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Bill To Ban Landlords From
Charging Pet Rent Introduced In Oregon
Saying it
unfairly penalizes animal and pet owners, legislators in Oregon have
introduced a bill to ban landlords from charging pet rent.
Three
Oregon legislators—Reps. Rob Nosse (D-Portland), Karin Power
(D-Milwaukie), and Tawna Sanchez (D-Portland)—have filed a bill that
proposes to outlaw pet rent, according to The Oregonian‘s Gordon
Friedman, who first spotted the bill.
“I
understand the importance of deposits to account for possible tenant
pet damage,” Power told Willamette Week, “but pet rent unfairly
increases a tenant’s cost to rent without any causal relationship to
the impact that their pet may or may not have on the premises.
Pet Rent
Penalty
“Pet rent
simply penalizes pet ownership by charging a premium to those
tenants, and can be exorbitant—more than a few hundred dollars a
year,” she said.
House Bill
2683 would prohibit landlords that allow pets from charging tenants
additional rent or fees based on possession of pets.
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Should
I accept credit card payments as rent?
Using
credit cards can be a tricky game, especially when using them for
rent payments.
Do you earn
points or miles for travel when you use them? Do you only pay the
minimum each month? Or do you pay cash and focus on staying debt
free? It gets even trickier when you are deciding whether to use
credit cards for large recurring bills such as rent.
Using a
credit card to pay rent could be a great way to streamline payments
when your monthly expenses and paychecks don’t line up, or it could
be a good way to get into major debt.
We’re going
to review the pros and cons of using a credit card to pay rent.
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Soft Credit Pulls Help
Property Managers Attract Better Applicants
Soft credit
pulls can help property managers and landlords attract and engage the
best renters, according to some new research from Equifax.
Unlike hard
credit pulls, soft credit pulls do not impact a consumer’s credit
score. This leaves renters in more competitive rental markets more
likely to apply to multiple properties without worrying about harming
their credit.
As a
result, property managers and owners are more likely to attract
better applicants and engage the renters who are most likely to pay
rent on time – who may be the same renters concerned with having
multiple hard credit pulls impacting their credit score.
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Portland Mayor To Take On
Short-Term Fake Rental Owners And Airbnb
Back in
August Portland auditors found about 80 percent of short-term rentals
operate illegally, and now the Portland Tribune in an excellent
article has exposed a fictitious Airbnb host named Nadia who claimed
to live in Portland, Seattle and San Diego and had hundreds of
short-term rental listings.
Portland’s
short-term rental regulations require hosts to get a Type A or Type B
permit depending on the size of the rental and follow certain
restrictions:
The host
must occupy the residence at least nine months of the year
The rental
property must be the primary residence of the host
A maximum
of 25 percent of units in a multi-family building may be rented
Rentals
must be for less than 30 days
Simple
Ways to Make Tenants Feel at Home
The
landlord-tenant relationship is critical to successful property
management, and like any relationship, a good one requires care to
foster mutual respect.
You
want a tenant who is respectful of amenities and responsible with
up-keeping tasks—changing the air filter, maintaining a pest-free
living space, or making sure the water is running in winter. And a
tenant wants to feel that you are invested in both them and the
property. A tenant who feels that you are ready to meet their needs
is more likely to reciprocate your attentiveness by being thoughtful
in their dealings with you and your property.
A
good relationship means both parties have a vested interest in each
other’s success. For the landlord, this means that a tenant is less
likely to ignore a payment, fail to maintain the property, and is
more willing to come forward in as soon as possible to warn about
emergent circumstances.
So,
what are ways that you can foster that relationship so that your
tenants feel valued?
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