Landlords—Notify TMHA of Your Available Rental Units

Tuscarawas MHA will be glad to assist landlords in renting their available rental units to prospective TMHA tenants. All landlords need to do is to telephone our office at (330) 308-8099 and provide us with some information about the rental unit which is available. Generally, we will want to know the address of the unit, what you are asking for in rent, how many bedrooms are contained in the unit and the landlord contact information. TMHA will then add this information to our current available units list. This list is distributed to all TMHA Voucher Holders who ask for it. These folks are the ones who are interested in finding new places to rent at the current moment. So, if you have a rental unit that is currently available and you want some free assistance in trying to find a prospective tenant, take just a moment and call TMHA to have your unit added to the list of currently available rental units!

What Do I Do If… My Tenant Has Unauthorized Occupants?
How do you feel knowing you have someone in your rental property that you didn’t even agree to let live there?

It is not as uncommon as one might think, and it may not always be noticeable, but you must be on the lookout for unauthorized occupants. Many leases provide a clause to prohibit the tenant from allowing unauthorized residents. But the lease isn’t always enough to deter it from happening. But it can help give you the means to solve the problem, because with the clause protecting you in the lease, you have the legal right to enforce the lease.

If you believe that you have unauthorized occupants in a TMHA assisted unit, call the housing authority to report information on who you believe to be residing there who is not authorized. Remember, that all occupants of TMHA assisted units have to be approved by both the landlord and TMHA. All TMHA tenants must meet established eligibility criteria to be added to the lease.

You can enforce the lease in these ways:

• You can allow the unauthorized occupant to become an authorized tenant if he is cooperative. You can do this by giving him a rental application so that you can screen him like any other tenant.

• If you approve him, have him sign the lease that the original tenants signed, making them all 100% responsible for the agreement.

• Lease Violation Notice You can notify the tenant(s) of their lease violation, giving them the required notice period to cure their default. I make sure I remind the tenants of the penalty fee for unauthorized occupants that they agreed to in the lease agreement. (If your lease has such a clause) That alone gives you some bargaining power. I also include a Tenants Notice of Intention to Vacate Form along with the Violation Notice, just to show the tenants that I’m not afraid to lose them.
  
  In the event your lease does not provide for an unauthorized tenant situation, you may want to use a Lease Update – Change of Terms Notice form to modify your lease agreement
  
  It is important to be able to take a tough written stance in these situations. The tenant has to believe you will stop at nothing to rectify the problem by legal eviction or to make them conform to the rules. Never tell the tenant or hint to the tenant that you are afraid or don’t want to go to court. If they suspect you are afraid, they will take the upper hand and use it to their advantage. Pretend you love to go to court. That you love to watch your attorney in action. I do love to watch my attorney in action. I love to call the tenant’s bluff and take the upper hand. I love to evict a bad tenant FAST! It doesn’t happen often, but there are times when we must take fast decisive action.
  
  In many cases, tenants who bring in unauthorized tenants are the type of people who don’t always go by the rules as well. That is why you should always be prepared to begin an eviction at any time.

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