tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post5926790623920504692..comments2009-07-10T14:33:16.096-04:00Janenoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-31590371279652241572009-07-10T14:29:52.045-04:002009-07-10T14:29:52.045-04:00As a landlord, I put EVERYTHING in writing. I doubt it would help in court, but it does help in day-to-day life. I&#39;ve had to explain to renters many times that they may CHOOSE to leave in the middle of a month, but they are really renting until the end of a month. <br /><br />I did once return a security deposit very early, just to get rid of a renter. Learned my lesson on that one. <br /><br />Several renters later, I held onto a security deposit until the last day allowed by law because this renter was so nasty and overly demanding. She&#39;s now a home owner in my area and I laugh every time I think of her paying property taxes or the expenses she&#39;ll have when her ancient septic system dies. If she had communicated with me I would have let her in on the townie wisdom of NOT buying in her area, known for poor drainage and flooding. HA!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-89646465164603455892009-07-10T10:06:39.007-04:002009-07-10T10:06:39.007-04:00What sort of work did you to in the basement apartment? Just curious!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-80171334124894459322009-07-09T20:00:40.217-04:002009-07-09T20:00:40.217-04:00Just a tip from one landlord to another, it is always better to get more money up front since even though you do your best to screen, someone could still have issues.<br /><br />In instances like you describe, I require the full first month rent and security deposit and then prorate the second month.El Gallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07457464200796763221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-8004898712212819342009-07-09T19:44:04.756-04:002009-07-09T19:44:04.756-04:00I recall lots of odd things in leases from my days as a renter; one of the most interesting was in a State where they had a law against landlords charging a penalty for being late paying the rent. The lease said &quot;X dollars a month, with a discount of Y dollars if paid before the first of the month,&quot; which of course came the same thing.MattHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618723842334170654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-40229866381282084752009-07-09T17:31:06.501-04:002009-07-09T17:31:06.501-04:00Good to know Boston Gal! I remember the first lease I signed for an apartment and the lease had in big bold numbers that I was signing up to owe the landlord $14,400! I had to have it explained to me that my $1,200 a month rent equals $14,400 for the one year lease I was signing.<br /><br />I guess I had never really thought about just what it meant to be signing a fixed term lease until I saw the big dollar figure!Stephennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-33587730464590468512009-07-09T13:36:12.471-04:002009-07-09T13:36:12.471-04:00Hi Anonymous,<br /><br />Remember, you are prorating for the lease year and figuring out the per day charge based on the full lease amount (a years rent in most cases if you are working off a 12 month fixed term lease). So the 30 day calculation makes perfect sense.<br /><br />How many days in a year? 365 days divided by 12 months equals 30.42 days per year - rounding is a common business practice - so you round down to 30 days.<br /><br />Maybe to make it clearer I should state that when you sign a one year lease you are generally signing a 365 day lease (plus or minus any prorated amount if you are really taking the lease plus or minus some days per the one year lease term).<br /><br />Hi Allyson,<br /><br />Yes, understanding what prorate means is useful in many ways!<br /><br />Hi James,<br /><br />Perhaps - but I was clear that I wanted the lease to end on end of month. If he had not been old enough to have been around the rental block a few times I would not have been surprised. But again, I should not assume these things - so my bad really.Boston Galhttp://www.bostongals.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-12761752965900870402009-07-09T12:48:19.109-04:002009-07-09T12:48:19.109-04:00Maybe he figured his lease would start on the day he took possession of the property, instead of the first of the month. This is how most leases work. Not a hard concept to get your mind around. Maybe you just like collecting on the 1st of the month, which is easy to get my mind around. :-)James Messickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607051809689768629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-48686558346872428302009-07-09T12:31:59.605-04:002009-07-09T12:31:59.605-04:00Man! Thanks for the rundown. I just changed something on my AT&amp;T bill, and the woman said the change would be prorated, and I didn&#39;t worry about it. Now I can figure out the difference and make sure they charge me the right amount!Allysonhttp://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17701530.post-68150762785568297332009-07-09T12:31:26.755-04:002009-07-09T12:31:26.755-04:00I&#39;ve heard of landlords who always prorate rent based on a 30-day month, even if you leave during a 31-day month. Why on earth would they do that??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com