Applicant Cover Letter.Doc: Fill & Download for Free

Formalize and legally-protect myself as a landlord for a business with written paperwork for every single step in the entire process, from advertisement, to application, through rental agreement, all the way through move-in and move-out apartment condition checklists.Here is my packet of documents:———————————————Roadmap.docADU ad.docTenant Screening and Requirements.docRental Applicationv2.docRental Verification of Existing or Past Tenantv2.docProspective Tenant Holding Deposit Receipt.docNotice of Multiple Prospective Tenants Selection Criteria.docExpediated Handling.docxProspective Tenant Rejection Letter.docRENTAL AGREEMENTv5.docRENTAL AGREEMENT OR RESIDENTIAL LEASEv5.docNew Tenant Checklist.docBasement Apartment Unit Condition Checklist.xlsNotice to Pay Rent or Quit.docFavorableReference.docThe Roadmap is an overview of the entire process and explains the timing of the other documents.ADU ad.doc is the advertisement for the Auxiliary Dwelling UnitTenant Screening and Requirements.doc is an internal confidential document that I established which details all the minimum parameters and combinations of those parameters that quality a prospective renter for tenancy. This includes things like credit scores, length of employment, length of rental history, amount of security deposit, minimum debt-to-income ratios. This keeps me on-track with not getting too lax in the approval process and is another checklist to follow to ensure that I remember things like background checks, and this also provides the process on how to gather all of the information that I need for evaluation.Rental Applicationv2.doc is the formal written application, just like you would see at any apartment complex.Rental Verification of Existing or Past Tenantv2.doc is a form that I send to the prospective tenant’s prior landlord.Prospective Tenant Holding Deposit Receipt.doc is a deposit that a prospective tenant makes while I continue to verify their income, credit and complete background checks.Notice of Multiple Prospective Tenants Selection Criteria.doc is a disclaimer document that I give to all prospective tenants that states that I can deny any prospective tenant on the basis that I can opt to select the most qualified tenant, not just any tenant who meets the minimum qualifications. This allows me to wait for a reasonable period of time to gather enough applications to have a small pool to choose from.Expediated Handling.docx is a document that I provide a prospective tenant if they want to fast-track the process and gather for me: their credit report, letter from their current employer stating income and length of employment, pull their own criminal background check, and otherwise do all of the things that I would end up doing. If a prospective tenant can do this work for me, saving me time, then I can save them time by providing them a quick approval, provide that they meet all the provisions in Tenent Screening and Requirements.doc.Prospective Tenant Rejection Letter.doc is a document that I provide prospective tenants if they do not qualify or if they are not selected.RENTAL AGREEMENTv5.doc is a formal written legal document that (along with all of the documents listed here) has been vetted by my personal attorney to be in compliance with all federal, state and local laws, including the Federal Fair Housing Act. This legal document is signed, dated and serves as a legally-binding contract and covers almost any possible situation that ever could happen. With Colorado legalizing recreational marijuana as well as conceal carry laws, I address both of these laws and how they fit into the rental contract. Things like “no incandescent marijuana grow operations allowed, or the sale or manufacture of…” are language that appears in the rental agreement.New Tenant Checklist.doc is a checklist of what to ensure that I complete prior to the tenant’s move in date, that includes things like carpet cleaning, general cleaning, repairs, mailbox key, house keys and anything else that the tenant will need upon taking occupancy.Basement Apartment Unit Condition Checklist.xls is a checklist of each item and part of the apartment structure that is evaluated upon walk-thru for both move-in and move-out and any existing or subsequent damages are noted or taken out of the security deposit, if applicable.Notice to Pay Rent or Quit.doc is a legal document that is only used if the tenant does not pay rent or breaches the rental agreement.FavorableReference.doc is a reference documented potentially provided to a tenant’s subsequent prospective landlords after move-out, if applicable and if so, upon request.—-In my opinion, doing any less is running your rental business half-assed. Rules need to be communicated, in-writing, and nothing should be ambiguous. Introducing ambiguity often is quickly followed by a tenant encroaching as far as they can until that very ambiguity is clarified and limits are set.If you tell your tenant that they can use the outside hot tub, and your un-communicated expectation that they will be using the hot tub alone and quietly - the reality is that unless specified, they can just as easily see that entitlement to include throwing a party with loud music, booze, drugs and hookers. Imagine the worst and be prepared to author limits that define what is and what is not acceptable. Your standards are not their standards.These documents do more than just serve as a reactive legal firewall: they effectively “run” the business, so that my role as landlord is merely to execute everything uniformly and not deviate in how things are done. If in doubt, I have already established rules and guidelines for myself to follow - there is nothing to have to think about, only tasks to do and complete.These documents are the communication vehicle between my former self that is the leadership, my current self which is the property manager, and both prospective and current tenants. I even include a provision in my own internal confidential documents that state the extremely-narrow conditions that would allow me to consider rent-forgiveness - and this is nearly impossible for any tenant to quality. This keeps me in-check from not getting soft in my old age and entertaining can’t-pay-rent-sob-stories.It is important to have a business plan and have your shit-together, to run your operation smoothly, to project strength, leadership, professionalism and credibility to your prospective and current tenants. Failure to project these qualities invite folks to only take advantage of you, of any ambiguity or angle that one can to their gain. A robust process backed up by professional documentation is one of many firewalls that protect you as the landlord, both pre-emptively, as well as limit any legal exposure.You have to let folks know who is in-charge and set the tone accordingly. Their occupancy does not afford anyone the latitude to be making ownership-type decisions, or avoid taking responsibility altogether, and this must be explicitly laid out in writing. No friendship deals, no deals based on handshakes like in the “Good ‘Ol Days”, no salt-of-the-Earth folksy bullshit, no politics or ideologies - but plain fucking by-the-book, to the letter of the law business and no fucking bullshit. No sob stories. No excuses. No justifications and no problems. Never on the landlord’s shoulders.Nice, polite, professional, who offers a service - as the party who owns the equity interest in the property, the one where the buck stops here. Underneath that polished professional exterior is also a viscous pitbull, presented indirectly and peripherally, that is understood that no one wants to fuck with - you not fucking around - this is business and you mean business. As a landlord, you are fair, honest and forthright in all of your dealings - but as soon as you smell bullshit, you can become a bastard enforcer and have retained legal council a mere phone call away on speed-dial, who have Process Servers triggered, and who are on a first name basis with the local Sheriff’s department. Heavy handed tactics only need an ever-so-slight glimpse that cautiously eludes that YOU HAVE GOT THINGS HANDLED, AND CAN STEP UP TO THE PLATE TO MAKE SURE THAT THINGS QUICKLY GET AND STAY HANDLED. This way, folks do not take advantage of you, and if they are foolish enough to try, you even already have a plan in place to ensure that business gets handled in that arena too.The best way to handle an renter who cannot afford to pay his rent is to generate the perception well in-advance, that the “Dog ate my homework” excuse is not going to fly with you. If he knows that you are no pushover, and he might not like the outcome if he tries to score a freebie out of you, then he might just tend to solving his own problems with his own resources (and not your resources), which are problems that you will never have to hear about, as he continues to pay his rent on-time.