What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX
I've recently posted regarding our rental home that had extensive damage done by former tenants. We now have new problems with our current tenants. They signed a 1 year lease last year and the lease expires Feb. 1, 2011 and will go to a month to month tenancy. They submitted the rent on time ONE time last year....every other month, there was a sad song that it needed to be late. The last straw was in Dec. when they wrote a hot check that bounced. Allowing for a 30 day notice, we mailed them a certified letter (along with an Intent To Vacate Notice) stating that the rent has increased, the late fee has increased, and that all rents will be payable via money orders or cashiers check from here out.
Tenants ~ The current lease states 3 are to be occupants, however, since they had a teenage son in high school move in, we made an amendment to the lease to include 4 occupants. 2 adults and 2 children under 18. We also informed them in the letter that any additional tenants would be charged 10% of the rent per person.
Looking back at emails from last year dated Jan.6, 2010, the woman stated that she had 3 children, but her oldest two were ages 19 and 20 and "were on their own", so it would just be her and her fiance' and 14 year old daughter. Today we received a certified letter in the mail stating that Feb. 1st, we will be receiving a money order for the rent and "formally requesting written permission for their sons, ages 19 and 20, to reside there in the home" with them. OK...did they not have a birthday? My math tells me they are 20 and 21, and from photos I've seen on the web from their wedding last Fall, the oldest had a wife and baby. It's difficult to know just how we should handle this (we're pretty green at being LL's). They do keep the place cleaner than anyone that's lived there even though collecting rent has been a pain. At the same time, we don't like being lied to or taken advantage of. How would you handle this? Should we insist on 10% per son? Should we do rental apps and background checks on each? The tenant emailed last Fall saying the youngest son moved in and was supposedly in high school and had enrolled. (I took their word and didn't go back to check emails from Jan. of last year...I didn't remember his age.) Now that we've found old emails and compared the ages that they stated their sons were then (19 and 20) and compared that with what their letter stated today, we're now thinking that the oldest son has actually been living in the home with them since September of last year when they came from down to TX to their wedding...they just never left...and we're thinking the youngest isn't in school at all. How to prove that? If I called the High School in that area tomorrow, would they verify he's a student over the phone to me? I wish we were able to make a trip to TX this week before the 1st of Feb. (we live in AR), but we have a son coming home from Afghanistan this week and will be in TN for his homecoming. What are your thoughts on how you would handle this?
I guess my main questions are:
Do we have the boys do a rental app and do a background check?
Do we have the right to charge them 10% of the rent a piece?
Will the school verify the youngest being a student?
Thank you so much for your time.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I've recently posted regarding our rental home that had extensive damage done by former tenants. We now have new problems with our current tenants. They signed a 1 year lease last year and the lease expires Feb. 1, 2011 and will go to a month to month tenancy. They submitted the rent on time ONE time last year....every other month, there was a sad song that it needed to be late. The last straw was in Dec. when they wrote a hot check that bounced. Allowing for a 30 day notice, we mailed them a certified letter (along with an Intent To Vacate Notice) stating that the rent has increased, the late fee has increased, and that all rents will be payable via money orders or cashiers check from here out.
Tenants ~ The current lease states 3 are to be occupants, however, since they had a teenage son in high school move in, we made an amendment to the lease to include 4 occupants. 2 adults and 2 children under 18. We also informed them in the letter that any additional tenants would be charged 10% of the rent per person.
Looking back at emails from last year dated Jan.6, 2010, the woman stated that she had 3 children, but her oldest two were ages 19 and 20 and "were on their own", so it would just be her and her fiance' and 14 year old daughter. Today we received a certified letter in the mail stating that Feb. 1st, we will be receiving a money order for the rent and "formally requesting written permission for their sons, ages 19 and 20, to reside there in the home" with them. OK...did they not have a birthday? My math tells me they are 20 and 21, and from photos I've seen on the web from their wedding last Fall, the oldest had a wife and baby. It's difficult to know just how we should handle this (we're pretty green at being LL's). They do keep the place cleaner than anyone that's lived there even though collecting rent has been a pain. At the same time, we don't like being lied to or taken advantage of. How would you handle this? Should we insist on 10% per son? Should we do rental apps and background checks on each? The tenant emailed last Fall saying the youngest son moved in and was supposedly in high school and had enrolled. (I took their word and didn't go back to check emails from Jan. of last year...I didn't remember his age.) Now that we've found old emails and compared the ages that they stated their sons were then (19 and 20) and compared that with what their letter stated today, we're now thinking that the oldest son has actually been living in the home with them since September of last year when they came from down to TX to their wedding...they just never left...and we're thinking the youngest isn't in school at all. How to prove that? If I called the High School in that area tomorrow, would they verify he's a student over the phone to me? I wish we were able to make a trip to TX this week before the 1st of Feb. (we live in AR), but we have a son coming home from Afghanistan this week and will be in TN for his homecoming. What are your thoughts on how you would handle this?
I guess my main questions are:
Do we have the boys do a rental app and do a background check?
Do we have the right to charge them 10% of the rent a piece?
Will the school verify the youngest being a student?
Thank you so much for your time.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?