Owner FAQs

Owner Statement/Payment Questions

• It doesn’t look like you are charging my tenant late fees on my statement, why are you not charging late fees?

  Your owner’s statement only reflects what was paid, and doesn’t reflect the tenant owed balance. If the tenant only paid the rent and did not pay the late fee, it is still charged to the tenant, and when they pay to rent the next month it will be paid first and the tenant’s rent will be short the late fee unless they pay the entire rent and balance.

• When can I expect to be paid from the rent proceeds?

  We do not hold any rent payments; as soon as funds are available we send you the payment. As a rule of thumb, we tell you to count 5 business days after the 5th and that is when you should see payment unless we have contacted you to let your tenant is going to be paying late or with any other payment arrangements.

• When can I expect to see an owner statement?

  You should see a link in your email to your owner’s portal the same day that you get paid. We make it a point to make sure you have an explanation of your rent proceeds when you get paid.

• Why can’t I log on to my owner portal?

  Our software vendor believes that providing a link to your owner portal is only good for one use, it limits the possibility of the site being hacked. If you need a new link sent to you all you need to do is request one via email.

New Owner Questions

• Do you charge the tenant a security deposit, and who keeps the deposit?

  Yes. Our policy is that the security deposit is typically one month's rent, and by Virginia Law, we must keep the security deposit in a federally insured Escrow Account until the tenant is moved out and the disposition has been completed.

• I just signed my Property Management agreement, how long will it take to rent my property?

  Prior to signing your Management agreement with us, we completed a comparative market analysis of your property’s neighborhood and recommended the rent that we should list the property at, Typically if we list the property close to the recommended rental price we try our hardest to get this property rented as quickly as possible. It really depends on the time of the year.

• What is your pet policy?

  Pets are not allowed without your permission. “Our standard pet policy”, we do not allow animals over 40lbs. We also have a list of breeds that are not allowed as per our insurance company. Here is a list of excluded breeders, Pit bulls (American Staffordshire Terrier), Akitas, Mastiff, Chow Chows, Doberman, German shepherds, Rottweiler. We also require a $350 non-refundable pet for the privilege of having a pet on the property. We will contact each owner directly if we have an inquiry from a prospective tenant with a larger dog.

  Any damage above and beyond the deposit remains the tenant’s responsibility.

• When are my locks required to be changed?

  You are required to either change the locks or have locks rekeyed between owner to tenants, and between tenants. However, we require the use of Quickset smart key technology locks so that we can simply change the keys out between tenants for less than $5.00.

• While my property is listed for rent will I get updates as to any interested renters?

  We have learned over the years that when we give marketing status to owners, they tend to get disheartened when no applications are received. Many owners think just because a tenant comes to look at property means they put in their application and that is very far from the fact. We don’t like to disappoint our owners with false hope. Once your property is rented we send a copy of their lease to you when it is signed and the security deposit is collected. We complete a new CMA’s for a property that has sat on the market for more than 30 days, to make sure it was listed at the correct price, and we re-evaluate the timing of the market.

Owner Maintenance Questions

• Can I do my own repairs on my rental properties?

  Yes, the only thing we require is that you inform us within 24 hours if you are going to be able to complete the task or if we need to have one of our vendors take care of the maintenance request. Also once the repairs are completed please let me know so that we can close out the work order.

• How do I know when maintenance is needed at my property?

  You will be copied on the work orders going to the vendor for the maintenance request, you don’t need to do anything, just keep in mind if the vendor can fix the problem for less than $150, they can do so if the maintenance cost more than $150 we will be contacting you for authorization.

• What about an emergency repair, how is that handled?

  Emergencies are running water, physical damage to the property. In the event, there is either physical damage/ running water we will send our vendor to make necessary repairs and stabilize the situation. Example Hot water heater in the Attic burst, We send a contractor over right away to turn off the water, suck up water, dry out carpet padding and drain hot water heater, (stabilizing the situation so no further damage to the property is caused).

Non Payment and Evictions

• My tenant has not paid rent, what do I do?

  We send out 5-day notices out to each tenant that is late on the rent even if they have made payment arrangements, this allows us to be able to go to court and legally evict a tenant if they have not paid their rent. It is the owner’s decision if they want to accept the payment arrangement and not go to court or we go and get a court date.

• My tenant was evicted, when do I get the security deposit?

  Technically the security deposit belongs to the tenant, and once the property is returned to the rentable condition prior to the tenant renting the unit, we have to obtain all the bills and pay contractors accordingly. Anything left over after all the repair/cleaning bills are paid then gets applied to any rent that was delinquent. This process can take up to 45 days.

• We went to court but my tenants are still not out, why?

  The Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant handbook states if the tenants show up in court the judge has to give the tenants 10 days before we can file the writ of possession. (During this time we cannot legally set foot on the property or this will violate the writ of eviction, and we have to start all over again). From the time the sheriff’s department gets the writ of eviction until execution of the writ can take anywhere from 72 hours to 2 weeks depending on the sheriff’s backlog.