease unless the landlord and the tenant agree to the amount of the increase and time when an increase is to come into effect at the time they enter into the fixed term tenancy.
There are no rent controls in Alberta. Rent can only be increased if there has not been a rent increase within the previous 365 days or since the start of the tenancy, whichever is later. Before the rent can be increased the landlord must give proper written notice. For mobile home sites, 180 days notice must be given by the landlord to raise the rent. Read about it here.
In Nova Scotia, the allowable rent increase for 2013 is 3%. Read about it here.
There are no rent controls in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. A landlord may not increase the rent for a rental premises more than once every 12 months. The landlord must give at least 3 month’s written notice of the increase. Check out the act here. Special note on section 47.1
There are no rent controls in Yukon. A landlord may not increase the rent for a rental premises more than once every 12 months and not within the first year of a formal tenancy. The landlord must give at least 3 month’s written notice of the increase. You can read more here.

What To Do When You’re Not Getting Paid in Ontario: Serving an N4 and Submitting an L1

The business of owning rental property includes a very important element in the relationship between a landlord and their tenants. Getting paid the rent.

You’re a landlord and your tenant’s check just bounced. This is the beginning of what could be a real pain. Believe it or not, many private residential landlords in Ontario aren’t that well equipped to handle the situation and don’t know the legal route to go about addressing it. Part of this is because the process is ridiculously complicated if you’re going the board route. I don’t see how anyone can disagree with this, but if you do, feel free to comment here. I’ve personally done this 3 times since becoming a landlord and came away from the first time feeling like learning how to fly a commercial airliner would be simpler. I wanted to put this together to simplify this process with the Ontario LTB for readers and users alike, because it doesn’t have to be this hard. I just think someone needs to boil it down. That’s why I had a great conversation today with The Terminator. No, not Arnold. I’m talking about April Stewart over at Landlord Legal.

April’s an expert when it comes to this kind of thing, and she’s seen a lot of small landlords in Ontario make a big mistake with the basics when you don’t get paid. Serving an N4 to a tenant in arrears and submitting an L1 to the Ontario LTB is not easy. If it were, she wouldn’t be in business. If you’re not familiar with April – you should be. She dropped some valuable tips through the course of writing this post and she’s a passionate advocate for landlord’s rights.

Ok – first things first. Bookmark this link. This is the page at the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board for termination notices. This is where you’re going to print and use the forms required to address an issue of non payment – not to mention a whole bunch of other stuff. We’re just focusing on what to do when you don’t get paid here though, for now.

1: Reaction and Preparedness with an N4

Whether you’ve received a post dated bum check (which can take up to a few days for you to realize with a bank) or whether the tenant pays you by an agreed date and simply has not given you the rent, it’s important that you’re always prepared. If a check bounces, you need to hop on this right away. If it’s 12:01 a.m. on the second day of the month, and you still don’t have money – you need to react. This is the single biggest mistake landlords will make. Not reacting quickly enough. I’ll get into this in a little more detail further into this post. You need to fill out two of the N4 forms. One for the tenant, and one for you (for your records). Always fill out two. Here are the other important things you need to do.

Know the “termination date“. That’s the date you’ve indicated, according to the law, that acts as kind of a line in the sand. The termination date is: 14 days after the landlord gives you the notice, if you rent by the month or year, or 7 days after the landlord gives you the notice, if you rent by the day or week. As an example. If they pay you on the first of the month, and at 12:01 a.m. on the 2nd of the month you still don’t have your rent, you would list the termination date as the 16th if they rent by the month or year, and the 9th if they rent by the day or the week. Ensuring that the termination date is correctly indicated is hugely important when filling out an N4. Make sure they’re correct. If you get paid by post dated check, and the bank takes 3-5 days to show the check as NSF – your dates would need to fall in line with this. It’s not retroactive to the first of the month – it’s 14 or 7 days from the service of the notice. If you make an error with dates, the board reserves the right to consider the notice improperly served and you’re back at square one if that happens.
Don’t make a mistake with serving the notice. Taping a notice to the door of a unit will get you in trouble and can lead to a dismissal of your application. The best route with this, is to personally drop it off in a mailbox, and record the date of the service of the notice. One of the ways you can do this, is by using the Renting Well logbook (shameless plug) and plugging a scan of your copy into the logbook entry. Keep your copy of the notice as a duplicate. Have a timeline of events. Here’s another few tips courtesy of April Stewart. If the mailbox is shared by other tenants, don’t serve it that way. If the mailbox is only for newspapers and flyers and not Canada Post mail, don’t serve it that way either. You can serve under the door of a unit, as long as the envelope goes all the way into the unit – but whatever you do, don’t open the door and toss it in, as that’s illegal entry! For out of town landlords who can’t serve personally, hire a reputable process serving company, not a fly-by-nighter. If you must serve by regular mail or Express Post, add 5 days to the termination date – another common mistake that will deem your N4 defective if not done right! April recommends NEVER serving via Registered Mail – it’s outdated and tenants tend to refuse the delivery in any event.

At this point, the tenant has either 14 or 7 days to pay you. Let’s just assume they don’t pay you though. Booya. You need an L1.

2. The L1 form – Application to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent and to collect rent the tenant owes

This part kind of sucks, mainly because you need to file with the board and dish out $170 filing fee. The good news is that if you win, the tenant will have to pay that all back to you. Keep in mind, this is if you win a judgement.

The form is relatively straightforward, however, a couple of things to note:

You need to submit this application at the least the DAY AFTER the termination date as indicate in your N4. This is super important. If you do it before, you’re back to square one.
You need to include your copy of the N4 your served the tenant, as well as your certificate of service for the N4.
Make sure your dates are correct, your math is right, and that you’ve signed the form.

I always recommend visiting the LTB office in your city and filing the application personally. Do it in person. Know why? They’ll issue a hearing date and give you the essentials you’ll require to serve your tenant the same day. Otherwise, you’re waiting for it to be processed and then sent to you via the mail – and that’s just a whole bunch of extra days you don’t need tacked onto the whole thing. Here’s a list of the offices in all of Ontario. I’ve experienced the first hand pain in the butt of faxing it in, and then it not being received by the office for whatever reason. Do it in person if you can. If you fax it in, it could take a few days if not longer.

You’ll receive a hearing notice (for both you and the tenant), a receipt of your payment of the filing fee ($170), and a certificate of service – what you’ll need to provide the tenant at least 10 days before the hearing. This is another one of those things where I suggest ensuring the service has been done personally. If you can “give” it to the tenant in person – great. Don’t make a mistake with serving the notice of hearing. Taping a notice to the door of a unit will get you in trouble and can lead to a potential dismissal of your claim. Drop it in the mailbox if you can’t get them in person. Again, If the mailbox is only for newspapers and flyers and not Canada Post mail, don’t serve it that way either. You can serve under the door of a unit, as long as the envelope goes all the way into the unit – but whatever you do, don’t open the door and toss it in, as that’s illegal entry!

Again, the logbook in Renting Well is handy for things like this. Having a timeline of when the payment was late, the serving of the N4, the application of the L1, and ultimately the notice of hearing and the certificate of service in a nice little packet of chronological info with notes is helpful in organization when you do visit the board. Even saving scans of the documents ensures you’re all up to speed in one spot. You don’t have to go by memory, you don’t have to juggle paperwork, and it’s useful when referencing dates.

When the hearing date comes – and assuming your tenant shows up – one of two things is going to happen. You’re going to be offered mediation or you’re going to go into your hearing and sit in front of an adjudicator. If you’re at this point, you’ve followed the steps correctly.

Do you have any stories about an N4 and an L1 in Ontario? Share them!

Rethink Your Rental Listings

You have an apartment for rent. It’s awesome. You are going to rent the hell out of it, right? Quickly too! You’re going to hit up Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Tumblr, every directory you can get your mouse on, and you’re going to print up flyers and put up a sign in the window. You’r aiming for such an overwhelming amount of interest that you’re convinced you’ll have to choose which amazing potential tenant you rent it to. Wait a second.

There’s this company called J. Turner Research in Texas that conducts research specifically for the apartment industry. They released the results of a survey they conducted on over 41,000 people in the multi family market, that aimed to identify preferences that apartment hunters have when finding a new place to live. The results are interesting…you can read the press release here. Keep in mind, this is an American survey, but for the purposes of the point I’m making, it’s pertinent.

a compelling majority (95 percent) of the 41,303 respondents to the initial 29-question survey said they did not visit Facebook or Twitter during their apartment search. However, 74 percent of respondents reported using ratings and reviews sites, and additionally reported on their perception of the trustworthiness of each site used during the search process.

The top three things that the majority of those surveyed looked for were:

The price
A floor plan
What the neighbourhood is like

When asked for the sources used during their apartment search, prospects reported focusing primarily on Internet Listing Sites (65 percent), drive-by (39 percent), and referrals from friends and family members (24 percent) as the top three search channels for finding a new apartment. Interesting. Hold your horses if you’re about to publish your listing to Facebook or if you’re going to tweet it.

So what does this tell us?

Apparently no one cares about social media when it comes to looking for a place to live. They seem to prefer listings sites. It also indicates the importance of really being thorough in creating an apartment listing – whether you’re publishing to Craigslist or using a service like PadMapper or Kijiji. The more quality information you have on there, the better. The better the info, the easier your search is going to be for a new tenant and the easier it is for a potential renter to determine whether your unit is a good fit for them. “Thorough” isn’t just giving the breakdown on square footage or including a crappy photo you took with your iPhone. It’s putting together something attractive and compelling, and one of the main reasons we created our handy listings feature in Renting Well. If you’re using our service – it’s awesome! (shameless plug).

With that said – let me give you a breakdown. What is a “quality” listing? It’s explained quite well at The Rentables, here. It goes into a few things in the post, but there’s a few items that really jump out here….

Images. This isn’t a classified section from the 1918 edition of the National Post. Not having them is going into a showing hopeful that they like the way a place looks – and that’s a waste of time. Also, if you’re not including them, don’t you think that gives someone the impression that the place is probably not very nice? What are you hiding? Include images – and not just one or two. Include specific images of specific spaces. Bathrooms. Kitchens. Bedrooms. You need a solid set of images that create a serious sense of the unit for people to be able to digest. On the same note, don’t inundate a listing with 50 images – especially crappy ones. That’s not a good idea. 10-15 images is a good basis, and they shouldn’t be photos that simply change the angle of the same space. Differentiate – and ensure they’re good shots.
Think about your headline and the body of listing. You don’t have to be a copy writer for a major advertising agency – but the first few words in a listing will be important in making a first impression. For the body of your listing, avoid empty words, get right to the point, and sell the sizzle, not the steak as the piece says. Don’t use ALL CAPS. You’re not yelling at people, and it makes you look a jerk. Also, avoid using words like “nice”, “beautiful”, and “great”. Those are so overused. Real estate agents use those words about a million times a day. Here’s an example – instead of saying “Great 1 bedroom apartment for rent” – how about, “Spacious 1 bedroom flat for rent”. That sounds more refined and less robotic. Approach the words in your listing with a question about whether it’s distinctive.
Be specific and clear about expectations. If you aren’t ok with pets, say so. If you’d prefer no smoking in the unit, dont be afraid to say it. Do you want interested renters that are well qualified, or do you just want tons of phone calls and emails looking for clarification?
Details. Include them. Amenities. A walk score. The distance to a laundromat. The proximity to a grocery store or a bank. Bus routes.

The point is…start a search for a new tenant strategically. Market your listings effectively. Have pride in what you’re offering, and put it out there in a way that gets the best return on your time and money, versus the quickest.

The Stripper With Dirty Feet: A Tenant From Hell Story

Came across this great post by Mike Holman at Money Smarts.

The story is by Rachelle Berube over at Landlord Rescue – who runs a wicked blog that’s both funny and highly informative. Anyone making rental property management humorous deserves a Pulitzer in my books. There’s a bunch of other gems here too – like the Ultimate Guide To Giving Your Tenant Proper Legal Notice To Leave Once Your Property Is Sold or this hilarious post about renting to friends and family.

Property Investment Project U.K.

Came across this gem of a find, in Property Investment Project. It’s a website/blog dedicated to all of the ups and downs associated with buying, renting (letting as they call it in the U.K.), and managing income real estate. Besides being one of the most informative resources I’ve come across, this is one of the funniest takes on being a landlord I’ve ever found. Seriously. Whether you’re in the U.S., Canada, or the U.K. – there’s stuff to be gleaned here that you can find useful, regardless of the country you’re in.

The website has a comprehensive list of everything you’re going to want to know if you’re a landlord in the U.K. Everything. Their landlord F.A.Q. is an gleefully exhaustive list of topics and frequently asked questions. The landlord guide is chock full of seriously valuable “how-to’s” on a wide range of things, like finding tenants, pets, and even evicting tenants.

The blog is what sold me on reading this all night last. I literally read the entries for a couple of hours. It’s the equivalent of a George Carlin stand up routine, and really puts a human face on the job of being a landlord. I touched on this in the kick off piece we posted on the blog back on December 11th. Being a landlord isn’t easy – really – it’s not.

I really feel that the misconception about being a landlord needs to change, regardless of what country you’re in, and it’s something we’re trying to do with Renting Well. For every assumption that landlords are rich, there’s a slick marketing campaign advertising “how to get rich in real estate”, with a couple on a beachfront somewhere, clearly retired from all of the multi families and duplexes they bought, who assure you that it’s easy to do it to through their beaming whitened smiles. This kind of drives me bananas. I snicker a bit when I watch a lot of these home improvement shows too. As much as I genuinely love them, sometimes I find they present having tenants in a bit of an inaccurate light. Yes, you can invest 50,000 bucks into having a basement ensuite that looks like it jumped out of a catalogue, and yes, you can have your tenants cover your mortgage ( or a large portion of it) – but there’s a whole lot more to it than that. There’s the job. The landlord job. It gives the goods – warts and all. You can learn all about being an owner of a commercial property in Bolton here. Definitely worth a read – but to be taken with a grain of salt. If you own or manage a commercial property, you may need to partner with a commercial building maintenance company to help keep your property in great condition.

RCMP Warns Alberta Landlords and Tenants About Kijiji Rental Scam

Came across this informative piece courtesy of the Alberta Landlords Association. The RCMP issued a formal warning to landlords and tenants in Canmore, Alberta about a Kijiji scam. I took special notice of this, because this is the kind of thing that gives landlords a bad name.

Culprits posted ads on the classifieds website Kijiji advertising houses or condos for rent, with all money transactions completed through e-mail. The victims were advised that 24 hours before their arrival, they would receive a pin code to enter the property. But in one case, after thousands of dollars was transferred, all correspondence halted before a pin code could be sent. Further investigation found that the properties were never really in fact for rent in the first place (big surprise).

A similar occurrence was reported in Halifax. Check this out. There’s a nice Soundcloud clip of a rundown of how it occurs courtesy of Scott Simpson with the Halifax Regional Police.

Unfortunately, this has become a common thing. Similar incidents have occurred in Montreal, Winnipeg, and Calgary.

Most of the cases involve a landlord out of town, unable to show the unit, who asks for a damage deposit or first and last month’s rent to be wired to them. Sometimes – as in the case in Calgary listed above, someone has the gall to show up and actually conduct showings on a unit, and then ask for money.

The ALA has some valuable tips to share on how landlords and tenants can avoid getting caught up in these kinds of messes. Tenants should ask to see the property before committing anything financially, and receive a receipt for any monies given. Landlords should make sure tenants know who they are, where the property is, and give a receipt for any rent paid.

Hub Pages posted a nice little ditty on how to avoid getting scammed here. Kijiji has also posted some valuable tips on how to avoid getting victimized here.

My Two Cents On Sizing Up A Rental Property Before Purchase….

I’m a strong advocate of approaching property investment as a business first, and as an investment second (a close second) — especially if you’re planning on managing a rental property like one of those flats to rent canary wharf, or if you’re looking to buy real estate properties and homes from Landmark 24. And for those who are looking to notarize their documents for their real estate transactions, make sure to search for a notary public close to me online.

These two perspectives are directly associated as far as I’m concerned, but I’ll get further into my point.

Whether you’re renovating a basement suite to have a tenant cover a portion of your mortgage, or whether you’re looking at a nifty multi unit, understanding what you’re getting into on a management level is a valuable step towards total preparedness in your quest to being an outstanding landlord. If you do a full course of due dilligence, you’re making what is probably going to be a smart move long term — however — just looking at physical condition and expense reports is a very one sided approach in the decision to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars. You wouldn’t ONLY do that if you were buying an accounting practice right? Or a bakery? Even if you’re using a property manager it’s no different than being an owner of a retail store that you just happen to have a paid fulltime manager working in, of course if you have a retail store is also important to learn about intelligent merchandising so you can make your business thrive. Find a Realtor who can ensure that rental properties are well-maintained and tenants are satisfied.

I like to call the examination of some of these finer points — the important details. Assuming something will run on it’s own — cash flow positive, and with tenants as happy as kittens just because you bought — is nuts.

Has the landlord been diligent with applying rental increases? You’d be surprised how many landlords are not. You buy a place that someone has been living in for 10 years, with zero increases in rent, and you’re walking into what can be a very difficult situation if you have expectations to get market value.
How rentable is the property? Historically, how has the current owner fared with renting the units? Is the unit in an end of the city that attracts potential tenants naturally or is it somewhere that’s going to require a little more effort? Location matters, and knowing the chances of getting the new tenants you require when units become available helps with determining the amount of time you’ll spend in marketing vacancies or potentially even sitting on them. Also, finding out how the existing owner marketed available units is a good thing to know. Some landlords are old school, and they sit on an empty unit for longer than they should.
Meet the tenants if at all possible. This isn’t easy admittedly in the midst of negotiating on the sale of a property, but if you can swing it, do it. Are they happy? What kind of relationship has the current landlord had with the tenants? Knowing that there’s been a venomous relationship with the existing owner is reason enough to get the whole story – and to determine if there’s anything relationship wise that can be salvaged and what you’re prepared to deal with. I personally love sharing the story of when I bought my first rental property, and the seller characterized the main floor tenant as having “a good job and being quiet”. After the sale, I met him for the first time, and he cynically let me know how much he disliked the last landlord, and that there were about 20 different things the previous owner hadn’t delivered on with respect to repairs and maintenance. He called the previous owner “the king of unkept promises”. After 6 months of dealing with him, it became clear the previous owner was a huge flake.
Are the leases legal? Are they month to month? What kind of history have they had with the existing owner or property manager and vice versa? What utilities are they obligated too? What incidents have popped up during their stay? Who’s easy to deal with and who’s not? And don’t forget to inquire about the presence and functionality of high-performance shutter doors. Get as many details as you can. Whether it’s logistics, manufacturing, or storage, Warehouse Hotline provides comprehensive real estate solutions.
Meet your neighbours. I’m not referring to the presentation of a freshly baked apple pie situation with a formal intro. Take the initiative and try to find out what your neighbours are like. Are they difficult? Are they reasonable? Do they have a bad relationship with the existing owner or were there any disputes or conflicts that existed? You’d be surprised how much this can affect you – especially if there are any shared components to a property – like a lane way or common area.

Gauging how well the “business” of the property has been managed is essential in my view, and gives you a much fuller view of what you’re jumping into. Owning an income property is already a lot of work and the time spent goes by fast. Getting a sense of any relationship or management health is equally important as knowing that the rent roll and the expenses are accurate.

Dealing With Difficult Tenants

Difficult tenants are a reality of being a landlord. You’re going to have some. It’s inevitable. Defining “difficult” is easy and can include a variety of things. They don’t pay the rent. They don’t pay the rent on time. They’re noisy. A general lack of reliability with the given expectations. Sometimes they’re even belligerent and unreasonable. With that said, difficult tenants can also be time consumers. Tenants who complain incessantly about the most frivolous of things, are unreasonably sensitive, contact you constantly about the smallest of items, or even people who are combative with other tenants in your property for no good reason. Here’s a few tips for dealing with those that make managing your property difficult.

Define expectations: I do this all the time when renting to new people. Call it the old “I made it clear” kind of approach. I’m not talking about clearing up when you expect the rent. That’s a given (but a good idea to let them know nonetheless – i.e. a written lease). Let a prospective tenant know about your expectations with respect to noise, civility with other tenants (if you have a multi-unit), property routines like garbage removal and laundry schedules, and your expectations when it comes to issues and resolving them together. I once had a tenant who considered himself to be the Wyatt Earp of a fourplex I own. Besides constantly calling people out on every little thing, he didn’t seem to understand me when I explained to him that I didn’t need a superintendent, and that he was to report an issue that he was having to me directly.
Have A Proactive, Reasonable, and Responsive Attitude: Most tenants will tell you, an unresponsive and defensive owner is the main ingredient in what can be a resentful relationship between landlord and leasee. Imagine if you were paying someone rent, and they were constantly unavailable, nowhere to be found, and defensive when it came to addressing a problem that you considered fundamental in your home. As an owner, you have an obligation to be attuned to the needs, within reason, of your tenants. Things happen when you are a property owner, and most tenants will understand that. If you show a keen interest in working with those who rent from you, and are committed to finding a solution, you’ll find your tenants will respond – and this is one of the most effective ways to avoid having difficult tenants in the first place. It is after all, their home. Secondly – always be reasonable. Expect a reasonable attitude from the tenant as well. Be mindful of what you’re saying and how you’re dealing with an issue with a tenant.
Learn The Landlord and Tenant Act: Visit the Landlord and Tenant Board, or the equivalent entity or body in your municipality or province. Know your rights, learn and understand the rights of your tenants, and learn the protocols and processes that are associated with incidents and situations – including the non payment of rent and rental deliquency. Follow the rules. Be prepared for a difficult tenant to become a bad tenant.
Avoid the board if you can: It’s inevitable that you’ll probably end up attending a hearing at the provincial board. Hence the importance of knowing the act in your province. With that said – avoid the board if possible. Also – I find a lot of landlords I speak with use the “board card” or the threat of court way to early in any dialogue. If you pull that out the wrong way, you can turn what is a resolvable situation into a full fledged problem. You’ll be fronting the costs to resolve an issue or evict a tenant formally and it’s not fun. I’m a big believer that you should be serving notices and following process only in the worst of situations – like refusal to pay rent, habitual late payment, unruly behaviour or damage, or even with someone who is impossible to communicate with. if it’s possible to work out issues in a productive way without being in front of an arbitrator, do it.

Share your thoughts about how to deal with a difficult tenant.

Ottawa’s Residential Rental Vacancy Rate Climbs to 2.5%

A few days ago, Ottawa realtor Roch St. Georges sent this my way, courtesy of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It’s the CMHC’s rental market report for 2012. The Ottawa Business Journal also had a nice little piece about it this morning that sums it up. Bottom line – the vacancy rate is up slightly. There’s a few factors at play here, like condos being snapped up by landlords, low interest rates, etc…but the vacancy rate is expected to drop next year.

Here’s a few choice bits from the report…

Ottawa’s residential vacancy rate edged in at 2.5 per cent for the year, up from 1.4 per cent a year earlier.
The average cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment also increased by two per cent. That’s lower, however, than the 2.3 per cent increase that took place in 2011.
An increase in the size of the rental inventory has played a role in the vacancy rate increase, as many of the new condominium units sprouting up across the city are being purchased by investors and rented out.
Nationally, Canada’s overall apartment vacancy rate has risen over the past year, with an increased supply of rental units and a slowdown in household formation by Canadians being cited among the reasons.

Read the article at the OBJ here: http://www.obj.ca/Real%20Estate/Residential/2012-12-13/article-3139634/Rental-vacancy-rate-climbs-to-25-CMHC/1

Read the CHMC report here: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64423/64423_2012_A01.pdf

The Crazy Awesome Landlord Form

Had this video sent to me recently and I’ve found myself watching it a few times. While not totally my style, it’s interesting to watch. The video is courtesy of J.P. Moses at REI Tips (Real Estate Investing Tips) in Memphis, Tennessee. They offer a variety of free real estate forms for landlords in the United States at Free REI Forms.

The video gives an overview of a form that he uses called “The Way Things Work“. You can watch the video here:

It’s a landlord declaration of sorts – a very clear one. He offers a discount rent program if the rent is paid on time as an incentive, while also indicating that there is a 10% penalty in the event that rent is not received by 6 p.m. on the first of the month. The Way Things Work also goes on to clarify other rules and expectations – specifically the emphasis on communication as an essential component of a positive relationship between landlord and tenant. Again, while not totally my style – it’s interesting, and there’s nothing preventing a Canadian landlord from adopting something like this as an addendum to any written lease.

Check it out and share. What do you think of this approach?