NEW YEAR RESOLUTION
I will properly document COVID-related rent debt

We don’t need to tell you that landlords are owed mountains of rent debt, but what we do want to stress is that the rent debt must be properly documented. Housing providers need to compartmentalize the debt based on when it accrued.

A surefire way to lose an unlawful detainer (eviction) action is demanding an improper rent amount and another cardinal sin is demanding a late fee or any other money not related to rent in the 3-day notice. Question to ask: are the rent arrears evictable, or rather, is the rent owed converted into consumer debt recoverable through civil courts?

Whenever a client comes into our office or shares their paperwork with us virtually, we get a good gut feeling about how organized they are. Some of them have perfect accounting of rents received or missed, meticulous notes on tenant correspondence with dates, and so forth. Other clients give us a mishmash of records or little records at all, and it becomes difficult because we then have to forensically go back in time and create a storyline of the tenancy.

If you are in the latter group, it’s important to run a tighter ship, get focused, and know your numbers. As owners and managers of investment properties, we are loyal customers of AppFolio, but there are several other cloud-based property management software providers to get your financial house in order.