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Mold Remediation – A Guide To Dealing With Mold in Your Rental Property

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There’s an expression about not making a mountain out of a molehill — it refers to there being no need to overreact to situations for which there is a simple solution. But a MOLD hill … that’s something different entirely. Any hill, patch or clump of mold of any size deserves your immediate attention if you are a landlord, because depending on what caused the mold to grow, liability can fall upon you if a tenant becomes ill.

Moisture is a key contributor to the growth of mold in buildings. Mold also requires high relative humidity, and an organic food source, which is provided by many building materials. Eliminating moisture is the easiest way to control mold growth, and a landlord who fails to address a moisture or water issue after being notified about it might be held liable. The situations in which a landlord could be expected to take steps to eliminate the water source include (but are not limited to):

  • A leaky roof
  • Leaky pipes
  • A musty smell
  • Broken windows
  • Damaged siding
  • A broken humidifier

Many people are sensitive to molds and can have severe reactions. While causation of a severe illness can be difficult to prove, any litigation that results from a mold issue could tie you up in court and lead to tenant loss.

There are a number of steps to take to minimize the damage from mold after a water “event” such as flooding or a burst pipe. Most important to know is that action must be taken within 24 to 48 hours, and a mold remediation company can help. Other basics include:

  • Make repairs/eliminate the water source ASAP
  • Temporarily move the tenant if necessary.
  • Wear protective clothing when confronting mold.
  • Meet EPA guidelines in carrying out remediation efforts.
  • Document all remediation efforts in case there is litigation

The accompanying infographic outlines these steps and more. It also includes tips to help landlords prevent mold issues from occurring in the first place. Awareness about mold issues can help eliminate an uphill battle — one with a much steeper climb than a molehill.

American Apartment Owners Association is the largest landlord association in the country. They offer a large range of services including credit checks, rental applications, landlord forms, and tenant screening. AAOA’s mission is to provide superior property management services that will equip landlords to better manage their investment properties.

Maybe You Should Quit?

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If you’ve never read the book “The Dip” by Seth Godin*, it might be worth checking out.

Seth talks about the dip you sink into before you gain the momentum to succeed. Sort of along the line of it’s darkest before the dawn.

What it boils down to, is that so many people get to the brink of success and then it gets tough, or it gets boring or they get overwhelmed. So they quit.

Now sometimes it makes sense. That dip may be huge and quitting might be the right solution.

But far too often the issue I see with landlords is they quit at the dumbest time.

They just finished evicting a bad tenant or they just dealt with an expensive repair and now they throw their hands in the air saying it’s not worth it and they quit.

Maybe You Should Quit Landlording, Or Maybe Not

Sorry, but that’s dumb and here’s why. You’ve just evicted a tenant which can be one of the worst issues you deal with.

Now you have a better understanding of the process so it’s easier next time and you’ll act quicker to avoid any additional pain. You’re aware of what a pain an eviction can be so you are apt to be much more diligent screening going forward to avoid it.

If you’ve just spent a ton of money repairing a roof or replacing a furnace you now have many years of not having to deal with that expense again.

You’ve just gone through a dip and coming up on the other side it’s going to be much better, much less expensive and easier.

Bottom line, getting through the hard times makes future challenges easier so rather than quit, ask yourself how getting through the lows can help you! If the hard times sound too scary, well maybe you should just quit now…

*the link to Amazon is an affiliate link. If you purchase the book after clicking the link I get a very small commission so you are aware. If you buy it thanks and I’m positive it will help you, if you’re offended I might make a commission for recommending something I believe is helpful, maybe you need to move on as I really won’t be able to help you.

You Need To Use The Word NO More Often

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learn to use the word noHey, you free later today? NO!

We were wondering if we could repaint the living room purple? NO!

I know you said no pets, but my daughter would love a dog and we would be sure to clean up after it. NO!

Can I have an hour of your time? NO!

This tidbit relates to more than just landlording, it relates to life. We don’t say no enough. I know I don’t.

I just want to help people, but you can’t help others until you help yourself.

If someone wants your time, what do you have to sacrifice? Family time? Time to build your business? Time to unwind from your work?

What’s the payback (I know you can’t always expect payback every time so you do have to pick your battles)? If you give up your time, does it help you, or is it a one sided affair?

It’s fine to help others, just don’t do it to the detriment of yourself.

Sorry if it seems callous, but that yes to repainting could cost you four hours of your time repainting later. Maybe ten hours if you have to scrape paint off floors and ceilings because they are amateur painters.

That yes to a dog could cost you your lawn and perhaps lead to needing to replace flooring, renting the property for less later due to the condition and who knows what. You have a pet policy in place before they moved in, why should it change?

That yes to an hour of your time may be super helpful to someone drilling you for information, but it could have prevented you from buying your next property, finishing up some accounting, or some other fun task. Find your balance, it may not require saying NO all the time, but maybe just a few more times a week.

The Problem With Being Nice

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I know I have a big problem with niceness, it’s part of how I was brought up.

I want to help people. Whether it’s a tenant who’s struggling, or a landlord with a problem.

The problem is, we often let this become our problem…

You need to know where that line is.

Whether it’s in your landlord business or in your life, you need some boundaries!

If you’re a new landlord, and you’re a nice person, you will go the extra mile for your tenants, especially your great tenants. I just caution you, know where you’ve gone too far and know when it’s past the point where their problem has become your problem.

Sometimes it takes an imaginary line in the sand, or a fixed dollar amount or number of days that you can allow a tenant to fall behind. whatever the scenario planning in advance and telling yourself where that limit is can save you money, frustration and wounded feelings later.

Final thought, the problem isn’t you being nice, it’s others using it to their advantage…

My cat taking advantage of my work space…

 

In my ongoing experimentation as to how I can best aid and assist all the landlords and followers out there, my intent is to create short little articles like this every Friday.

Depending on timing it may automatically be sent out Friday morning or Saturday morning (if I finish before ten am local it automagically sends notifications that day, otherwise ti goes out the following day).

These shorter posts will be thoughts and reflections of mine, if you like them let me know, if you hate them let me know, if you’re indifferent just sit back and eventually I’ll quite doing them.

Should (and can you) Fire A Tenant?

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Should you fire a tenantThere’s an old Polish proverb that says “not my circus, not my monkeys”. If you understand this proverb, you know you have to fire a tenant in certain situations.

If you don’t, let me break it down.

What the original creator of this proverb was trying to say (at least in my opinion) was that if it’s someone else’s problem why are you dealing with it?

Their problem, their issues, until they become your issues.

Then it may be firing time.

If a tenant is repeatedly late with rent because they get paid late their circus has dragged you in as part of a sideshow. Try paying the bank late repeatedly, it doesn’t fly and your circus could get shut down.

If your tenant refuses to maintain the property, the grass is two feet high and full of weeds or the snow on the sidewalk to a foot deep it’s not them that gets the ticket from by-law, it’s the property owner. You’ve been dragged into another sideshow.

If you find a tenant is repeatedly causing you grief, stress or is extremely demanding, you need to fire them and find someone new, otherwise you become one of the monkeys in the circus.

So, Can You Fire A Tenant?

I know I can where I live, but it’s because I understand my local landlord tenant laws. My secret is fixed term leases.

Under my local Residential Tenancy Laws I don’t have to renew a lease if I don’t want to.

My secret involves starting tenants with six month leases or possibly year long leases and renewing at the end of the term, well renewing if I enjoy the circus. If not, Hasta la vista baby.

I can’t stress enough that is applicable to where I live. It’s important for you to understand your local laws.

What flies in Alberta (where I am) doesn’t fly in New York City. That doesn’t mean you may not have options, but you really need to know them before the emcee starts introducing the monkeys because after the shows starts many of the rules may not apply.

Keeping It Short

There, a short post, enjoy and share, provide me some feedback and let me know if you ever fired a tenant or let me know if I’m simply out to lunch.

Five Signs You Might Be a Bad Landlord

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Are you a bad landlord?
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We can’t all be the perfect landlord (I know I’m not as much as I try!), but there are definitely a few sign that could indicate  you could be heading down the path of becoming a bad landlord.

If you recognize one of these signs, you should be ok. Just correct the problem and you should be able to ditch that bad landlord stigma.

If you recognize two or three of these signs in how you’re running your landlording you’re going to have to make a decision about where you’re heading. You can continue down the pathway towards being a bad landlord, or you can do a bit of a course correction and straighten yourself out.

Finally, if you see four or five of these traits showing up continually with your rentals, it’s time to sell. You’re giving the good landlords a bad name and it’s time for you to move on!

Are you ready to find out about these signs?

Sign #1 You Might Be a Bad Landlord

No Written Leases

Listen, you need a written lease and you need it signed by all the tenants residing in your property.

If you don’t have a written lease you’re leaving yourself open to misunderstandings, potential problems and a ton of ambiguity.

Your written lease should address potential issues before they become issues such as rules regarding smoking, pets and even subletting (where allowed, some areas the “rules” don’t let you dictate what is always allowed or not allowed).

It should break down responsibilities for snow removal, grass cutting and property maintenance where applicable. And it should include what the repercussions for transgressing those rules specifically are.

It should cover all those details that could be rather vague, unless they are pointed out and it needs to protect you as much as possible within the local laws that govern landlord and tenant rules.

By not having your lease signed it’s just as good as not having one and the big problem is situations without written leases become a situation of he said/she said. This ends up being a situation where there is no proof you originally told them it was non-smoking, or that they couldn’t start a rabbit breeding factory in the spare bedroom (no pet policy).

So if you’re serious about being a landlord and you don’t have leases in place, go find some.

It may involve spending a bit of money with a lawyer or it may involve buying them from a local landlord association. Whatever you spend will pay for itself time after time and year after year going forward by reducing problems, headaches and even evictions when things do go bad.

Sign #2 You Might Be a Bad Landlord

You Haven’t Inspected Your Property In Over A Year

visit your rentals every six monthsIdeally you’re visiting your property and doing at least a quick inspection every three to six months, but worst case you need to at least get in there yearly, even if they seem like great tenants!

A lot can go wrong in a year, heck a lot can go wrong in three months!

That beautifully renovated property with the new carpet and high end hardwood may need to be replaced if you find out your tenant has been rebuilding his leaking motorbike on it over the winter months.

The little leak underneath the kitchen sink that the tenant didn’t catch could require completely gutting the kitchen and replacing everything. And these are the obvious things you’ll notice just by visiting and taking a peek!

With quarterly or every six month visits you can replace furnace filters which will extend the life of your furnace, you can replace smoke detector batteries which could save lives and your property and you can even notice potential problems that could grow into huge problems if left un repaired.

If you haven’t visited a rental property of yours in the last six months stop reading now and start scheduling a visit before continue on! Don’t be a bad landlord or a landlord who suddenly has to deal with a very expensive repair in the near future!

Sign #3 You Might Be A Bad Landlord

You Refer To Your Property as “It’s Only A Rental”

If you’re referring to your rental property, your expensive investment, as “it’s only a rental property” you’re setting yourself up for failure.

If you’re creating a mental environment where you’re not thinking of your property as someone’s home, where you’re potentially allowing sub standard work, lower grade finishes and even ramshackle repairs to be done, you’re setting yourself up for failure. And that’s what happens if your property is just a rental.

When you start referring to your property as only a rental you’ve already established you don’t care about it and it’s not long before it starts to become neglected (refer to Sign #2).

It’s too much work to go inspect it, it’s too much expense to do proper repairs (after all it’s just a rental) and in no time flat you start seeing your tenant turnover sky rocket and your vacant periods increase.

Then after a year or two of losing money you become another one of those landlords who say Real Estate doesn’t work and sell off your potential asset.

It’s not just a rental it’s a long term investment that can reward you handsomely over time and with proper care and attention. Remember that, or save yourself time and start planning to get out now.

Sign #4 You Might Be a Bad Landlord

You Ignore Your Tenants

return tenant calls promptlyThere’s nothing as annoying as getting interrupted when you’re out having a nice evening out with a spouse or girlfriend or even your family. It’s worse when it’s your tenant calling about a problem with the furnace, in minus 20 degree weather.

At least until you realize that because you have that rental property you’re able to have a nice evening out, or that you have a few extra creature comforts, like heat, because you’re setting yourself up for long term success.

It’s freezing out and they don’t have heat so you need to get on that and not ignore it!

OK, that’s one of the worst case scenarios, but even if it’s something simple like a broken dishwasher, clogged sink or slow drain in the bath tub, they shouldn’t be ignored.

How you handle situations with your tenant can directly affect how long your tenant stays with you and if you keep them happy by dealing with issues in a timely manner they will stay much much longer!

If you can reduce tenant turnover to once every few years it will make a direct impact on your bottom line.

Tenant turnover leads to vacant months with no rental income, extra time spent on advertising and meeting prospective tenants and money flowing out of your pocket as you cover expenses related to the property like water, heat, insurance, taxes and mortgage payments with money out of your bank account.

Even if you don’t have an answer, don’t leave your tenants hanging. I currently have a tenant in a property about two hours from me with plumbing issues (not a water leak, but a shortage of hot water, probably a tank that simply needs flushing).
I don’t have an answer right now, but I’ve replied back to her that I should have an update later this afternoon. I’m keeping her in the loop, I’m acknowledging there is an issue and I’m addressing it and she knows I’m not ignoring her!

So don’t ignore your tenants. If you keep them happy and keep them satisfied you’re a good landlord, not a bad landlord who can’t be reached, you’ll be rewarded with longer term tenants and more cash flowing into your bank accounts!

Sign #5 You Might Be a Bad Landlord

You Don’t Treat It Like a Business

I bring this up a lot, mostly because it’s important, but also because failing to treat your landlording like a business can lead to you failing. And failing with property can be an expensive lesson.

The more you treat the entire rental business as exactly a business the more you’ll do to set up the proper practices to help you succeed.

This can involve moving from using a simple spreadsheet to track your income and expenses to moving to dedicated software of customized accounting systems that allow you to track and control much more of your business.

It involves moving from picking a tenant cause they seem nice to having a proper system in place to screen tenants, places to acquire credit and criminal reports as necessary and understanding the local laws regarding rentals and how they apply.

If you treat it haphazardly you make mistakes, or take shortcuts and those mistakes and shortcuts cost you dearly. I’ve seen landlords use free leases they found online that were invalid because they didn’t refer to local laws.

I had a landlord try and evict a tenant using an eviction form from the incorrect state (it gave the tenant another free month of rent as he had to resubmit the correct form after the fact).

These are the shortcuts that backfire on you and are another reason that can cause you to quit the rental business.

Set yourself up for success.

Don’t Take Shortcuts

Shortcuts are attractive because they may get you started in the direction you’re heading faster, but shortcuts don’t always provide the results long term you’re looking for.

If you’re serious about being a successful landlord,  become an educated landlord, learn to manage your properties as if it is a business and it will all become easier and simpler to either carry on as is, or to expand later. If you’re doing it right it gets easier.

And if you’re dropping a ton of money into Real Estate already what’s another little bit to make sure you’re doing it right.

Money spent on having the proper leases, money spent on getting the software to make your job as a landlord/property manager easier and time spent making sure you have systems in place all come back to reward you as you move along your rental property ownership path.

Lining up accountants and lawyers familiar with Real Estate make your life simpler and more controlled long term. These are all parts of your long  cut to long term financial wealth so try not to stray.

Is there any other additions I should have on this list that bit you in the butt as a landlord? I’d love to hear your feedback, leave me a comment below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Trump Era – Why Landlords Should Be Happy

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Your Rental Property Doesn’t Care Who Won

Storm is ComingAs the stock markets react with fear, uncertainty and turmoil to the election results, it should be comforting to you as a landlord that your property values are essentially the same as yesterday.

You see that’s the great aspect of property and land. It’s not affected with the immediate fear and uncertainty that hits the stock markets after major events like an election. It can still provide shelter, even during stormy times.

Now I’m not going down the rabbit hole of whether Trump will be good or bad for America, it’s far to early to really say what the true outcome will be, but I will say the one aspect that doesn’t change with these results is people still need homes and properties to live in and to rent. And this is good for you!

If the stock market decides to plunge even further (as of the latest news several major markets plunged 4-6% since yesterday but are now holding steady), home prices will generally remain unscathed at least for the near future. Will the markets recover, probably and that’s the great thing about fear based markets, the fear fades and reality eventually returns.

Now there is a chance that if the 48,000,000 Americans who announced they will move to Canada if Trump wins actually do leave there may be some huge fallout, but we all know that isn’t really going to happen.

So today, whether you are feeling despair or triumph, stop for a moment and think about your property. Think about the positives. Think about how smart you were when you first bought it and how much smarter you hopefully feel today.

Owning property now, having an investment that you control and that is not subject to the instant fear, turmoil and uncertainty that accompanies the stock market makes you just that much more secure in your life and you shouldn’t forget it.

So stay the course, be happy you’re a landlord and continue to become more educated and more aware of how your investment will carry you through the uncertainty that will be unfolding over the next little while and the uncertainty of the future.