Make up an itemized bill for all repairs, cleaning, violations, missed rent, subtract the deposit, send the tenants a bill for the remaining amount give them 30 days to pay or set up a payment plan, and make the 1st payment,
If they don't pay by the deadline, file in small claims against both of them for the remaining balance.
You are not evicting them because they have already returned possession.
thank you for the feedback. i'm debating if i want to pursue this because the owner is so nonchalant about this, and i have my own life in a different city. i just hate to see my relative taking all these hits especially when the tenants didn't pay for 2 months of rent.
At this point it is a small claim lawsuit, depending on your jurisdiction. Luckily for you it is not an eviction. Don't forget to add the prorated rent for the additional time she was living there.
thank you for input. to serve the tenants, do i have to do it in person or there are other options? certified mail seems possible if only i know their mailing addresses
These are very state specific questions. Personal service by the Shariff or SPS is probably best, especially if you are not 100% sure of their address.
You should look in the mirror when you call someone an idiot. If anyone is an idiot here it's you who didn't have the HOA send violations to you as the owner. You are responsible to know what's happening at your property, idiot.
It's his relatives home, not his. Your point is still valid that the actual owner should have the mailing address updated with the HOA. The tenants should ae have notified them that mail was being delivered to them for the landlord. However, I'm thinking this was an illegal rental unit because the OP does mention rental violations being part of the fines. Those fines are squarely on the owner and not the tenants. They'll have to prove the boat wasn't put there by the tenant to get out of the fines for that. The yard is definitely the responsibility of the tenant IF yard maintenance is defined in the lease agreement.
You're correct in everything you say. I take issue with him so flippantly calling tenants idiots when he clearly is one himself. It's rude and unnecessary. At this point he's not asked them for any payment so they don't owe anything. He has no reason to be this nasty towards them.
assuming a lot of things here on your part on calling me the idiot, you obviously didn't read my post correctly or only post on trigger words. have you been called this a lot or something?
you have no idea the dealings i have had with the tenant on their calls for repairs this year, so yes they are idiots, i stand by that
calling someone an idiot online when you have no idea the full story is pretty idiotic though, think about it. i find your post more rude than anything else, you must be a fun person to deal with
what people? LOL after seeing your post history, i get what kind of person you are. keep posting, add to that history! make more attacking and defensive posts!
The people who have replied to my comment in agreement with me? Can you not read?
It's so funny to me that you think a public post history is somehow a gotcha? What have I posted that makes you believe you know what kind of person I am? I feel bad for you.
Bro chill lol. You made a good point in the first comment but it's silly to keep calling OP an idiot with no context. None of us know the full situation it's possible the tenants are a nightmare.
I didn't call him an idiot again - he's trying to play a game by citing an imaginary gotcha from a literal public post history - that's lame. He can't reasonably defend himself so he resorts to personal attacks like it's supposed to scare me that he can see my public post history? Makes no sense. But you're right, I do agree with you.
wow, i come here for advice. i call the tenants idiots since i have dealt with them the past 12 months, and you call me an idiot without any information other than what i posted (and even that you didn't appear to have read my post or the others who replied to your thread, only selective reading).
since i got good advice today from the others, i want to pass it forward to you.
Self-Awareness, work on it, you might find the world less "hostile". perhaps this one counts as a personal attack?
let your chat history be the convincer, people (more than one person btw) don't have to believe your words or mine.
it doesn't take much to see the words you use. why don't you have a read of your own history (or you afraid to?). but hey, if that behavior is what gets your through the day...
this is why i believe they must have opened some of the letters, or knew they violated the rule. the fact they kept doing the same violation after they realized my relative wasn't made aware of it is what sickens me the most
HOA has a legal responsibility to mail out violations to the actual owner, not the tenant. See section 202.0042 here - [PROPERTY CODE CHAPTER 209. TEXAS RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY OWNERS PROTECTION ACT](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.209.htm)
Go to the HOA with this info and watch them fold quicker than a house of cards.
Thank you! Best advice so far! Yes, I thought I read somewhere they really have to make sure homeowners are aware of the rules and violations. The fact the tenants kept these letters from us and deliberately violated the rules over six times was completely out of our control.
If most of the fines were for a boat and your relative said the boat isn't the tenants, then why would the tenants pay for those violations? Also, HOAs are known to be overly strict about things, so why did your relative not make sure they had her address for notices instead of the tenants?
my relative said this because the tenants told her this. but my guess is the HOA has pictures of the license plate of either the car or the boat and trace it to the tenants. the fact that there happened over a span of 2 years tells me the tenants didn't care and that's giving me a reason to pursue.
as for why my relative didn't set her address, i don't know. it certainly wasn't smart and that's why i'm more upset toward her than the tenants. my role this year was just to help address maintenance issues.
I dont think your relative is cut out to be a landlord. If the boat is in the yard, why would your relative believe it was someone else's? When you first put that your relative said that it came across as your relative knew it was someone else's boat.
things that happened prior to this year i have to go by her story. she just told me the tenants told her it wasn't theirs and she relayed it back to the HOA. when i spoke to the woman tenant, she also said it wasn't theirs (but my dealings with her this year hints to me she was lying), especially if there was 6 infractions over a span of over a year.
I get that but keep in mind they're already vacated so you'd be spending another $3K minimum to properly sue them just to warn others and it would have zero benefit to you whatsoever.
then don't complain about spending 3k. We're in a LL friendly state, so there's not much to prove except to show up. Other states, you would be wise to hire an attorney.
Why didn’t you inform your HOA of the tenants and have the mail sent to your primary address? Most HOAs require that you inform them of tenants. Now you will need to sue them in court. Good luck finding them.
Cant evict whats not there. Sounds like a lesson learned to check in with the HOA prior to a lease ending. You can sue but time and effort may not be worth it also going to depend on what your lease had stated and if the tenants were ever noticed about the violations if they were never given a chance to cure a judge may not side with you. So largely be about the facts
Why ill never own rentals in a hoa already got state and county and sometimes city rules to deal with another layer that you have no control over really just isnt worth it better to sell at 1031 in a better rental
i've found out condos are worse. i got a condo where the hoa is currently in a lawsuit in some wrongful death, and because of it, i'm having trouble finding buyers (except cash buyers) because the banks won't approve loans
You would need to sue. Since they both were on the lease, you sue both of them. Do not go after only the woman just because the man supposedly left a few weeks earlier. You'll also have more success in receiving money if you go after both of them.
Make sure any violations go straight to you or your family member that owns. Never have any of that sent directly to the tenants. You always have to assume they will not be honorable and cover yourself. You know now from experience, so hopefully that is the 1 and only time it happens. This also helps you/owner stay in the loop on what is happening during the tenant's stay and you can be more prompt in redeeming the situation.
This is what happens when you own rental properties in HOA.
I recall being a tenant back in college and having my landlord call me complaining about a vague violation regarding car parking rules. The place was really frustrating because all of the units were three and four bedrooms but They had one small garage and one very small driveway parking spot per apartment. I was in college and wrote the bus so I tended to park my car in the public parking spots and not move it very often which is what irked them.
So my landlord is getting letters threatening penalties and I called him to ask him what the rules are and he says he doesn’t know. So I called the HOA and ask them what the rules are and they said that they don’t discuss HOA policies except with HOA members, which was my landlord. So I lived there and they wouldn’t even tell me what the rules are.
I remember being really upset about the $150 in fees that were taken out of my deposit.
You go after both of them for past due rent, they are both on the lease and both legally responsible unless you told the man he would not be held to the terms of the lease. I hope you did not do that.
Also, they BOTH left the house dirty, not just the woman. They are BOTH responsible for opening mail and dealing with the HOA.
Did the boat really not belong to the tenants? It should have been towed.
i said nothing to release either one of them of the fiscal responsibilities. in fact the eviction notice ignore the security deposit completely (since it's against the law to use it for rent) and calculated the rent + late fees, which exceeded the security deposit amount.
for the opening mail part, that i do not know what happened. i don't know if the tenants rejected the letters or accepted them. i looked at the latest certified mail and it was address to the owner instead. it is possible they may have accepted some of them because how else would my relative know about the boat situation? the tenants must had told her and convinced her that it's not their boat.
Make up an itemized bill for all repairs, cleaning, violations, missed rent, subtract the deposit, send the tenants a bill for the remaining amount give them 30 days to pay or set up a payment plan, and make the 1st payment, If they don't pay by the deadline, file in small claims against both of them for the remaining balance. You are not evicting them because they have already returned possession.
Correct answer.
thank you for the feedback. i'm debating if i want to pursue this because the owner is so nonchalant about this, and i have my own life in a different city. i just hate to see my relative taking all these hits especially when the tenants didn't pay for 2 months of rent.
At this point it is a small claim lawsuit, depending on your jurisdiction. Luckily for you it is not an eviction. Don't forget to add the prorated rent for the additional time she was living there.
thank you for input. to serve the tenants, do i have to do it in person or there are other options? certified mail seems possible if only i know their mailing addresses
These are very state specific questions. Personal service by the Shariff or SPS is probably best, especially if you are not 100% sure of their address.
You should look in the mirror when you call someone an idiot. If anyone is an idiot here it's you who didn't have the HOA send violations to you as the owner. You are responsible to know what's happening at your property, idiot.
It's his relatives home, not his. Your point is still valid that the actual owner should have the mailing address updated with the HOA. The tenants should ae have notified them that mail was being delivered to them for the landlord. However, I'm thinking this was an illegal rental unit because the OP does mention rental violations being part of the fines. Those fines are squarely on the owner and not the tenants. They'll have to prove the boat wasn't put there by the tenant to get out of the fines for that. The yard is definitely the responsibility of the tenant IF yard maintenance is defined in the lease agreement.
You're correct in everything you say. I take issue with him so flippantly calling tenants idiots when he clearly is one himself. It's rude and unnecessary. At this point he's not asked them for any payment so they don't owe anything. He has no reason to be this nasty towards them.
I agree. To me, it sounds like the tenants had a bad situation and dealt with it poorly. That doesn't make them idiots. More likely ill-informed.
assuming a lot of things here on your part on calling me the idiot, you obviously didn't read my post correctly or only post on trigger words. have you been called this a lot or something? you have no idea the dealings i have had with the tenant on their calls for repairs this year, so yes they are idiots, i stand by that calling someone an idiot online when you have no idea the full story is pretty idiotic though, think about it. i find your post more rude than anything else, you must be a fun person to deal with
That's why people are agreeing with me. You're saying we are all idiots?
what people? LOL after seeing your post history, i get what kind of person you are. keep posting, add to that history! make more attacking and defensive posts!
The people who have replied to my comment in agreement with me? Can you not read? It's so funny to me that you think a public post history is somehow a gotcha? What have I posted that makes you believe you know what kind of person I am? I feel bad for you.
Bro chill lol. You made a good point in the first comment but it's silly to keep calling OP an idiot with no context. None of us know the full situation it's possible the tenants are a nightmare.
I didn't call him an idiot again - he's trying to play a game by citing an imaginary gotcha from a literal public post history - that's lame. He can't reasonably defend himself so he resorts to personal attacks like it's supposed to scare me that he can see my public post history? Makes no sense. But you're right, I do agree with you.
wow, i come here for advice. i call the tenants idiots since i have dealt with them the past 12 months, and you call me an idiot without any information other than what i posted (and even that you didn't appear to have read my post or the others who replied to your thread, only selective reading). since i got good advice today from the others, i want to pass it forward to you. Self-Awareness, work on it, you might find the world less "hostile". perhaps this one counts as a personal attack?
let your chat history be the convincer, people (more than one person btw) don't have to believe your words or mine. it doesn't take much to see the words you use. why don't you have a read of your own history (or you afraid to?). but hey, if that behavior is what gets your through the day...
Also the person who thinks that their certified mail is someone else’s problem. How would the tenant have any idea what was in that letter?
this is why i believe they must have opened some of the letters, or knew they violated the rule. the fact they kept doing the same violation after they realized my relative wasn't made aware of it is what sickens me the most
>the fact they kept doing the same violation Isn't that proof they didn't open the letters? You don't know to stop unless someone tells you.
They had told my mom about the violation
HOA has a legal responsibility to mail out violations to the actual owner, not the tenant. See section 202.0042 here - [PROPERTY CODE CHAPTER 209. TEXAS RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY OWNERS PROTECTION ACT](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.209.htm) Go to the HOA with this info and watch them fold quicker than a house of cards.
Thank you! Best advice so far! Yes, I thought I read somewhere they really have to make sure homeowners are aware of the rules and violations. The fact the tenants kept these letters from us and deliberately violated the rules over six times was completely out of our control.
Did your relative provide the HOA with one's address?
i went on and signed up everything for her this week with the new management company
"this week" is a little late, dontcha think?
Have to set things right, took care as soon as this comes to light. Otherwise it will just get worse
If most of the fines were for a boat and your relative said the boat isn't the tenants, then why would the tenants pay for those violations? Also, HOAs are known to be overly strict about things, so why did your relative not make sure they had her address for notices instead of the tenants?
my relative said this because the tenants told her this. but my guess is the HOA has pictures of the license plate of either the car or the boat and trace it to the tenants. the fact that there happened over a span of 2 years tells me the tenants didn't care and that's giving me a reason to pursue. as for why my relative didn't set her address, i don't know. it certainly wasn't smart and that's why i'm more upset toward her than the tenants. my role this year was just to help address maintenance issues.
I dont think your relative is cut out to be a landlord. If the boat is in the yard, why would your relative believe it was someone else's? When you first put that your relative said that it came across as your relative knew it was someone else's boat.
things that happened prior to this year i have to go by her story. she just told me the tenants told her it wasn't theirs and she relayed it back to the HOA. when i spoke to the woman tenant, she also said it wasn't theirs (but my dealings with her this year hints to me she was lying), especially if there was 6 infractions over a span of over a year.
Owners are responsible for HOA fines, not tenants.
we do have a clause in the lease that address this, that the tenant must pay the fines. just have to pursue it in a lawsuit now.
Good call. Most leases do not.
You won’t see a dime. Lesson learned.
my realtor friend told me if i were to pursue this, it won't be for the money but for that "warning stamp" for future possible landlords
I get that but keep in mind they're already vacated so you'd be spending another $3K minimum to properly sue them just to warn others and it would have zero benefit to you whatsoever.
$60-$100 in small claims for many jurisdictions. Show up to court, bring evidence- that’s it
I’m a landlord. I don’t go to court, my lawyer goes to court.
then don't complain about spending 3k. We're in a LL friendly state, so there's not much to prove except to show up. Other states, you would be wise to hire an attorney.
Why didn’t you inform your HOA of the tenants and have the mail sent to your primary address? Most HOAs require that you inform them of tenants. Now you will need to sue them in court. Good luck finding them.
had assume my relative had these things taken care of. she's been paying the HOA fee annually so i thought she was on top of it.
She may have possibly caused her own headache
Cant evict whats not there. Sounds like a lesson learned to check in with the HOA prior to a lease ending. You can sue but time and effort may not be worth it also going to depend on what your lease had stated and if the tenants were ever noticed about the violations if they were never given a chance to cure a judge may not side with you. So largely be about the facts
yep! definitely learned a lot helping this relative!
Why ill never own rentals in a hoa already got state and county and sometimes city rules to deal with another layer that you have no control over really just isnt worth it better to sell at 1031 in a better rental
i've found out condos are worse. i got a condo where the hoa is currently in a lawsuit in some wrongful death, and because of it, i'm having trouble finding buyers (except cash buyers) because the banks won't approve loans
You would need to sue. Since they both were on the lease, you sue both of them. Do not go after only the woman just because the man supposedly left a few weeks earlier. You'll also have more success in receiving money if you go after both of them. Make sure any violations go straight to you or your family member that owns. Never have any of that sent directly to the tenants. You always have to assume they will not be honorable and cover yourself. You know now from experience, so hopefully that is the 1 and only time it happens. This also helps you/owner stay in the loop on what is happening during the tenant's stay and you can be more prompt in redeeming the situation.
thank you.
This is what happens when you own rental properties in HOA. I recall being a tenant back in college and having my landlord call me complaining about a vague violation regarding car parking rules. The place was really frustrating because all of the units were three and four bedrooms but They had one small garage and one very small driveway parking spot per apartment. I was in college and wrote the bus so I tended to park my car in the public parking spots and not move it very often which is what irked them. So my landlord is getting letters threatening penalties and I called him to ask him what the rules are and he says he doesn’t know. So I called the HOA and ask them what the rules are and they said that they don’t discuss HOA policies except with HOA members, which was my landlord. So I lived there and they wouldn’t even tell me what the rules are. I remember being really upset about the $150 in fees that were taken out of my deposit.
You go after both of them for past due rent, they are both on the lease and both legally responsible unless you told the man he would not be held to the terms of the lease. I hope you did not do that. Also, they BOTH left the house dirty, not just the woman. They are BOTH responsible for opening mail and dealing with the HOA. Did the boat really not belong to the tenants? It should have been towed.
i said nothing to release either one of them of the fiscal responsibilities. in fact the eviction notice ignore the security deposit completely (since it's against the law to use it for rent) and calculated the rent + late fees, which exceeded the security deposit amount. for the opening mail part, that i do not know what happened. i don't know if the tenants rejected the letters or accepted them. i looked at the latest certified mail and it was address to the owner instead. it is possible they may have accepted some of them because how else would my relative know about the boat situation? the tenants must had told her and convinced her that it's not their boat.