Comments on: How to be a landlord?

Question: How to be a landlord?

matty — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 15:11:53 -0800

Anybody know a good online landlord resource? Trying to find a good 'one stop shopping' site that will let me make leases, perform credit checks, etc, etc.

I'm renting out my basement apartment (for the 3rd time in a year). The first two tenants were deadbeats... in order to avoid any more nightmares I'm trying to make sure I do things right this time - the right lease, the right paperwork, the works!

By: Ostara

Ostara — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 16:17:36 -0800

Check out Mr. Landlord. They have a very helpful forum community as well and you can browse through the archives.

By: sophie

sophie — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 19:19:18 -0800

Also, check out your local rental housing association. When I worked in property management in Boston, we used ours for standard RHA leases, trainings and other resources. They may charge a fee for membership. Ours charged $200, but I think it was worth it. You can also go to a local lawyer's stationary shop. They will usually have standard leases (that work with you district's laws) and other lawyerly forms.
You should shop around online for an organization that does credit checks and criminal background checks. It's been a while since I worked in the public market, but I remember the going rate being around $10-20 per check. I can't remember which company we used. The local RHA should have a standard 'application and authorization for background check' form for the applicant to complete.
If your property was built before 1978, you may want to look into lead-based paint forms (disclosing your knowledge/lack of knowledge of lead paint in your building.)

By: Sorcia

Sorcia — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 20:03:31 -0800

I just went through this. In order to let me out of my lease early, I agreed to find, screen, and recommend a new tenant for my out-of-state landlord. I did not want to become an expert, just get the bases covered.

I used Tenant Screening Credit (found doing a Google search) and was very happy. They do a range of credit/criminal checks. You charge the applicant the fee, so it doesn't cost anything. They were thorough and quick. I have no relationship with them, FYI.

They also have standard lease forms, pet addendums, etc. on their site, but they are for California. I ended up Googling for "Arizona lease form" and found a bunch of stuff on the web for free, which I then customized in a Word document as needed.

Let me just say, I now realize property management services earn their money. This process sucked. Good luck.

By: alms

alms — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 07:42:03 -0800

I've used Info Center for running credit checks on tenants, and been happy with the service.

By: lowlife

lowlife — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 08:09:51 -0800

Are there equivalent information resources for Canada, specifically Ontario? I don't intend on renting anything out just yet, but the information would be valuable.