I am in the process of issuing the park lease and rules and regulation and have some questions.
How much should we charge for tenant deposits? Current rent is being increased from $130/month to $150/month on one park and $165/month to $195/month on the other park. Most of our tenants do not have deposits on file from the previous owner (only about 15 deposits with 87 tenants and their deposit is only $100. Should we collect deposits from the other renters that don’t have one? Should we increase deposits for the people that just have $100 down for their deposit? For the rent credit program how do you charge Down Payments for the home? Some people have said 10% of the value and other people have said a flat amount. Most of the homes we are doing rent credits on are only worth $5,000-$10,000. Do we still charge a lot rent deposit even with a down payment for the mobile home?
What is an appropriate late charge for rent past due? How much do you charge for a pet deposit?
What’s your system to make sure all renters have insurance
on their home?
Is it acceptable to leave name and date blank on the lease and have them
fill it in and we sign it once it’s fully filled out so we don’t have to type out 87 different tenant leases? Is Missouri a 3 day eviction state? Thanks so much for your help!
OK, that’s a lot of questions.On our standard lease and rules, call Brandon at (970) 856-4070.We never ask for deposits retroactive. There is little point to them because they are very small and never cover any damages anyway, and you can’t use them until the tenant leaves (which is not all that often), so just don’t worry about them. All you would do is make the tenants mad.The rent/credit system is a rental and there is NO down payment – that’s a mortgage term. You have first and last month’s rent and a deposit, that’s all. The credit is for customer retention, not for any other use, and it is never any more than a straight rental. Otherwise, you are definitely going to run afoul of the SAFE Act.We charge the largest late fee allowed by law. If it’s $50, then we charge $50. The point is to discourage the tenants from paying late.We insure our homes, but we do not require anyone else to have it (even though it is provided in our rules). It’s like herding cats, and you would have to hire someone full time to track it, so it’s best to acknowledge this up front and not worry about it.You will need to fill in the blanks – copy the standard form and then fill in the blanks 87 times.Don’t know the Missouri eviction laws as I don’t do them myself, but I’m sure you have to give a demand letter, wait the period, and then file. The Missouri MHA can tell you all the details.
One of my pet peives is investors not bothering to learn the regulations of their chosen business before investing.
As the operator of a business it is essencial that you know and understand the regulations placed upon your business by your state.
The state regulations governing rental properties including parks are readily available and all owners should be taking the time to learn these regulations BEFORE purchasing their first property. Who would start a business without first knowing the regulations governing that business. How can one operate a business without first knowing those regulations. Why would a smart investor do that?
The best advice any business owner can give to any new investor is to have them sit down and take the time to learn their state regulations and then come back and ask all questions necessary to clarify their understanding of those regulations. To be successful requires effort on the part of business owners. Reading requires very little effort.
Operating on the fly, not knowing day to day the rights of tenants is not how to operate a successful business. This forum is a excellant place to get clarification on state regulations but your first resource is your states Landlord and Tenant regulations. You are not respecting your income source (tenants) if you do not care enough to learn their rights.
You now have, from Frank, about 1% of the information required to operate your business. Some is opinion, some maybe not specific to your state. If you study up on the other 99% then come back with questions for clarification you will be on a far better path to success rather than trying to operate piecemeal.