อสังหาริมทรัพย์ในอเมริกา

Choosing a Landlord/Tenant

By…. Sam Laksanasut. ( Real Estate Investor )

August 11, 2006

For… www.thaicommunity.org

On line Thai community for Thai people, community and more……

Whether you're a landlord or someone who might become the tenant of a particular unit,your first decision in a rental relationship is whether to choose each other. Make the right choice, and both of you could be happy for years.Make the wrong choice, and you could be in for it- a "problem" tenant or a "problem" landlord.

How can landlords go about choosing tenants?

If you are offering a place to rent, have the prospective tenants complete a rental application. Your Lawyer could prepare an application form that gets the information you are most interesting in. The two most important elements of the application are the employment history and the rental history. Get information for the past three or five years. Then contact each of the application's employers and landlords for that for that period. If the applicant has worked at the same job and live in the same apartment for that time, you have as good an indication as possible of a quality tenant.

How else can landlords evaluate prospective tenants?

Many area have companies that specialize in tenant records. They can tell you if someone has been evicted in the past or failed to pay the rent. Or your lawyer could examine your local court's past and pending eviction records.

Are there any legal pilfalls in choosing a tenant?

Landlords need to take special care to treat all prospective tenants in the same way. The law prohibits many kind of distinctions that landlords used to make in selecting tenants. Fair housing laws forbid discrimination on the basis of race, of course, but go far beyond that. Ask your Lawyer to brief you on the law in your jurisdiction.

How can tenants choose a good landlord?

If you look at a house or apartment to rent, you will naturally check out the space and the amenities. Check out the landlord as well. The single most important question is whether the landlord will make repairs if something breaks. If possible, get the answer to this question before you move in. You can learn a lot about a landlord by asking other tenants in the building about how they are treat ed. You may also be able to check out the landlord with the local building management , and whatever agency handles tenant complaints in your locality.

Suppose the landlord says he'll fix anything that's broken. Why should i believe him?

If you inspect the apartment and see somethings that are broken or need to be repaired ask the landlord when repairs will be made. When repairs are considerable, ask that they be made before you sign the lease and put down security deposit . After you've signed the lease, paid the security deposit, and move in, you don't have much leverage, and the landlord does not have much incentive to make the repairs.

If the landlord is not willing to do the repairs before you move in, asked the landlord to write down a list of repairs to be made and sign it, as an indication of good faith.

If the landlord makes only an oral promise to repairs things, you can not be sure of the real intention. Somethings may be repaired and some may not.

If the landlord won't even give an oral promise, it's clear sign that repairs won't be made. This landlord is below average. Look someplace else.

But remember the difference between repairs and improvements. A tenant is entitled to have things in good working order. A tenant may not be entitled to a new refrigerator.

In choosing an apartment you will want to check the overall condition of the grounds and the building. The common areas, parking areas, the interior painting, cleanliness, and maintenance. Look at it at night as well as in daylight. Talk to present tenants.

One quick way to judge the quality of a building is to look at the mailboxes and the doorbells at the front door. Are the tenants' names all uniform, such as generated by a plastic label label gun? If so, they were probably put there by an above average landlord who cares about the appearence of the building.

Are the names written on the mailboxes with a felt marker or scratched into the metal?

Are the mailboxes broken or lacking locks? If it looks as though the landlord and tenants don't care at all about appearances, you should look elsewhere.