Landlords With Actual Experience With Military Tenants
Hello,
If you are a landlords with actual experience with Military tenants, could you please point out what your experience is with Military folks as tenants? any good or bad points would be appreciated. I hear I can actually contact the Army if any issues with the tenant and they may help so that Army integrity is kept. Is that true?
thanks Pam
Being as how I dealt with them in North Carolina, Marines and Sailors and Army and Marines and Sailors in Hawaii, I can answer from my experience with ENLISTED TENANTS. The only checking I did was to look at that green ID CARD and make sure they were who they said, that was credit check enough for me. I was a Marine before too. I had a good relationship with them around the base for rentals, any serious problem you get their 1st Sgt or Senior Chief in on so he can straighten an individual out without it hurting his/her career. I had no problem collecting rent, even selling property to them. If you register with the base with your rentals they will help you keep them rented. Around Camp Lejeune NC I would always be ready to help if people came in on holidays looking for a fast place to rent. You do some favors (cut them a huss) for them, that is no big deal to you and they treat you right and pass your name along to others looking. I always watched out for my renters, because sometimes they had to leave on short notice. It is not hard to find out the truth about them.
In Hawaii I rented some places and it was expensive to them, the military had a kind of cost of living rent that helped. I was there during a hot market and sometimes the rent payment was lower than the mortgage but to hold it for a few montths and sell it you could roll in the cash. Another thing they make good buyers AND good sellers. IMHO
As a property management company established by former military personnel, our experience is good.
One thing regarding obtaining information for verification, not only do you need a copy for their ID, but you should get a copy of their orders. In one of the properties we obtained from a different management company, a military tenant signed a one year lease, but due to the temporary duty orders, he should have been signed to a monthly. This cost us big, since the military release clause only allows for one month of rent to break a lease.
Also, should you be unable to resolve issues with your military tenant, a look at the order will give you a quicker way to find the 1st Sgt (Army, AF, Marine) or Chief (Navy) for enlisted, and Department Head or Senior Ranking Officer for their division if it is an officer.
The flip side is how you treat your military tenants. It is not uncommon for bases, and the DoD, to issue warnings and/or "quarantines" to landlords who abuse, maltreat or violate tenants rights. This can cost you dearly if you live in a town with a military base or facility.
I have several rentals in this military town. Over the years I have had military tenants. They have been no better and no worse than my civilian tenants.
thank you all for your responses...
I feel more confident having heard back from your experiences.
thanks, Pam
I to rented to a military person. The problem that I encountered was that this tenant said they received "orders to be shipped overseas". Now I got a lot of responses when I posted on my feelings on attempting to get compensated. Most felt I should be patriotic and just let it go and find another tenant. And I must say after some soul searching, I did just that.
I allowed her to break the lease without penalty, moved on and found another great tenant. My advice would be have something in your lease that address a change of orders.
royalfortune,
I think it was a smart move to ask for more documentation. I would have not rented to them either. I have asked for copies of identification in the past and it all worked out. I would not have signed a lease with them without copies or their license and two months deposit.