I am preparing a lease for a person who will be renting my furnished condo in Massachusetts for 8 months while I'm away doing work for a nonprofit. My worry is that the person might try to squat at the end of the lease term, even though the lease says it's non renewable and all that. The last time I rented my place, the person stopped paying rent and it was a huge hassle because laws in the state are stacked against landlords even when you only own 1 condo. It was also problematic because even if I went to court all I could apparently recover, based on how I wrote my lease, was lost rent. I eventually got it from him without going to court, but it took $1,000 of a lawyer to do it. The person about to rent from me has some money I could go after, so I want to find out if it's ok for me to do either of:
A) charge late fees if rent is paid late, and that way if he stops paying rent, he would legally rack up fees that would make taking him to court more worth it. If it's ok to do this, is there any limit?
B) a fine for exceeding the lease term, and if it's ok, is there any limit? I'd prefer A because that would cover me if the person stops paying rent, and likewise if they try to do it in the final 1-2 months of renting hoping I will accept the security deposit.
Another question I have is can I require payment to be paid via cashiers check, money order, bank transfer or Paypal and not accept personal checks - as personal checks really delay the process by several days if they write one that's bad just to delay me.
The final question is - is it possible to state in the lease that someone else, like my Dad, is the property manager so that if I need to evict the person, I don't need to fly up here to be in court and stuff, and can have someone else handle it. I might decide to handle it anyway, but it would be nice to have the option of someone else being legally allowed to take care of it. What do I need to do in order to make that possible. E.g. does the property manager need to be the one who accepts the security deposit? Or the one who emails the renter the lease? Or gives them the key?
I would like to do all those things myself, and then just use the property manager if eviction is needed. But if I need to have my Dad or someone do a couple of those things for legal reasons to establish they are managing the property, then I might. My Dad is busy so would prefer not to do anything other than eviction if needed. He would handle eviction to save me 2 days travel time, and $400 in airfare and taxis.
Can simply saying that my Dad is property manager in the lease be enough? And if I say that, do I still have the right as owner to handle evicting myself?
I don't make much money at the nonprofit so I need to make sure I don't get hurt via renting.
Thanks in advance.
A) charge late fees if rent is paid late, and that way if he stops paying rent, he would legally rack up fees that would make taking him to court more worth it. If it's ok to do this, is there any limit?
B) a fine for exceeding the lease term, and if it's ok, is there any limit? I'd prefer A because that would cover me if the person stops paying rent, and likewise if they try to do it in the final 1-2 months of renting hoping I will accept the security deposit.
Another question I have is can I require payment to be paid via cashiers check, money order, bank transfer or Paypal and not accept personal checks - as personal checks really delay the process by several days if they write one that's bad just to delay me.
The final question is - is it possible to state in the lease that someone else, like my Dad, is the property manager so that if I need to evict the person, I don't need to fly up here to be in court and stuff, and can have someone else handle it. I might decide to handle it anyway, but it would be nice to have the option of someone else being legally allowed to take care of it. What do I need to do in order to make that possible. E.g. does the property manager need to be the one who accepts the security deposit? Or the one who emails the renter the lease? Or gives them the key?
I would like to do all those things myself, and then just use the property manager if eviction is needed. But if I need to have my Dad or someone do a couple of those things for legal reasons to establish they are managing the property, then I might. My Dad is busy so would prefer not to do anything other than eviction if needed. He would handle eviction to save me 2 days travel time, and $400 in airfare and taxis.
Can simply saying that my Dad is property manager in the lease be enough? And if I say that, do I still have the right as owner to handle evicting myself?
I don't make much money at the nonprofit so I need to make sure I don't get hurt via renting.
Thanks in advance.
