Home Real Estate Matt Irvin: Landlords Do Have Rights

Matt Irvin: Landlords Do Have Rights

by ECT

With a hot real estate market in East Contra Costa County, many local residents and investors are picking up rental properties.

Currently, a standard mortgage of $365k with 3.8% rate is can range anywhere from $1,600 to $2,100 per month in a mortgage payment while rent are going for $2,200 to $2,600.

Matt Irvin, Broker at Irvin Real Estate Sales & Property Management, highlighted that there is a lot to think about when renting out your home and its not as simple as just buying a property and putting it up for rent.

“Screening candidates properly is very important because you have home and public safety codes that must be followed,” explained Irvin. “A property management company is a great way to protect yourself because of all the California laws one must follow.”

If you do get a “bad tenant” and eviction is a must, he encourages property owners to have detailed documentation and ensure the spelling of the names are correct. He highlighted that many times, because of the misspelling of a tenants name, the process of eviction had to start over.

When it comes to safety concerns, Irvin suggests that private security for routine security checks in rough neighborhoods are a must on vacant homes. A security company can check your home each night to ensure no one is inside or causing damage. While this does cost money, he notes that it’s a piece of mind knowing the next time you show the home, there will be no issues.

He added that security companies are also useful when serving eviction papers or tenants with dogs.

Here is additional information by Matt Irvin

Landlords Do Have Rights
It often seems that a property owner does not have any rights and that tenants try to call all the shots, some courts seem to rule in favor of the tenants, and the attorneys end up with all the money. Sometimes, you have to look at the whole picture to understand that, in fact, a property owner does have rights. The truth is that if owners did not have any rights in this country, there would not be any investments in real property and therefore, no rentals available.

The Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act, URLTA, was set up to outline obligations for BOTH landlords and tenants. It specifically provides that tenants uphold certain obligations and responsibilities to the Landlord. Here are some of the provisions for the tenants.

  • Tenants must maintain the interior of the leased premise in a clean and safe condition and must use all appliances in a reasonable manner
  • Tenants must not negligently or willfully destroy properly or allow others invited onto the premise to do so.
  • There is a duty of tenants to use the premises in such a manner as to preserve its condition
  • Tenants must conduct themselves in a manner that ensure peaceful enjoyment o neighborhood properties.

You DO have the right to rent your property to good tenants. There is no law that requires you to rent to someone who does not meet good qualifying criteria. No court will force you to take in a bad tenant. You just have to be patient if it takes a longer vacancy to get through the bad tenancy to get the good tenant.

You DO have Fair Housing rights. It is true that the court will rule against a property owner in a big way if there is discrimination. It is free to comply with Fair Housing and not only is it free, it is the smart way to conduct any business. Practice Fair Housing correctly and the law will protect you as well as the tenant.

You DO have the right to evict a Tenant for non-payment of rent and other rental violations. It is not right for a tenant to stop paying rent, trash the property, and cause havoc. What if there were no solutions to evict a tenant? That is a truly scary thought. All states have laws that provide owners with a “way out” of a bad tenant through a legal eviction process so that they can replace the bad one with a good one. Tenants cannot hold a property owner hostage unless the owner does something discriminatory or unlawful.

There are definitely more landlord rights than listed in the article. You have to keep your perspective while owning rental property and look at the big picture that both landlords and tenants have rights.

Matt IrvinFor more information or contact Matt Irvin, please call (925) 300-5855 or contact him at www.wesellcontracosta.com

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1 comment

Dale Feb 27, 2015 - 10:23 am

The issue is when the bank becomes the landlord, since the owner of the property stop making payments. We had a property completely destroyed, when the bank tried to evict the renters and they go crazy and no one is managing the property from the bank. The bank then dumps the damaged property and everyone in our nice neighborhoods, values drop and takes several good property sales to make up the lost value.

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