Tenant FAQs

Why should I rent from your company?

We are a professional, knowledgeable, and courteous property management company. We work very hard to provide the highest quality resident services you'll ever experience.

1. We use professional vendors (painters, handymen, plumbers, carpet cleaners, etc) to ensure that your unit is in good condition. We inspect the work performed to ensure that everything is ready before you move in.
2. We have processes in place 24 hours a day to handle emergency maintenance repairs.
3. We provide detailed Move-in and Move-out Inventory forms for proper documentation of the condition of your rental.
4. All deposits that are retained by us are kept in a FDIC insured bank.
5. When you sign your lease, you have a meeting with your property manager to go over all parts of the lease to help ensure that everyone is aware of their responsibilities under the lease.

 

How do I apply to rent?

Complete our application form and submit it to us along with the application fee ($35) and holding deposit (one months' rent) for the property you want. We'll process it and let you know the results, usually within 24hours.

What if I have a maintenance request?

ALL non-emergency requests MUST BE in writing using our request form. If you are a tenant in an Optimum property we ask that you please submit a written maintenance request. This can be performed by submitting one of the following forms: Online Maintenance Request Form (via internet) or Written Maintenance Request Form (Visit our office). If you require maintenance that is NOT an emergency, please complete a maintenance request form and we will process it as soon as possible.

Can I pay out my security deposit? Is there a way around paying it up front?

Deposit(s) are due upon approval to take the home off the market. Until the deposit is paid, the home will remain on the market for other people to apply.

Do I get all my deposit back after I leave?

It is the hope and goal of your Landlord that you receive 100% of your security deposit after the end of your tenancy. Your Landlord has asked us to keep all security deposits in a real estate escrow account. When it is time to leave we provide a list of instructions so you have every opportunity of getting 100% of your security deposit returned when you leave. If any damage is beyond normal wear and tear and not properly repaired then the expense to repair will be assessed in accordance with your lease and applicable laws. Any damages assessed to your account will be documented for you in an itemized accounting along with any refunded monies.

Why would someone not get all of their deposit returned?

The lease requires you to do more than just pay your rent, so if the landlord has to pay to have someone do something you were required to do, then you must reimburse the landlord. The landlord cannot charge you for expenses related to "normal wear and tear". Normal wear and tear is measured against 1) how long should a thing normally last and 2) what was the intended use. Example:, a privacy fence is intended to provide privacy, it is not intended to be a chew toy for a dog. Even if it is "normal" for your dog to chew a fence, you would be charged to repair any damage caused by the dog because the fence was used for something other than it's intended use. Also, as a tenant you are responsible for anything caused by negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse. This responsibility is yours even if you did not cause the damage. Please remember there is a difference between fault and responsibility. If you rent a car and some stranger dings the door in a parking lot, the damage was not your fault but you are responsible for the cost to repair even if you were not around when the stranger dinged the door.

The most common deductions are for:

1. Lawn care. Please read your lease. You are responsible for more than cutting the lawn and edging. You must treat with fertilizer, you must treat with weed killer, you must maintain flower beds in a weed free manner and maintain an adequate level of mulch. If the yard is not properly maintained then any expense the landlord incurs to fix this negligence may be charged back to the tenant. The lawn should look better then when you moved in, if you do what is required in the lease a better looking, more mature lawn is the result.
2. Cleaning. Your lease requires you to keep the house clean and to leave it clean. If it is not left clean then the landlord will hire someone to finish the cleaning and the expense will be assessed back to your account. Unless you had extraordinary circumstances the carpets were cleaned prior to your move in. The carpet was either done by the previous tenants or done by the landlord and the expense charged back to the previous tenant. We can refer you to cleaning firms for your house and carpets which have had great success in removing even those most stubborn stains.
3. Touch up paint. This can be the most painful. If a tenant touches up and uses the wrong type or color of paint the cost to repair can be more than if just left alone. If you are not 100% confident in your ability to provide a proper touch up job, then you should hire the work done by a professional who will guarantee their work or let the landlord hire their own painter and let the expense be paid from your account. Anything more than a couple of small nail holes per wall is not considered normal use or normal wear and tear. Children drawing on walls may be normal in your family but it is not considered normal use of a wall. Grease on walls, handprints on walls or painting op colors on walls are not considered normal use and may require special (expensive) treatment to repair. Damage to the walls from moving your furnishings in or out of the house is not considered normal wear and tear. On the other side of this, a landlord has an expectation of periodic painting, so if you live at a home for five years, and paint but no repair is required when you leave the landlord must depreciate the expense and can only assess their tenant a smaller amount of the expense they incur.
4. Missing garage door remotes, mismatching light bulbs or missing smoke detector batteries. These costs can be larger than you might think. If a garage door remote is missing then the landlord has to pay someone to deliver and program a new remote. A $30.00 remote ends up costing $90.00 by the time you reimburse the landlord for the service call by a garage door company. Remember your obligations are to reimburse the landlord for the damages they suffer and damages are generally any bills the landlord pays to make things right.