Move In Pending
Once we have an approved application and have collected the holding deposit, we will begin to prepare the lease and get ready for the move in.
With a pending lease on your property, there are a couple of items that we would like to address regarding the process moving forward.
1. Lease Signing: The lease is signed electronically on or before the move-in date with a representative from our company and the tenant. You as the owner are not required to sign the lease agreement or any documents at this time. The lease agreement is between the tenant and you as the owner. Real Property Management signs the lease as your Agent. During the lease signing, we discuss the terms and conditions of the lease agreement with the tenant. We explain their responsibilities and obligations under the lease including but not limited to their method of payment, timing of lease payments, property condition and yard care expectations, etc. Once the lease has been signed and all appropriate certified funds received, we turn over the keys to the property on the first day of their lease.
2. Security Deposits: Real Property Management collects security deposits that are competitive in the marketplace. This is typically equivalent to one months rent. Security deposits are held in the Real Property Management Trust Account. Always remember, the security deposit is the tenants’ and will remain in the trust until a move-out inspection and reconciliation of their ledger is complete. This deposit will be returned to the tenant at the end of the lease agreement, unless there is damage to the property that is considered to be more than normal wear and tear as defined by DC and MD Real Estate Laws. We will issue their funds to them within 45 days of move-out.
3. Utility Transfers: Do not turn off utilities. Call the utility company and have them place the account in a Landlord/Tenant Account. The tenant is required to put utilities in their name 24 to 48 hours before move-in. The tenant will not receive keys until they provide their new utility account numbers. Real Property Management suggests that you check with your utility providers to confirm that the utility transfer is completed. Real Property Management also recommends that you ask your utility providers to send you a copy of the utility bills monthly to insure that the tenant is making their payments on time. If you ever find out that the tenant is falling behind on utility payments, please contact our office immediately so we can address this with the tenant. On the anticipated date of tenant move-out, if you have a Landlord/Tenant account, the utilities will go back into your name, as Real Property Management is not responsible for this, and it may slow down our vendors in performing the completing tasks for move-out.
4. Owner Disbursements: The lease agreement requires the rental payment to be paid to RPM by the 1st of every month. The tenant starts accruing late fees if their rental payment is not received by the 5th of the month. Our office handles the banking and accounting of the rental payments prior to your disbursement, Real Property Management disburses the rental proceeds to you between the 8th and 10th business days ( not calendar days) of the month as long as rent was paid on-time. This allows time for the rental payment to clear before disbursing the funds to you. Your proceeds will be sent to you by way of electronic deposit to a bank account provided by you.
5. Late Rental Payments: You will receive a notification prior to the 8th business day of the month if your tenant has not made their rental payment. The office will discuss the collection options with you at this time and coordinates any necessary steps to either collect or proceed with an eviction. If the tenant pays after the 8th business day, we will issue a draw on the following 20th of the month to ensure that we stay on a regimented accounting schedule.
6. Eviction Protection Plan: Most of our owners participate in the Eviction Protection Plan. If you elected to participate in the Eviction Plan when you signed up, you will see the monthly fee deducted from your first disbursement. The Eviction Protection Plan starts the day you signed your agreement. Therefore, you will see a deduction on your 1st statement for the accumulated amount of Eviction Protection Plan fees.
7. HOA Information: Please provide Real Property Management with any pertinent HOA information. We will pass this on to the tenant to ensure they are in compliance with any neighborhood covenants.
8. Property Maintenance Procedures: Real Property Management has a full-time, in house maintenance coordinator to address any maintenance concerns at your property. We also reach out to many trusted vendors depending on which repair must take place. All maintenance requests from the tenant come directly through our office and they have access to our maintenance staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our office then determines the appropriate course of action. It is not uncommon to have a few maintenance items that need to be addressed when a tenant moves into the property. The amount of maintenance on your property will vary based on the age of the home and the care that the property received prior to us managing it. Real Property Management uses every ounce of precaution to keep your maintenance expenses as low as possible. We utilize our years of experience and judgment to avoid any unnecessary repairs. Please review the Maintenance Section in your Management Agreement to familiarize yourself with the maintenance process. Any maintenance cost will be deducted from your monthly disbursement and will reflect on your monthly statement.
9. Office Communications: Now that there is a pending lease on your property, your primary contact with the company will be through our main office. Although your leasing agent will still be part of leasing details, most of the paperwork and details will be through our office staff. Please contact the main office number 202-269-0303 if you have any questions regarding your upcoming lease.
Real Property Management is pleased to be a step closer to having a tenant in your property. We will keep you updated on any details that may require your attention prior to move-in.
You will receive more correspondence from us in writing after your tenant has taken possession of the property. Please don’t hesitate to contact our office with any questions.
Thank You RPM