Frequently Asked Property Management Questions (FAQ) for South Carolina Rental Property Owners

We’ve broken this SC rental owner FAQ into sections. Choose your topic of interest. This FAQ is intended for MoveZen rental owners and investors in South Carolina (currently being extensively updated with post-COVID changes).

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Getting Started, Onboard, Why Partner With MoveZen?

Turnover & Move Out

SC Security Deposit, Normal Wear & Tear, Depreciation

Winding Down Your SC Rental Investment to Sell or Move Back In

SC Accounting, Income, Expense, Statement Questions

Owner Portal, Reporting, Document Sharing Questions

Getting Started, Onboard, Why Should I Partner with MoveZen SC FAQ

We are in the process of moving our FAQ’s to our new, more searchable knowledge base. This section can be found here.

Move Out & Renter, Property Turnover Questions FAQ

Coming off COVID our inspection process was pretty far behind due to a combination of staffing problems, a problems workload that had more than doubled, and access excuses for both our staff and residents. It was a challenge but we responded by rolling out a full featured operations division and have been moving rapidly to get caught back up across the board.

We do inspections before renewing leases, so if we do not include a recent link with our move out estimate, we will be sending that soon. You will receive recent photos before the renewal deadline has arrived.

Some residents these days are particularly difficult about allowing us access (a trend rather than a sign of a problem) so we might not have a lot of time, but we can extend the deadline if need be. That would require us to “go month to month” with the resident which we really prefer to avoid.

The risks that they will move rise dramatically the minute you allow that to happen, so for good residents it’s a last resort.

Starting spring of 2024 we’ll be starting our renewal process a full 4 months! before they can move out, so you should have the latest photos with plenty of time to digest them, consistently.

We also include the past inspection if we have one, and it was the same resident.

If your resident has been in the home for 4+ years they are already pushing the end of generally accepted “carpet lifespan” and have well eclipsed the life of paint. In general we exect to find a fair amount of “normal wear and tear” that we would not be able to charge for, per the state. See other questions regarding how we use GAAP global accounting standards to calculate straight line depreciation of home materials according to generally accepted lifespan lengths, mostly derived from the IRS itself.

For pretty much every move out we have some owner costs. Usually “the basics” which is unit clean, carpet clean, touch up paint, and yard spruce up. All of which fall firmly under “normal wear and tear” and are only ever billed if they meet an “extraordinary remediation needed” which is a term derived from the state, and we include potential examples in the security deposit refund section of the FAQ.

Due to the nature of straight line depreciation our ability to charge residents declines with time, on a clear trend line. So we will charge a lot more if they move after one year, then we would if they move after 4. If they move after 2 it’s essentially in the middle.

Let’s check! We do rental estimates all day every day so we can give you a great opinion quickly. We’ve already begun this process and will be in touch with that estimate soon as well, if it was not included in your move out estimate.

Prior to COVID a great rule of thumb was simply to raise the rent 10-15% and reduce $50 about every 10 days.

During COVID that was simply too generic to work well in such an unreal environment. However as we write this in early 2024 that model is starting to show real promise again.

It is worth taking a look at active listings to make sure there aren’t major variations for some reason, but for 95% of our re-listings that will be the recommended course. It removes personal bias and market fluctuations. Rents have been mostly flat in our markets for 2 years now so a 10% increase is significant and unlikely in fact.

If we can get it we will, but if not we should entice potential renters and keep traffic flowing by taking advantage of all of the email notifications that go out when we reduce the price, even if it’s just $15 which is a great strategy on homes renting under $1000.

In general you should be reducing about 2-3% every 10 days unless we see a strong market trend ahead.

We see major increases in traffic and therefore rates in late spring and fall, so we often hold off on reductions if those periods are approaching. It’s not an easy decision as the vacancy cost is usually pushing $100 a day, and should be reserved for specific situations that we can advise on.

Yes.

1. Determine a likely rental rate if you re-list. We will provide an estimate, but it’s likely 5-10% above the current rate if your resident has been in place for a few years. Unfortunately, in a lot of markets we have seen rates decline 5-10% from the peaks, and owners rarely take that news well. It doesn’t change the fact that in most of our markets, rents have without question declined, and without question, if we want to fill them we will need to put the burning desire not to backtrack on rates out of our minds.

2.  Determine the estimated cost of turning over the rental to put it back on the market.  As with prices, it is often shocking these days for owners who have to come to terms with the cost of repair services.  This is also very well documented and not something that should ever warrant debate (it does though).  It’s highly unlikely you will turn over a premier move-out for under $1000 these days.  We outline straight-line depreciation, normal wear and tear, and state laws regarding reasonable charges in depth in other questions.  A major turnover these days runs well over $3000, and the sqft of your home plays a massive role in this issue.  The charges we usually deal with our highly specific to the size of the home.  Despite these rising costs we provide a copy of your cash flow statement, and 90% of them will show figures that are 50-75% nationally accepted averages when comparing repair costs to income earned or the “repair to income ratio”. As well as the “operating expense to income ratio”  that includes most other charges associated with managing a real estate investment.

3. Determine if the math makes sense.  Look over your long-term cash flow to get an overall perspective of the investment’s performance, and if it makes sense to continue in an environment that is likely to produce 10-20% lower returns from this point forward (generally accepted among pros).

Then consider the stress and investment required to turn over the home now.  You will want to look at the turnover outlay required up front (average $3000), versus what it will deliver.  In most of our markets, the average rent is $1600, and operating costs are considered to run about 50-75% of that.  We usually perform much closer to the pre-COVID standard of 30% which is massive outperformance. However always use conservative estimates, so we’ll assume 50%.  Our average lease is also 24 months so this investment decision will look a bit like this.

1600 (or your estimated rate) X 24  =  $38k X 50% for “operating expenses” = $20K net income.  For this example, a $4000 investment today on average will easily net you $20k net income over the coming two years.  That alone is a huge cash-on-cash return (the real estate investing holy grail in our opinion), and we usually far exceed it.  That also usually allows you to get exceptionally beneficial tax treatment, retain that sub-5 % mortgage rate in an inflationary world, and enjoy the leverage of using very little of your own cash for the luxury of having someone pay off your major asset.

For someone with the right mentality, it’s hard to go wrong in rentals.  For those without it, it’s hard to go right.

Below you will find more technical details on the re-rental process.

For nearly two decades we had a set re-list policy.  We would put the home back on the market for 10-15% more than what we were currently getting depending on the ease of renting last time, and the current overall trend we’re seeing.  We also consider upcoming seasonal shifts.  During COVID this strategy was not effective given the mind-boggling swings we would see, but it is now the best approach for 90% of listings.  To be sure, we will do an active market analysis, but that is typically the recommendation these days.  This also works if rents have fallen in your area, we would just need to pick up the pace if we suspected that before listing, and find that we are getting little interest afterward.  Stale homes do have a stigma, systematically reduced homes listed with a leading reputable company do not.

Rents have been flat for nearly 2 years in most of our markets, so we would most likely be overpriced at this point, and we then settle into a rhythm of extremely effective, highly consistent price reductions.

We will provide an estimate based on active nearby listings, and the traffic / interest they are receiving.  We also consider upcoming seasonal trends. If rates are soon to fall we will certainly be more aggressive on starting rental rates.  If we see a strong season ahead as we do in late spring and fall, we might be less likely to stick to our normal process of consistent small price reductions.  Those reductions generate thousands of email notifications to nearly every person who’s ever shown interest in that property.  If they still have interest and receive two notices in 20 days that the price has been reduced, it tends to engender a sense of urgency and fear of loss.  We often reduce $50 and receive dozens of calls after being on the market for 2 weeks.  It’s a powerful method that we have used to great effect for nearly 2 decades, except during the COVID saga.  Even a $15 reduction is powerful for homes under $1000 a month.

It has an equally powerful benefit in that it eliminates our bias, your bias, and the tendency to prioritize a higher rate over the daily cost of vacancy which pushes $100 a day on average now. When we let a home sit on the market overpriced and don’t reduce, we’re waiting for a stronger market to arrive.  Quality tenants do not overpay, and they move fast when they see a value. The rental market is huge and fluid except in very rural areas. If a home is priced properly, it will always rent in under 30 days if managed well.  If managed well and it is not renting, there are basically two possible causes and nothing else.  1.  It’s in bad condition.  2.  It’s overpriced. Both are out of our hands unless you approve common-sense repairs.

Some owners are willing to pay $100 a day to avoid reducing $100 a month, in effect betting big on the bird in the bush, rather than the one in the hand and that’s your right.  If we don’t drive the strategy, we don’t take responsibility for the results.  Prices should get consistently reduced in most cases and if they are not, you are breaking with our advice and will need to accept your results.

First, always remember that algorithms, as most rate estimates are, are always backward looking. They are based off the past few months of sales / rentals. Especially in the rental market that can be a major issue as things change quickly, and often. The market is booming in June for example, but often very slow in July. Early December is busy, then things screech to a halt. Prices based off the prior 2 months are usually about 10% too high once a seasonal shift sets in.

Our method is to view Zillow and Realtor.com maps to find nearby homes similar in size, condition, and yard / lot features. We make experienced adjustments from there and also cross reference with our own extensive internal rental data to nail down an algorithm like price. From there we make two major adjustments depending on what time of year we’ll be listing the home. One is for general seasonal swings, and one is for the response the comparison homes seem to be receiving. If they’re not getting inquires, they are unlikely to rent at those rates, unless the season shifts higher as we see in the spring and late fall.

https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/price-my-rental/

https://rental.turbotenant.com/rent-estimate-report

https://www.rentometer.com/

There’s a good chance we aren’t even sure yet if they are moving. Our deadline to renew is 60 days before the move out date in most cases. Consult your actual lease which is shared to your owner portal, under documents. While rare, if you are up for it we might extend after the deadline but it’s not a great sign of the upcoming relationship.

Otherwise, the lease should prevail. Residents can overstay, but that’s also rare. In most cases, residents are out on their final day, not before or after.

We rarely do month-to-month leases, but if we hit delays for some reason we might use that as a bridge until we can get the lease renewed for a term that we choose.

If you want help with the investment concepts noted in the estimate, that might be outside your managers wheelhouse, but they can seek advice. This document is very helpful. https://www.buildium.com/blog/property-management-kpis-to-track/

Contact your account manager if you have concerns about the opinions it noted, or the numbers reflected.

We would need to set a threshold required amount, that we would nail down after move out. If that is acceptable we’ll approve the estimates and list the home.

If not, we will need to part ways. We can handle rental quality repairs for any deposit charges, or we can pass them on to you directly which is usually best in these situations.

We have experienced housing service experts you can chat with. Meet them here.

Licensed MoveZen Real Estate Brokers & Provisional Brokers

No problem! If your resident is moving out and you want to move on to any other goals we support you and there will not be additional charges. Just let us know that we won’t be re-renting and we’ll run the offboard procedure after the final move out.

We don’t directly handle sales, but we have many licensed brokers here who do. They register their license with another sales brokerage, and provide full service sales and similar needs through that broker.

So even if they’re managing your home, any sales activity is separate of MoveZen. We are not affiliated with sales activity at all, other than to support our partners in building the leading local Housing-Verse filled with helpful housing service offerings.

Anything rental or investment focused is handled by MoveZen, and anything sales related is handled via their sales brokerage, and they will make that clear very early on by covering the following document. While we require them to provide this transparency focused document, it again is in the context of their sales brokerage, not MoveZen.

MoveZen does not sell homes though we likely would receive a referal bonus from the sales brokerage.

Meet Our Licensed Brokers & Agents : https://movezen360.com/licensed-movezen-real-estate-brokers-provisional-brokers/

Our licensed agents may be willing to provide consulting, contract, and other services for free or a small charge, and we can help them process those payments.

https://www.ncrec.gov/Brochures/WWREABrochure.pdf

Because our lease requires 60 days’ notice before the move-out date, we have to start this process a full 120 days before the lease is up.

In those first 60 days we need to line up a home visit (not always easy), document condition and expected rough turnover costs, and nail down a fair market rental rate so that we both know what a good offer to the resident will be, but also our marketing and income outlook should they not choose to renew. Of course, a bad marketing outlook should warrant a more conservative approach to raising the rent (it’s probably a bad idea in that case unless far below market).

Often owners also need to weigh the decision whether to re-rent, sell, or move back in and that takes time also.

Once a move-out is confirmed, your next steps will determine our strategy. If you are putting it back on the market we will execute rental quality repairs at the best possible value so long as it allows us to secure a quality renter at a quality price.

If however you are selling or moving back in it’s highly unlikely you will want us to complete rental-quality repairs. That typically means 20-40% below normal costs that an occupied homeowner might pay. Of course, nothing in life is free, and those vendors are well-trained to cut exactly the right corners to save costs without sacrificing too much desirability. To be clear though they do cut a lot of corners to save those large sums.

We can also set you up with our vendors to handle your repairs as you prefer, except sometimes during peak periods like mid-summer, etc.

If you do not want us to complete the repairs we will determine a fair price based on our experience or possibly quotes received, notify the resident, and then pass the funds to you. Note, while it legally makes no difference, being unable to provide actual receipts should a resident contest their refund in court complicates the process and may lead to downward adjustments if the courts don’t agree with our opinions. If you have receipts, especially sales quality costs, that should not pose a problem so have those vendors invoice you and provide them to us as a standard course of action if things seem to be contentious with the resident. It’ll help us to be better prepared. If not, keep them on your own, just in case.

Because residents usually wait until the last minute, we rarely inspect until the day after a lease ends. In busy periods, holiday weeks, and on weekends that may not always occur, but we’re never far behind.

It’s imperative that someone does a thorough documentation of move-out condition before an army of vendors and potential residents shuffling through the home, so you will want to keep us updated on your plans if you intend to get quick access for yourself or vendors. If you must, you will need to do a decent inspection and preserve photo proof of all charges (except smells, etc which require other steps) before commencing heavy work.

As of the winter of 2024, our turnover process is still relatively informal. That method worked quite well until recently, and we’re leading the charge to innovate ways to improve. We just rolled out a new pre-move-out report that has begun testing. It amounts to estimating the expected turnover cost before the resident is out of the home, so not a trivial pursuit, and we’re limited on how many people can currently handle the process. With testing, we’ll improve, standardize, and systematize the process and train a much larger swath of staff. At that time it’ll become standard procedure.

For now, we are mostly testing on move-outs with residents who have been in place for 3+ years, and owners who are taking over their homes after years on the market. Two major problems since COVID. Our cash flow statements are usually so exceptional many wouldn’t believe the results we post, yet those owners still often leave us extremely unhappy. That’s a failure of communication, not results and we’re fixing it by outlining long-term performance first.

Until we can consistently provide this service you can work with your account manager now (they are being trained slowly) to informally follow the same basic outline.

Inspect the home and assess the condition
Estimate the cost of turning over the home to get in rent-ready condition
Estimate rental rate for the upcoming term
Forecast cash flow for the coming 24 months which is the average (obviously not guaranteed) length of lease with our company these days
Cash flow is the amount left over after operating expenses are paid, or net operating income.

Typically this is calculated separately from any loans, taxes, and major investments like a new roof. This is a crucial point though. Even if you have exceptional operational performance as most of our owners do, that does not mean you should continue as a rental investor. If for example, your cash flow after mortgage, taxes, and CapEx costs or expected costs is negative, then you will need outside funds to continue owning the home. Even breaking even in a potentially inflationary environment is a recipe for disaster unless you have strong outside funding. The trap many landlords fall into when funds get tight is that they cut corners on the condition of the home, and then they cut corners on the condition of the resident because high-quality residents do not accept sub-par homes these days. Then you cut corners on keeping the resident who’s in possession of your crucial asset happy, and they start to lash out and generally make things as difficult as possible. Then they trash the place and the landlord is left with a disaster that’ll require well over $10k to rectify for rent or sale. That often leads to a fire sale in a strong market, and foreclosure when it isn’t. Managing rental homes with insufficient funds is almost sure to end in disaster in our experience, so mind your cash flow.

The calculations are relatively simple. You take the 24-month average gross income, deduct the expected operating costs during that time (provided from history plus 15% for inflation), and then deduct all other costs. Most will be flat estimates such as 5% vacancy, but something like a roof replacement requires money on the spot, so you may need to factor in outside funding costs like credit card or vendor interest.

Accounting for CapEx is complex and outside the scope of this document. Just know a roof replacement likely runs 20K on average these days. So those costs are reflected over the life of the rental, or when sold. The important point is that you can weather them because eventually, you’ll likely have one big one. In the past that wasn’t a huge issue as many landlords simply refinanced with cash out, but that is rarely a viable strategy now with even HELOC rates pushing 12% recently. A painful but likely necessary cost for many investors, and even that added cost still doesn’t ensure that the endeavor won’t be quite profitable.

If you’ve accounted for all those costs and you have a positive cash flow or the ability to weather a “worst case” scenario then the rental investing landscape should get more and more friendly to those who show a proven ability to execute winning, nuanced strategies like those MoveZen outlines for our staff and managers.

Security Deposit, Normal Wear & Tear, Depreciation FAQ

As noted in the NCREC publication ‘Questions & Answers on: TENANT SECURITY DEPOSITS,’ Within 30 days after the termination of your tenancy, the landlord or agent must send you
either a full refund of your deposit or a written itemized accounting of any deductions along with any remaining refund amount.

Where the full amount of damage cannot be determined within 30 days, the landlord or agent must send you a written interim accounting of deductions claimed, followed by a final accounting no later than 60 days following the end of the tenancy.

So, it is important to give your landlord or agent a full forwarding address. If you cannot be located, the landlord or agent must hold any refund due for at least six months in their trust account.

If the landlord or agent fails to refund your deposit or make the required accounting, you can sue for recovery of the deposit and reasonable attorney fees. The failure to make the accounting as required under the Act is a forfeiture of the landlord’s right to retain any portion of the deposit.

See state provided documents and guidance:

https://www.ncrec.gov/Brochures/TenantBrochure.pdf

https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_42/Article_6.html

Security deposits for residential dwelling units shall be permitted only for the following:

(1) The tenant’s possible nonpayment of rent and costs for water or sewer services provided

(2) Damage to the premises, including damage to or destruction of smoke alarms or carbon monoxide alarms.

(3) Damages as the result of the nonfulfillment of the rental period, except where the tenant terminated the rental agreement or because the tenant was forced to leave the property because of the landlord’s violation of the General Statutes or was constructively evicted by the landlord’s violation.

(4) Any unpaid bills that become a lien against the demised property due to the tenant’s occupancy.

(5) The costs of re-renting the premises after breach by the tenant, including any reasonable fees or commissions paid by the landlord to a licensed real estate broker to re-rent the premises.

(6) The costs of removal and storage of the tenant’s property after a summary ejectment proceeding.

(7) Court costs.

(8) Any fee permitted by state law.

See state provided documents and guidance: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.php

Common examples of “Damage Due to Ordinary Wear and Tear” includes:
Worn or dirty carpeting
Faded or cracked paint
Dirty windows
Dirty walls
Frayed or broken curtain/blind strings
Leaking faucets or toilets
Small nail holes in walls (from hanging pictures)
Worn lavatory basin
Burned-out range heating elements

See state or federal provided documents and guidance: https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/HSG-06-01GAPP5GUID.PDF

Common examples of “Damage Not Due to Ordinary Wear and Tear” includes:
Crayon marks on walls
Large holes in walls
Broken windows
Burned spots or stains on carpeting
Bizarre or unauthorized paint colors
Broken countertops
Filthy appliances requiring extraordinary cleaning
Exceptionally filthy premises (in general) requiring extraordinary cleaning
*note that this is not a full list of damage beyond normal wear and tear!

See official 3rd party provided documents and guidance: https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/HSG-06-01GAPP5GUID.PDF

MoveZen Property Management will not be able to finalize a deposit if an owner attempts to charge a tenant for items that are not permitted. In this case, we would send the deposit to the owner for direct finalization. We would notify the tenant of the full owner contact information and that we have transferred the deposit to the owner, and that the disposition of the deposit is between the landlord and tenant at this point.

No. Many major items have a predictable life span. Carpet has a reasonable life expectancy of 5 years. If the carpet was new at the time of move in and the tenant occupied the property for less than the expected lifespan, only a prorated amount can be charged back to the tenant for replacement, if the damage caused by the tenant was beyond normal wear and tear. The charge would be prorated based on loss of life using the straight line method of depreciation.

No. Many major items have a predictable life span. Paint has a reasonable life expectancy of 3 years. If the paint was new at the time of move in and the tenant occupied the property for less than the expected lifespan, only a prorated amount can be charged back to the tenant for repainting, if the damage caused by the tenant was beyond normal wear and tear. The charge would be prorated based on loss of life using the straight line method of depreciation.

As a rental property owner, you should expect at a minimum to always be prepared to pay for cleaning the property, cleaning the carpets, touch up paint for the interior of the property, and replace batteries for smoke and CO detectors. Also be prepared to repair any broken/non-functioning items! These items are not a tenant responsibility in the vast majority of cases, and it is considered a landlords cost of doing business!

The life expectancy for appliances that MoveZen Property Management utilizes are as follows:
Garbage Disposal – 10 years
Range or Stove – 13 years
Refrigerator – 13 years
Washer & Dryer – 10 years
HVAC – 15 years
Water Heater – 10 years
Paint – 3 years
Carpeting – 5 years
Linoleum – 5 years
Smoke & CO Detectors – 7 years

H&R Block – Life Expectancy of 7 Major Appliances

With longer tenancies, the turnover expenses are usually higher. At the minimum, you should expect to fully repaint the interior, replace carpeting, clean the unit, and replace batteries for smoke and CO detectors. Also be prepared to repair any non-functioning items. Please keep in mind that other items in the property, such as appliances, may be nearing the end of their lifespan as well.

MoveZen Property Management would review the photos taken prior to the move in date, move in inspection form completed by the tenant at the time of their move in, and the move out inspection photos. Any documented pre-existing damage would not be charged to the security deposit at move out. We highly encourage all tenants to completely fill out their move in inspection form and return it to us within 10 days of their move in date for us to keep on file!

MoveZen Property Management utilizes the Straight Line Method of depreciation. This method lets you deduct the same amount of depreciation each year over the useful life of the property.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p946.pdf

No. Damage due to normal wear and tear cannot be charged to the tenant. A property cleaning cannot be charged to a tenant unless the property or appliances are excessively filthy requiring extraordinary measures to repair. A carpet cleaning cannot be charged to a tenant unless the carpet is damaged beyond normal wear and tear, such as spill stains. These items fall under a landlord responsibility and are considered the cost of doing business. The only damages that can be charged back to the tenant are damages beyond normal wear and tear to items that have not exceeded their lifespan.

If an item can be reasonably repaired (ex. spill staining on carpeting was repaired with a carpet cleaning and did not require a full carpet replacement), the tenant would be charged the amount of the repair.

Animal related damages are deducted from the security deposit. Pet fees are non-refundable and are not required to be used toward pet related damages. While a fee cannot be charged for an assistance animal, any property damage is deductible from the security deposit. Ironically pet deposits can only be charged for provable pet damage. That’s why we always take a larger generic security deposit if needed instead.

If the charges to the tenant’s security deposit exceed the amount of the security deposit, we will notify the tenant that they have 30 days to remit the balance to us directly. If the balance is not remitted to us after 30 days, we would then send the account to collections. We utilize Hunter Warfield as the collections agency. The collections agency will take efforts to recover the balance from the tenant. The collections agency may negotiate with the tenant to lower the balance to secure payment. If the collections agency is able to recover any balance from the tenant, the collections agency will retain 40-50% of any balance collected as their fee.

While turnover expenses are likely to be higher after a longer tenancy, there are steps that can be taken to try to spread the cost burden out when possible. We will identify routine maintenance items that we recommend being completed at every annual inspection, such as pressure washing and gutter cleaning, that we highly recommend being completed before a turnover starts.

Also, consider periodically updating items at the property while the tenants are occupying, such as replacing dated appliances, window blinds, etc. While repainting a property and replacing the flooring is recommended to occur when a tenant vacates, various other items can be completed while the tenant is occupying over time!

The tenants would also likely appreciate the routine/preventative maintenance and small updates during their lease term, and happier residents tend to treat the properties much better than unhappy tenants would!

There are many benefits to keeping phenomenal tenants in place!

It is always a risk to place a new tenant in a property in hopes to achieve a much higher rental rate, as we cannot guarantee that we will achieve that higher rate and cannot guarantee the new tenant will be as phenomenal as the last.

When you renew a quality tenant, you will not need to worry about expenses that inevitably come with vacancy such as loss of rent during a vacant period, utility reactivations/costs during vacancy, maintenance/upkeep of the property during vacancy, risks that come with vacant properties (such as urgent maintenance that cannot be spotted immediately as the property is not occupied, weather related risks, etc.), and the inevitable turnover expenses on an annual basis.

While the turnover expenses are likely to be higher for a long-term tenancy, the consistent returns from keeping great tenants in place long term usually outweigh the higher turnover cost when the tenant decides to eventually vacate.

If by all accounts the tenant was a great one and the only damage left was very small, we’d highly recommend against charging the item against the tenant’s security deposit. If there was no other damage apart from this small item, the tenant took great care of the home and this item was likely an oversight, which is common during the commotion of a move. This tenant may be likely to refer the property to a great friend or colleague in the future if they feel they were treated fairly throughout the entire process, which will further help with filling your property sooner with another potentially great tenant!

Great question! After the move out inspection is conducted, we would then need time to thoroughly review any pre-move in photographs, the tenant’s move in inspection form, as well as the details from the move out inspection. We will then secure a vendor to quote repairing any tenant caused damage beyond normal wear and tear, unless the property owner will be securing quotes/repairing the items themselves. After our review and retrieval of the estimates, a broker in charge will finalize any deposit charges (if applicable) and then we will discuss those amounts with the property owner. This process does take a bit of time when there are damages present beyond normal wear and tear! Rest assured we will work to complete this process as quickly as possible!

Unfortunately not. While we do see some funds recovered through the collections process, it is not a guarantee that any funds outside of the security deposit will be able to be recovered. The collections agency will diligently work to recover the funds and if they are successful, they will withhold their fee, and remit the remainder of anything collected to MoveZen Property Management.

Tenants can only be charged for damage beyond normal wear and tear. Ordinarily, costs for routine cleaning and maintenance (painting, carpet cleaning, etc) may not be deducted from the security deposit. However, if the tenant leaves the property so filthy that unusual or extraordinary measures are necessary to clean or restore the premises, the costs of such cleaning may be deducted from the security deposit. Routine cleaning is considered the landlords cost of doing business!

In some cases, yes. Hunter Warfield, the collections agency we utilize, will determine whether or not they feel the case is fit for legal action. If they believe the case is fit for legal action, MoveZen Property Management will receive a notice and would be required to either approve or deny a suit authorization. MoveZen will defer to the property owners judgment on whether or not they would like to proceed with a suit, as there are costs associated that would be the property owners responsibility. If the property owner approves a suit, MoveZen would notify Hunter Warfield. Please note that while the suit would be between the property owner and the tenants, Hunter Warfield will only communicate with MoveZen directly.

https://web.hunterwarfield.com/cn/ahiew/LegalAction

https://web.hunterwarfield.com/cn/ahiew/LegalCosts

In the first photo, you will see an oven that would constitute excessive dirtiness requiring extraordinary measures to clean. In the second photo, you will see an oven needs to be cleaned, but is not excessively dirty requiring extraordinary measures to clean.

After the suit is approved, Hunter Warfield will make sure their second internal set of criteria are met before they send it off to their legal desk. If approved, they will send an affidavit to sign. Once signed and returned, they will secure a court date. The case will be between the property owner and the tenant, but Hunter Warfield will only communicate with MoveZen. Court costs would need to be paid by the property owner up front. The court case will be assigned to an attorney in the area where the court case will take place. If the tenant would like to settle the case, they would need to speak with Hunter Warfield or the attorney assigned. MoveZen can never collect funds from any tenant submitted to collections, and MoveZen is required to direct the tenant to the collections agency (or the attorney if in the legal process). Hunter Warfield will charge 50% commission on any amount recovered by the tenant when the collections is in the legal process. Please see the attached links from Hunter Warfield with additonal information!

https://web.hunterwarfield.com/cn/ahiew/LegalAction

https://web.hunterwarfield.com/cn/ahiew/LegalCosts

We require that functional detectors must at the minimum have batteries replaced before a tenancy begins. If a detector is non-functional, it must be repaired or replaced. If a tenant is occupying the property, repairs to/replacements of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors MUST be completed quickly by law.

If you overstep on deposit charges by charging a tenant for items that are unpermitted or inflating costs to repair items that are permitted, you may have a judgment entered against you if the tenant pursues the matter in court. This could also be the case if your property manager finalizes the deposit on your behalf.

This may also happen if the deposit accounting is not timely provided to the tenant. Remember that state statute requires that a tenant be notified of an interim accounting no later than 30 days from the move out date, and a final accounting must be sent no later than 60 days from the move out date. We have watched in court as an owner did not adhere to these guidelines — the owner was given a court order to either pay the tenant a full deposit refund on the spot or have a judgment issued against the owner directly.

Remember that if your property manager goes to court to represent you, understand that your property manager is not guaranteed to win the case, and if they do not, that would mean a court order would be issued against you. If the amount is paid the same day it is issued, you can avoid the judgment altogether, but it can be a large amount, and we would not seek prior owner approval to pay this amount. If you represent yourself or have an attorney represent you, you could appeal with an attorney if you prefer.

While there are some gray areas with deposit charges, remember that tenants are not responsible for normal wear and tear and charges must be reasonable and justified for damage beyond normal wear and tear.