AAOA Blog

“Green” Flooring Adds Value to Your Building, not Allergens 

 Submitted by Louisa May

You’ve probably heard it said that “the harder the surface the cleaner the floor.” It’s true that clean floors free of dust and pet hair are better for everyone, but for individuals with allergies or chemically sensitive immune systems, the most important factor is high or low VOC’s. Volatile organic compounds are in many household products and building materials. They often evaporate quickly into the air. but just because you can’t smell it, that doesn’t mean a VOC vapor isn’t there.

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HOW TO COLLECT DEBTS WHEN YOUR TENANT LEAVES OWING YOU MONEY

an interview with Jeff Cronrod, CEO: Fidelity Information Corporation 

“The nature of tenant debt collection is very different than collecting other types of debts,” explains Jeff Cronrod with FIC, an expert in collecting tenant debt. ”With other types of debt, time is of the essence.  You have a better chance of collecting a medical debt, for instance, if you collect it right away.  The opposite is true of tenant debt.  You will be far more successful if you wait it out until the tenant is back on his feet.”

“But often landlords don’t understand the value of their old debt files,” Jeff continues.  “They tend to give up right away.”  On average, it takes about 20 months or more to start getting payments on delinquent rent, and it could take much longer. “We’ve had files we’ve pursued for 16 or 17 years,” Jeff says.

Consequently, when interviewing collection agencies, landlords need to find someone who is willing to work that file for as long as it takes. There is some work involved in changing collection agencies if you hire someone who isn’t doing a good job for you, so it’s worth shopping around.  

Jeff offers some tips for finding the right collection firm:

• Make sure they are licensed.  Your best best is someone licensed in several states, because the tenants tend to move around. Ideally, you want someone who is able to chase them anywhere in the country.
• Look for ACA- American Collectors Association membership.  This is the ethics board/bonding agent for collectors.
• Ask if they do rent collection.  Many collection agencies do not.

“From there, look for someone who is willing to stick with the file for as long as it takes to collect it.  Collection agencies are always looking for new, fresh accounts because that’s where the money is.  You want someone who will not close the file while the debt is still valid, which could be a number of years.”

“And it’s always a good idea to get references,” Jeff adds.

Hear more of this interview, including an easy way to find out how long you have to collect your debt, the value of pursuing a judgment, collection agency fee structure, and some red flags when interviewing collection agencies, on the American Apartment Owners Association’s CD series, Real Estate Investment Secrets, twelve exclusive interviews with industry experts that will supercharge your ability to locate the best investment properties and manage or sell them for maximum profit.  Real Estate Investment Secrets is available for purchase from American Apartment Owners Association. Join as a Premium Plus member, and receive all of the benefits of our association including Real Estate Investment Secrets free as our gift for joining.  Visit www.joinaaoa.org for more information. 

See our related story Two Secrets to Help You Save Money on Tenant Debt Collection.

Debt collection begins when you interview the prospective tenant.  See our series Seven Vital Tips to Maximize Your Tenant Debt Recovery.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

To subscribe to our blog, click here. 

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Landlords:  Are Your Tenants Washing Away Energy Savings?

Choosing whether to provide common area laundry facilities for tenants or in-unit washers and dryers relies on a lot of factors – the number of tenants, availability of maintenance workers (to dredge socks out of the drain pipes of hungry washers), the layout of your space, and the preferences of your prospective tenants who often seek the privacy of in-unit washers.  But have you, or your tenants, ever considered the energy equation?

The National Research Center conducted a study on laundry habits of tenants, and found some surprising results:

Tenants with in-unit washers use more than three times the water, and five times the energy per week than tenants using common laundry facilities.

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Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs Can Be Hazardous:Tips for Handling and Disposal   

Submitted by Louisa May

President Bush signed an energy bill last month that will require phasing out of incandescent lightbulbs to begin by the year 2012. The old-fashioned incandescents are being replaced by compact, energy efficient fluorescent lightbulbs. We know these lightbulbs cost a little more, last ten times longer, and use 75% less energy, but there is a down side:

Although burned out or broken CFL’s contain less mercury than old thermometers, the EPA considers them hazardous waste.

Where I live In Boulder, Colorado, disposal of these bulbs is still a matter of doing the right thing. According to a spokesperson at Western Disposal Services, the pickup of the county’s residential household waste is not regulated by government, federal or local. Burned out or broken CFL’s may be thrown in with the regular trash or recycle bins, although the “green” choice is to take them to Boulder County’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility. Rules for CFL disposal differ by state. Western Disposal Services considers homeowners or anyone on their residential route ”small quantity generators,” so being “green” is up to you and your tenants.  

But a broken CFL should be handled with care! A broken CFL is a health hazard.

If you break one, here’s what the Environmental Protection Agency recommends:

• Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes.
• Don’t use a vacuum cleaner to clean up the mess.
• Wear rubber gloves.
• Sweep it up and try not to breathe in any airborne particles. 
• Place debris in a plastic bag, seal it, and place in another plastic bag, and seal it.

Being “green” can leave you with some unasked for responsibilities such as making a trip to your local household hazardous waste facility, even if it’s not the law. Boulder County Household Hazardous Waste Facility has a website that lists the particulars of when and where, so doing the right thing with CFL disposal is as simple as keeping your tenants in the know.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

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Choosing the Right Property Management Software for Your Property

an interview with Denis Clark, Vice President, Marketing:Domin-8

While property management software is an obvious must-have for the larger management companies, smaller landlords need to consider when to make the transition from manual or spreadsheet record-keeping to a more tailored application.

“If you started out smaller,  but are growing in your investments, one person managing the properties quickly becomes challenging,” advises Denis Clark.  This long-time IBM’er and applications expert wants to dispel the fears about using property management software.  “It’s just a tool,” he says.  “Technology is there to help you free up your time for more important things, like taking care of your property and your tenants.”

When considering a software product, Denis suggests tracking how much time you are spending entering tenant data manually, or through the standard ‘at-home’ spreadsheets like Excel or Quicken that are not specifically designed for landlords.

“The products out there on the market are specifically designed for property management, so they make it easy to integrate the entire tenant cycle, from application, to tenant screening, to rent payment history. You can store background information like prior residence and employment, track regulatory issue/ fair housing documentation, as well as general accounting.

What to look for in a Property Management Software Product

“First, you need to understand your own methodology – your process flow and organization, before you can decide which product is best for you.  Ideally, you will find a product that has the features you need, rather than change your process to fit the product you buy,” Denis suggests.

“Look for integration of the several features you need.  For example, do you want to store prior residence and employment history along with the tenant’s payment history in order to facilitate collection efforts later on.  Are you offering affordable housing that requires special documentation? These types of factors help you choose which options you need or don’t need.”

When purchasing software, check out a demo.  “It should feel intuitive – if it’s not easy to see the flow, it probably won’t get any better.”

Implementing these systems can be a great selling point for tenants, too.  “We find that the average tenant is used to paying online, and these property management software products allow for that.”  

Hear more of this exclusive interview on the American Apartment Owners Association’s CD series, Real Estate Investment Secrets, twelve exclusive interviews with industry experts that will supercharge your ability to locate the best investment properties and manage or sell them for maximum profit.  Real Estate Investment Secrets is available for purchase from American Apartment Owners Association. Join as a Premium Plus member, and receive all of the benefits of our association including Real Estate Investment Secrets free as our gift for joining.  Visit www.joinaaoa.org for more information. 

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including

tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

To subscribe to our blog, click here. 

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A New California Law May Require Landlords to Take a Different Tact with Tenant Screening

A California law, effective since January,  prohibits a landlord from inquiring about a tenant’s or prospective tenant’s immigration status or citizenship and requiring proof of legal residency or citizenship as a prerequisite to renting. Kim LaVielle, Area Manager with PPM, a national property management firm which oversees roughly 10,000 units, reports that her company’s policy of requiring credit checks as a condition to renting was challenged in Northern California. 

“We had a prospective tenant who did not have a social security number, which we needed for our typical background check.  When we rejected the prospect, we were then contacted by the Northern California Legal Aid office, and threatened with legal action on the grounds we were discriminating under this new law.”

While this new bill, AB 976,  does not prohibit a landlord from requiring documentation necessary to verify a prospective tenant’s identity or financial qualifications to rent, it may be necessary for a landlord to find other ways to screen a prospect who has no credit.

“In our case, we decided to screen using personal references, and independent income verification. But we have to look at our screening practices differently now.”  Ms. LaVielle predicts this legal precedent will flow to other states as well.  “PPM is updating its official Tenant Selection Criteria so we have a process to handle these cases effectively.”

According to a spokesperson for a national screening company, a social security number is not mandatory for a credit check. You can order a credit report with a name and address.  However, as in Ms. LaVielle’s case, when the prospect does not have a social security number, you are highly likely to get a “no hit” or “no report available” response.  Before a person is noted by the credit bureaus, a file has to be created.  The landlord’s act of requesting a report may be the very thing that initiates this person’s credit history. Still, ordering a credit report may be worth a try to see what information might have been reported earlier.

Other Reports Available

• A criminal background check does not require a social security number.  A full name and date of birth are crucial for determining if you have the right information. 
• Eviction reports are available without a social security number.
• Unfortunately, you cannot receive a PATH report, the address history, which could create a hardship when cross-checking  criminal and eviction reports. There is no doubt that a social security number is an important identifier when weeding out duplicate names. 

Professional Property Management (PPM), is a national property management service, with over 450 experienced professionals serving over 150 cities in ten states.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

To subscribe to our blog, click here. 

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Two Secrets To Help You Save Money on Tenant Debt Collection

Many landlords hold on to their tenant debt because they believe the hassle of collection, especially the cost, outweighs the gain.  Why bother when you stand to lose 50% of anything you recover to collection costs anyway? 

But you may be able to collect tenant debts quickly, and much cheaper than that, if you know these secrets:

Secret #1

Collection companies earn the most for their efforts when the debtor responds from a few targeted collection letters. It’s the stubborn debtors (that take years of effort to collect) who are difficult and expensive for collection agencies. That’s simple enough, right?  But few landlords know that a predictable percentage of tenant-debtors pay right away when they receive threatening letters from a collection agency. The letters alone cost the agency next to nothing, but they still charge the landlord the 50% contingency.  That’s called “creaming the easy ones” in the industry, and its how collection companies thrive.

Secret #2

Sending out letters yourself doesn’t usually work too well. Many debtor-tenants don’t pay simply because they think they can get away it.  You cannot get the same results as a collection agency – the tenants don’t take your actions seriously.  Demand letters must come from a collection agency.

There is an alternative to contingency fee tenant debt collection.  One national debt collection provider offers a “self-service” option, where the landlord can order collection letters.  It’s as simple as entering the tenant information. This triggers a series from one to three demand letters from a well-respected tenant debt collection agency. If the debtor pays, you keep 100% of the recovery. And if they don’t? You can still turn the debt over for collection on a classic contingency fee basis.  For more information on this flat-rate letter package, visit www.bestrentcollection.com and click on ‘Flat Fee Based Collection’.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

For more on debt collection, read our series feature blogs, Seven Vital Tips to Help Collect Tenant Debt.  

To subscribe to our blog, click here.

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COLLECT YOUR RENT THE EASY WAY WITH ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS

an interview with Tom Villante, Founder and Chairman: RentPayment.com

Tom Villante has seen an incredible increase in the use of electronic payments, a system that benefits both landlords and tenants alike. Landlords spend an inordinate amount of time opening paper checks, manually entering reports, making trips to the bank for deposits or transferring funds.  Traditionally, they are out of pocket from the 28th to the 5th of each month. His proprietary system allows tenants to pay rent through credit or debit cards, automatic payments, or electronic scans of paper checks, freeing up landlords from the time consuming task of manual rent collection. 

No more sending notices, knocking on doors or chasing down tenants to collect rent. 

Tenants like it, too.  “We have a whole generation of renters who have never written checks – everything they do is off a card,” Tom explains. “Others complain that the only check they have to write each month is for rent.” 

One of the greatest benefits of this system is an increase in closing rates. When you can access funds immediately, you can rent immediately, rather than sending away your prospect until the next business day when they can get certified funds.  Some landlords have reported as much as 25% improvement on closings. Closing immediately also decreases the number of days a rental stays vacant.  It also minimizes deliquencies, and that, in turn, improves cash flow.

The RentPayment system is superior to a bank merchant account in many ways, primarily because

• It offers line-item detail on accounting.  As the landlord receives payments, each will automatically be detailed by name and unit, current rent, pro-rated rent, deposit and the like in online, real time reports.
• This system can be integrated into property management software, so that 100% of the transaction is automated, freeing the landlord up at the end of each month. 
• Copies of checks can be archived, which can be instrumental to collection efforts later on.
• It integrates industry rules; for example, the system will not accept payments while an eviction is pending (because that would require refiling your eviction). 

A landlord’s time can be better spent concentrating on keeping the tenants happy, and improving occupancy rates.

For more information on RentPayment.com services, contact sales@rentpayment.com or call  877-927-7866. 

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

This exclusive interview is included on the American Apartment Owners Association’s CD series, Real Estate Investment Secrets, twelve exclusive interviews with industry experts that will supercharge your ability to locate the best investment properties and manage or sell them for maximum profit.  Real Estate Investment Secrets is available for purchase from American Apartment Owners Association. Join as a Premium Plus member, and receive all of the benefits of our association including Real Estate Investment Secrets free as our gift for joining.  Visit www.joinaaoa.org for more information. 

To subscribe to our blog, click here. 

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