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How do you screen potential tenants?
After obtaining
written consent from a prospective tenant, we make standard
inquiries to prior landlords, mortgage companies, bank references
and Equifax. We also make additional inquiries as individual
circumstances require.
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How much security deposit do you require
and what type of account is it in?
On annual
rentals, the security deposit required is equal to one months rent.
On seasonal rentals, we generally require at least $800, but the
amount is variable based on the amount of the rent. Security
deposits are required by law to be held in an escrow account.
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What if I don't want to rent to families
with children?
Then you
probably should not rent your unit at all. While a good portion of
our customer base are retirees with no children, we cannot guarantee
anything as to the ages of occupants. Indeed, Federal Fair Housing
Laws explicitly prohibit any discriminating practices in this area
(as well as race, creed, color, religion, country of origin, sex,
familial status or handicap). Be advised that if you do decide to
rent out your home or condominium, we will show it to anyone
who requests such a home within its price range. We will never allow
any type of discrimination, and not merely because it is the legal
way to do business. We support these laws, and feel that honoring
them in both the spirit and the letter of the law is the fair,
ethical and right thing to do.
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Do I need insurance when I rent my home?
Sadly, the truth is that there
is an element of legal risk when you rent out your home. We require
a copy of a suitable insurance policy that covers liability on
rental property. You will need to talk to your insurance agent and
arrange for this before we can accept your property into our list of
available properties. This is, however, a relatively painless
process, and your insurance agent should be able to take most of the
hassle out of it.
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Where do you advertise?
You are reading
this, so you already know that we advertise on the web. We also buy
advertising in the local papers (there are two major ones in this
market), in real estate guides and in Chamber of Commerce
publications. Fliers and brochures are used at all area hotels.
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What about sales tax?
Any lease that
has a term of expiration under six months requires a payment of
Transient and Tourism Tax. These are paid by the tenant to us, and
we remit the payments directly to the appropriate County and State
agencies. Both the tenant and the property owner are not burdened
with worrying about filing any of the forms or making payments.
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Can my family and friends use my unit?
Absolutely. You
must notify us in advance, however, so that we don't rent it out for
that time period.
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What about if an eviction becomes
necessary?
Due to our
screening process, this happens exceedingly rarely. Not only is it a
major nuisance to the owner of a unit, such a situation can be very
disruptive to our business. For that reason, we take great pains to
see that evictions are an unnecessary option. However, there remains
the possibility of circumstances that may have to, unfortunately, be
resolved in this manner. An eviction in Florida usually takes 30 to
45 days, depending on court dates and times, and we are
knowledgeable in this area.
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