I have written several blogs about how home owners can benefit from the services of a property management company. There is no better way to screen and place a tenant than to have it done by someone who does it all the time. After all, these guys do get paid for something, right? We are in a whole new era now. You can not simply trust someone to rent your home based on the fact that they are an "honest looking guy."
For this blog however, I would like to focus on the other party to a lease agreement...the tenants. As far as the market goes, I live in an area with one of the highest foreclosure rates in California: The Antelope Valley. You can pretty much point to any place on a map of the valley and be assured that you are covering several bank owned homes with your finger. Homes that sold two years ago for $400,000 are now on the market for $220,00.
So what does this mean for tenants? Here come the "Rent Skimmers!" For those of you who don't know, "rent skimming" is a name for the act of collecting rent on a home that you are defaulting on. We have gotten several calls from people who are looking for a place to live due to the fact that the owners of the home have defaulted and gone into bankruptcy, foreclosed, etc.
I have spoken to many Antelope Valley renters recently who have told me that they were paying rent on a home for months without realizing that the owner of the home was not holding up their end of the deal. To make matters even worse, these owners are running away with the tenants security deposits too! I spoke with a woman the other day who paid a $2500 security deposit on a home only to be forced out when the bank came to take possession 6 weeks later. The owner had skipped town with her two months of rent and the entire $2500 deposit.
Just when all hope seemed lost, she found that there was a better way to rent. Most property management companies use the same system that we do here at Classic. We find that it is a much better idea to hold onto the security deposit in our company's trust account and remove temptation from the owners. That way, there is no danger of anyone being ripped off. A third party that is bound by laws and ethics is a great addition to any rental agreement.
The road to happiness in today's rental market is filled with land mines and pot holes. However, if you take the necessary steps, many of these dangers can be avoided!
For more information on dodging pot holes and land mines, or for other solutions to today's rental market, please check out our website by clicking on the Classic logo to the right!
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