My friend who is also a landlord just told me he was given this advice at a Section 8 clinic. They told him that as a landlord he should never enter the rental to do work, for an inspection, or collect rent without someone else going along with him. This is to prevent the tenant from claiming he stole something. Also, he should never enter without an adult present in the home. Does anyone else follow this type of reasoning? Sounds a little crazy to me. Other than a young girl (under 18) home alone and me going in by myself… this I can see as asking for trouble.
He might be a little over cautious, but it’s good basic advice. He mentioned a couple more common sense things to you, which you don’t find in landlord books - much. But they are worth talking about.
Personally I would be more cautious about entering the home with a child, alone, than entering the home with no one there. Probably nothing would happen, but if someone falsely accused you of something your entire future could be on the line. It would be a he-said she-said deal, and the police would probably treat you like you were guilty even though you were not. And there are some real scumbag people out there who might make false accusations. So why take the gamble? Just avoid that whole situation entirely by making sure an adult is there.
There will be times when you need to fix something, when the tenant is at work and no one is at home, so just be prepared to enter the place when no one is there from time to time. The more rentals you get the more often this will occur.
NOTE: I always “give notice” to my tenants before I enter their properties, or let them know when I or a maintenance man will stop by if they have a maintenance request. Also I check on the property at least once a month by doing an “inspection” of something…ie the ac system, smoke detectors, etc OR if I collect the rent in person…but usually the person is there.
Hopefully that helps!
I treat it a little differently between me just going into a unit or if the tenant calls and requests a repair. If they call and say something needs fixed, I generally give them a good idea of when I’m going over to fix it. If something comes up and I can’t make it over there at the time I said, I’ll get over to it as soon as I can after that but I’m not going to call the tenant from the doorstep (if they’re not home) before I enter.
If I had something that I just wanted to do on my own, I would definitely call and let them know before entering.
Agree that you should proceed cautiously if there’s a kid there alone.
I try to let people live in reasonable peace, but I do drive by my properties quite often…usually a few times each month. I try to take a route that gets me from one of the houses and past as many of them as possible to get home.
It really does help to maintain good relations with your tenants. Also, get rid of problem tenants as soon as they show that they are going to be a problem. Screen hard, add the two previous things, and your life as a landlord will be much easier.
I never send workmen over by themselves. I am always there. I tell the tenants it is to protect their stuff. But I don’t hire crooked workmen. I am there to protect my workers from false accusations.
My son never goes into a rental with a female tenant or a child without me being there. That is to protect against false accusations.
Some tenants have the mindset that a good lawsuit can win them the lottery. They think that the “truth” is whatever they can convince someone to believe. They also think that the landlord is their enemy. Even when they hide it well, they don’t like landlords and always hope they can take advantage of the landlord before the landlord takes advantage of them.
Do not get yourself into a he said/ she said position. The tenants have nothing to lose. They can always find a free attorney to take their case, even if the accusations are false.
isn’t that dismissable in court? I thought you had to proof to reach a guilty verdict? speculation isn’t proof or fact, I don’t see how you could be charged with anything.
Although reading through different sites and stuff, seems like landlords are automatically evil & wrong to some people lol.
I think I would wait until an adult is around just to be on the safe side though.
Thanks everyone, something I never really thought about. I will definitely be more cautious of the child thing in the future.
My 2 cents!
I’ve entered my properties before whenever I believed the tenants
had skipped out on me. Sometimes you can peak through the window
but I just knock, open the door, and say something like, “Landlord
here to perform maintenance!” If they’ve left already, I call “the ladies”
to do a make-ready for me.
As for a walking in on a kid or something that hasn’t happened to me
yet, but honestly, I had never thought about it. Thanks for the warning!!
Kelly, please stop entering without posting a 24 hour notice that you intend to enter. Just because it has worked for you in the past does not mean you won’t have trouble in the future.
Landlords can not just walk into a tenant’s home any old time they just feel like it. There are proper procedures to be followed to protect yourself.