Anyone charge a service fee for repairs on their rentals?

[pokepud3]

Hi,
I’ve had an issue with a past renter who would call me up for every small issue he ran into. That included clogged drains, ac being not as efficient, to doors not properly closing after them damaging the hinges.

Is there anyway I can modify my lease agreement to add an upfront fee for services, to reduce this issue? I read about someone here doing something like that, but I can’t find any lease examples on the web.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Coronita]

Some piggs hate me for doing this.

But on my lease agreement, I stated tenant is responsible for first $60 of all service calls…

Verbally, I tell them that for normal breakage/wear and tear items, I won’t hold them to it. But if there is any abuse/neglect, I will hold them accountable. That way it’s subjective based on my liking… I’m pretty fair about things so when it comes to things that really need attention, I don’t make then pay the $60.

I tell them that I’m giving you a below market rental rate, and that in return, please don’t pester me with really tiny stuff…Specifically, on my lease agreement, clogged drains are their responsibility, and on move out, I expect the drains to be clear, as was the condition when they moved in.

I think it’s a balancing act. You don’t want want to push it if there is a real problem (leaks) you expect the tenant to pay for the first $60, but you want to make it slightly inconvenient for them to report every little small thing.

On a SFH, people didn’t have issues with this. On a small condo, my tenant sort of balked at it. But the flipside to it is that in on a small condo, there isn’t that much that can break.

On thing I’m finding sort of helps is to point out when you are flexible…And that if the tenant plans on nitpicking everything, so will you…

For example, I had a tenant that when rent was due would pester me for everything. I guess he had a heartburn for writing that rent check…But then again, he was kinda interesting because he was late on payments a few times (1-2 days), and a few times he forgot to add postage on his rent check… One time, I got fed up with his pestering, and I told him.. Look, you’re late again, the previous 2 times I was flexible, but since we want to do everything by the book, I need you to fedex me your rent check to me by tomorrow, because on the 4th day, there is a 6% late charge (like any other creditor would charge)….

So after that, there is some unwritten “rule of engagement” now between me and tenant that if he is going to be really picky about things, so will I. I send my tenant a gentle reminder week before rent is due, so he won’t be late. Hopefully he gets the message not to pester me, otherwise I won’t remind him and I know at least one time he will forget… So far, we’re ok (fingers crossed)

[svelte]

[quote=flu]Some piggs hate me for doing this.

But on my lease agreement, I stated tenant is responsible for first $60 of all service calls…

Verbally, I tell them that for normal breakage/wear and tear items, I won’t hold them to it. But if there is any abuse/neglect, I will hold them accountable. That way it’s subjective based on my liking… [/quote]

You’re going to wind up being taken to court.

There are tenants out there that know California law better than you do, believe me.

[pokepud3]

Why, is doing such a service charge against the law?

[Coronita]

[quote=pokepud3]Why, is doing such a service charge against the law?[/quote]

It isn’t. But obviously, you can’t blow off repairs that make the place unliveable. And I suspect some renters who are a pain in the ass just looking for trouble will try anything (just ask paramount).
Hence, why extreme tightfitting screening is very very important.

Also why I choose to rent where I rent. Where the tenant pool tends to be higher quality, and less likely to be a PITA for the sake of being a PITA.

The other thing I noted is that when I was really really nice during the first couple of months of move in, it was interesting that some tenant not only didn’t appreciate it, tried to take advantage of it. Only when I started to be a stickler to things, did they back off too. So it goes both ways.

In the bay area, I have had a rental for a few years, never had any issues with any of tenants nor did they call me on stupid crap…The only time they called was when water heater broke and heater broke, and then I paid for it all. The tenant still tried to nice and dime me left and right every so often, which I flat out refused and pointed them to the rental contract…They didn’t do anything… And btw the husband was a lawyer and was running for public office.. So, obviously I wasn’t doing anything wrong, otherwise he probably would have thrown that thing around a bit too.

If you haven’t taken the time to read this, you probably should….

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/docs/housing/brochure/tenright.pdf

Bottom line, is especially in california….If someone really wants to sue you for stupid crap and waste your time, they can, regardless of how right or wrong they are…But overall, most of the time, most tenants just want you to be fair, as you expect the same from the tenant.

[Coronita]

[quote=svelte][quote=flu]Some piggs hate me for doing this.

But on my lease agreement, I stated tenant is responsible for first $60 of all service calls…

Verbally, I tell them that for normal breakage/wear and tear items, I won’t hold them to it. But if there is any abuse/neglect, I will hold them accountable. That way it’s subjective based on my liking… [/quote]

You’re going to wind up being taken to court.

There are tenants out there that know California law better than you do, believe me.[/quote]

Haven’t been in the past decade (yet).
PITA tenants are the ones I try to avoid if I can…

[SD Realtor]

I don’t see anything wrong with what you are doing FLU. Everything is spelled out in the lease ahead of time. I think it makes sense and I see no problems with it at all.

As far as the OP talking about changing the terms of the lease, no that cannot happen without agreement by all parties and it is well documented.

[no_such_reality]

This is solved when the lease expires.

Unless it’s rent controlled.

[TenaciousSD]

+1 for what Flu said in both of his posts

You can charge whatever fee’s you want (if residents are willing to pay it). For example, late fee’s. This doesn’t mean the resident has to pay them. If you go to court over late fee’s, the judge will NOT rule in your favor.

[Coronita]

[quote=TenaciousSD]+1 for what Flu said in both of his posts

You can charge whatever fee’s you want (if residents are willing to pay it). For example, late fee’s. This doesn’t mean the resident has to pay them. If you go to court over late fee’s, the judge will NOT rule in your favor.[/quote]

When I was looking for a tenant, one prospective tenant insisted that my grace period was too short (3 business days versus other doing 5 days) and that the late fee of 6% was higher than others (5%)… I immediately said, well, you’re not planning to be late are you? Why can’t you just mail the check a week earlier, or use bill pay…. Dead silence…To me, that was a red flag right there…I never called the person back….

FWIW: I’ve never collected any late fees from my tenants, even if they were late unless they are egregiously late by a few weeks…But I do send out a reminder to tenant when they are late telling them to please review the contract about late fees… I do this to remind them, I’m cutting them some slack…which is more than a lot of creditors (like credit card companies do)…So the next time, a light bulb goes out, go buy your own light bulb and get it changed yourself.

[Diego Mamani]

[quote=svelte]You’re going to wind up being taken to court.

There are tenants out there that know California law better than you do, believe me.[/quote]I agree. There are what some people call “professional renters” who know the law and every trick in the book.

[Diego Mamani]

[quote=SD Realtor]As far as the OP talking about changing the terms of the lease, no that cannot happen without agreement by all parties and it is well documented.[/quote]My advice to the OP is to wait until 30 or 31 days before the lease ends, then send a written 30-day notice of an increase in rent. This way you either get rid of them, or you get more money to compensate for the hassle of dealing with them.

FLU’s strategy is generally OK if the tenants see that “you don’t really mean” the $60 fee, unless it’s for something they broke. A problem I see is that you may be creating an incentive for the tenant not to report minor problems. As we know, even a minor issue may become costlier to repair later on if not addressed early.

[ocrenter]

[quote=flu][quote=TenaciousSD]+1 for what Flu said in both of his posts

You can charge whatever fee’s you want (if residents are willing to pay it). For example, late fee’s. This doesn’t mean the resident has to pay them. If you go to court over late fee’s, the judge will NOT rule in your favor.[/quote]

When I was looking for a tenant, one prospective tenant insisted that my grace period was too short (3 business days versus other doing 5 days) and that the late fee of 6% was higher than others (5%)… I immediately said, well, you’re not planning to be late are you? Why can’t you just mail the check a week earlier, or use bill pay…. Dead silence…To me, that was a red flag right there…I never called the person back….

FWIW: I’ve never collected any late fees from my tenants, even if they were late unless they are egregiously late by a few weeks…But I do send out a reminder to tenant when they are late telling them to please review the contract about late fees… I do this to remind them, I’m cutting them some slack…which is more than a lot of creditors (like credit card companies do)…So the next time, a light bulb goes out, go buy your own light bulb and get it changed yourself.[/quote]

agree FLU, that was a big red flag.

as a tenant for 5 years, we didn’t pay too much attention to the late fee policy in the few leases we signed, simply because paying rent late was not even in our vocabulary.

[Coronita]

[quote=Diego Mamani][quote=svelte]You’re going to wind up being taken to court.

There are tenants out there that know California law better than you do, believe me.[/quote]I agree. There are what some people call “professional renters” who know the law and every trick in the book.[/quote]

And I will avoid those people like there’s no tomorrow. I’m not a desperate landlord that has a cashflow issue. I’d rather have a place vacant for an extra month, than to deal with a PITA tenant that has every trick in the book up……

I’ve been in SoCal long enough to know what people here are capable of doing…Especially in L.A. I recall awhile ago, the LA Times described about how some slimy lawyers went around trying to stir up tenants by not moving and involving the eviction due process for the sake of it…Landlords had to cough up money just to get the tenant to leave them in peace.

That’s one of the reasons why I won’t buy rental properties in certain ghettoish areas, even it it cashflows well. It becomes a liability issue for me.

[Diego Mamani]

[quote=flu][quote=Diego Mamani]I agree. There are what some people call “professional renters” who know the law and every trick in the book.[/quote]

And I will avoid those people like there’s no tomorrow.[/quote]Me too! Problem is, it may be hard to find out until it’s too late. In the case you mentioned, his inquiring about the “late fee” was a big red flag, and an indication that he was probably a “professional renter.”

OTOH, some people are concerned about the late fee b/c they have chronic cash flow problems. I have relatives who rented out a nice and large SFH/ranch in the San Bernardino area to a guy who was a small business owner. He was late with the rent almost every other month, and late by at least a week or two. But otherwise he was a good tenant.

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