Owner FAQ

Yes. In fact, we recommend owners view their property at least once every year or two years. Owners should give RentWerx at least three to four business days worth of notice, so we can make arrangements with the tenants. Often the trip to view your property is tax deductible! Please check with your tax advisor.

Although the decorator paint colors you used in your bedroom, bath or living room is enjoyable and pleasing to you that is not necessarily true for the prospective tenants.

We consistently find that having even one wall that is maroon or green or one bedroom that is blue or pink can greatly increase the time it takes to rent the property each time it becomes available. We strongly recommend that all walls and ceilings be painted an off white or neutrally light color.

All rental units including apartments, duplexes, condos, and single-family homes must have smoke detectors as required by the Texas Property Code HB 1168.

New Legislation Texas law HB 1168 requires at least one smoke alarm to be placed in each bedroom, or in the room used for sleeping in the case of an efficiency unit. In addition, if multiple bedrooms are served by the same hallway, there must be a smoke alarm in the hallway in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms; and if the unit has multiple levels, there must be a smoke alarm on each level.

Unless otherwise recommended by the manufacturer’s published instructions, single- and multiple-stations smoke alarms shall be replaced when they fail to respond to operability tests, but shall not remain in service longer than 10 years from the date of manufacture.

Part of the Texas Property Code is to have all locks rekeyed to a home when taking the home back from one tenant and turning it over to a new tenant. This expense falls on the owner and is against the law to charge to the tenant. When RentWerx San Antonio takes over a home directly from the owner, re-keying the home is not required. See Texas Property Code.

All rental-housing owners in Texas should have been in compliance with the Texas security device statute as of January 1, 1995.

The statute applies to owners of apartments, houses, duplexes, triplexes, condominium units, townhouses, cooperatives, mobile homes, rooms in private dormitories and rooming houses, garage apartments, public housing projects, and all other types of dwellings that are rented.

The safety and security of your residents and their families are at stake – as well as your own potential liability exposure to multimillion-dollar lawsuits. Here is a list of what should have been done: or what will be done when converting a residence into a rental property.

• Keyless deadbolts. You must have a keyless deadbolt on every exterior door, including a door from a garage into the dwelling. A keyless deadbolt is not necessary on sliding glass doors or on doors that open from a garage to the outside.
• Keyed deadbolts. You must have a keyed deadbolt or a keyed doorknob lock on at least one exterior door. You don’t need a keyed lock on all exterior doors. You need a keyed lock on only one exterior door which is normally used for entry. That lock can be either a keyed deadbolt or a keyed doorknoblock. Obviously, a keyed deadbolt is far superior to a keyed doorknob lock because of its one-inch bolt.
• Door-viewers. You must have either a door-viewer (peephole), a clear glass pane or one-way mirror in each exterior door –even if there is a clear glass panel or window right next to the door –and even if the door opens from the dwelling into the garage and even if the door is at the rear of the dwelling or on the second or third story of the dwelling. Door-viewer range must be160o or greater; lens can be made of plastic but glass is better.
• Pin locks on sliding glass doors. You must have a sliding door pin lock on each sliding glass door.
• Security bars or door-handle latches on sliding glass doors. You must have either a security bar (sometimes called a “Charlie bar”) or a door-handle latch that works, on each sliding glass door. You have a choice of one or the other.
• Window latches. You must have a window latch on each window. It can be the original latch or an after-market type.
• French doors. All French doors must have a threshold bolt and upper door jamb bolt (with a 3/4″ throw) on one door. The other door must have a keyless deadbolt and either a keyed deadbolt or keyed doorknob lock.
• Automatic door closers. You must have an automatic door closer on each hinged door that opens directly into a pool-yard or a multi-unit rental complex (defined as “two or more units”). This requirement is in the 1993 pool-yard enclosure statute rather than the security device statute. Door closers on sliding glass doors are not required. Similarly, door closers on doors opening into a pool-yard of a rent house are not required, but they are highly recommended for safety and liability reasons. Spring-loaded door hinge pins seem to be the best and most aesthetic type of automatic door closers.
• Window screens. Window screens are not statutorily required by the security device statute. But if a window has a screen and the window is in a wall used as part of a pool-yard enclosure of a multi-unit complex, the poolyard statute requires the screen to have a screen latch or be permanently affixed with screws.

Upper floors: the requirements of the statute apply no matter how high or what story the door or window is on.

• Good working order. You must have all security devices working properly when residents move in.
• Rekeying at turnover. At each resident turnover we rekey all keyed deadbolts and keyed doorknob locks on exterior doors if the doors can be opened from the outside by a key. We require owners to use our locksmith. Our locksmith re-keys the property to our key system and makes sure the locks and smoke alarms are up to code.
• Quick repair. You must quickly repair or replace a security device that you or your employees at any time discover is missing or not working–even if the resident has not asked you to do so.
• Prompt response. You must promptly respond to legitimate resident requests for rekeying, repairing, installing or replacing–preferably within three days after receiving the tenant’s request, but no later than seven days.
• Fair charges. You must be fair in billing residents for rekeying, repairs and installations for which they’re liable. Even though it is allowed by the statute under certain circumstances, it is recommended that you not require payment in advance. It’s too easy to mistakenly require advance payment when you’re not supposed to under the statute.

It is illegal for unlicensed locksmiths to install repair and service locks. It also is illegal for businesses needing locksmith services to knowingly contract with an unlicensed locksmith, directly or indirectly through a maintenance company. Both criminal and civil penalties apply. Individuals changing house or personal property locks also are subject to the same law.

We typically hold a $300 reserve for all properties that we manage to help cover any small repair items that come up.

We do not! We have access to “all-around” maintenance technicians who are skilled in a wide range of home repairs including air-conditioning, light plumbing and electrical. We save our owners money by using these technicians for the majority of multi-trade and make-ready tasks. Another benefit of using these technicians is the opportunity for checking out the general condition of the property – something that a single trade vendor will not do for you.

We believe we have developed a very sensible approach to handling maintenance and repairs, and that you will realize cost savings that other property management companies simply cannot deliver.

If the home is vacant, you can use your own vendor.  If home is occupied, then we will  use our approved vendors.

Our Director of Maintenance can go over any further details with an owner.

Unless otherwise stated in the Residential Property Leasing and Management Agreement or restricted by property limitations, all utilities used on the premises are paid for by the tenant. New tenants are advised to notify the appropriate utility companies to have service turned on in their name. During periods of vacancy, utilities can be placed in the company’s name, and the resulting usage will be charged to the owner’s account. Having the electricity on greatly enhances the showing of your property when darkness arrives early in the evening and during hot weather.

We give them an opportunity to correct the situation, and usually they will. If a problem persists, we will make a decision based on that specific situation to take more drastic measures that could include eviction if needed. Prior to pushing towards an eviction, the courts will require an “Opportunity to Cure” the defect. Example – if they have an un-authorized pet in the home – we would have to send them formal correspondence to remove the pet by a certain date, then inspect the home to ensure compliance (all at tenant expense). If they fail to comply, our case is solid and an eviction over the matter would be more justified with the propert documentation.

This is the greatest fear of most new owners. We have this in our management agreement – in writing – to abide by our spending limits. Ordinary maintenance and repairs of less than $250 can be paid out of your account without prior specific owner permission, and you will see this in your monthly statement. If we think a repair might exceed $250 and if we are unable to reach you, we may initiate repair work even if it is higher than $250 as stated in the management agreement; for the following cases: (1) the health or safety of a tenant is an issue; (2) the property will incur damage if immediate action is not taken, (3) In instances where there is only one option to consider. We will not leave a tenant waiting in 90+-degree heat without A/C or without hot water, or a leaking roof while we try to contact you for permission to do the obvious.

Sometimes an owner will complain that we spent $265(for example) when it was not an emergency. Instead of having the owner incur an additional trip fee just for us to get an estimate, and then having to send the company back out to do the repair it makes more financial sense to agree to the repair at the time the technician is on site. This saves the tenant time, the owner money, and we are all better off because of this. Imagine if you were a tenant – you take off work on a Tuesday afternoon and the tech shows up to look at your garbage disposal. It needs approximately $265.00 worth of work to be fixed. If we were unable to approve this job, the tech would have to leave your home and then come back another day to do the work….again making the tenant take off work to accommodate a $15.00 technicality. Come renewal time – tenants remember these things and could cost both of us an excellent tenant.

We always tell the maintenance companies to alert us if the repair is going to be over $250. Sometimes the maintenance company may think that the repair will not go over $250, but after they get working on the repair, they find that there is more to fix than they could see before they started the job. It would not make good sense and it could be a safety issue if the company had to leave an air conditioner or dishwasher, etc. torn apart while we waited for your permission to ok the additional $50.00(for example) and then the maintenance company could charge another trip charge on top of the extra money for the repairs. This would not be in your (the owners) best interest – or the tenants.

When a tenant owes a maintenance or late charge, our policy is to withhold from their regular monthly rent payment any amount that is owed. Tenant’s failure to pay the lease payment prior to 12:00 p.m. on the 4th day of each month requires them to pay the late fee, as stated in their lease, which is collected at the same time as the monthly payment. If the tenant fails to include the late fees with their rental payment, your income for the month will be short because we follow the Texas Lease Agreement and Texas Property Code to credit all payments to non-rent charges first, including late charges.

The Justice of the Peace (JP) court system only permits us to evict for nonpayment of rent. Because of this eviction restriction, we must collect any delinquencies first which causes the unpaid amount to be for rent only. Hopefully, you will receive the balance of your income in the next monthly collection cycle.

Tenants may submit maintenance requests though our website, email, mail, or our preferred method of entering in requests through the tenant portal. After receiving a repair request, we will contact the tenant and ask them questions in order to help us determine the exact nature of the problem before sending a service technician. We make sure it is not something the tenant can fix themselves (ex: reset button on the disposal, tripped breaker etc.) before your money is spent on a service call. After determining that it is a legitimate problem, we will send the appropriate service vendor or one of RentWerx Maintenance service techs to make the repair. We tell our tenants that we are able to handle most repair requests within 1 to 3 working days, and, in fact, are usually able to do so. Comfort items such as air conditioning, no hot water or heat, receive highest priority and are usually attended to the same or next business day.

In most of our leases, the tenant is responsible for yard maintenance which includes watering, cutting grass, weeding, reseeding if needed, trimming shrubs and flowers. Owners are responsible for trimming limbs that are on or near roofs. The area around the driveway, sidewalks, curbs and gutters are considered to be part of the yard and need to be kept free of weeds, grass, and leaves. For security reasons, hedges and bushes should be trimmed so they do not to block the view from windows. In some cases where an owner has put a lot of money into landscaping, we recommend doing the yard work for the tenant with a professional landscaper. This would be built into the lease and would afford the owner to ask for more in rent.

NOTE: Owners should not expect tenants to perform the type of upkeep that owners would do such as leave removal, fertilizing, heavy trimming, mulching, and annual type of clean ups. Tenants will usually cut the grass and trim. Unfortunately, the courts have taken the same opinion in the matter. Judges would not expect tenants to pay thousands of dollars to trim trees on the property they have lived at for 12 months.

First, careful tenant selection protects your property from being rented to unqualified people.

During the lease term, we may have occasion to enter the property for repair or maintenance reasons and will use that opportunity to examine the property. In addition, upon request, we can schedule a 6-month property inspection to see how the tenants are maintaining the property. We make sure the air filter is being changed, that the smoke alarms have batteries, and that there are no unreported problems at the property.

The right for us to make routine inspections of the property is part of the tenant’s lease agreement and can be exercised by the owner or the property manager at any time. Courtesy would dictate we offer some sort of approved notice to the tenant.

We believe that you hire a property manager to manage the property for you, not to assist you in managing it yourself. We can offer a turnkey style of property management service which is most appreciated by those property owners who prefer to be “out of the loop” on all but the most important matters related to the management and leasing of the property. We don’t have to pester you with small details, questions, information or “updates” about your property or tenants, except for those matters which will have a significant impact on your monthly cash flow. Instead, we can simply take care of the things you have entrusted us to handle on your behalf.

The actual maintenance expenses for the home are the responsibility of the homeowner. Every effort is made to control maintenance costs while maintaining the integrity and value of the property. While the property is occupied, the tenants are required to notify our office of any problems. If the estimated cost to repair exceeds the maximum that is allowed in the Residential Property Leasing and Management Agreement, the owner is contacted for permission to make the necessary repairs. (Except as outlined in the agreement)

We realize it can be rather upsetting when you receive an unexpected bill from us for repairs made to your property; however, some repairs are urgent and must be corrected immediately. Emergency repairs are made in accordance with our Residential Management Agreement. Normally, the tenants pay a portion of the repair expense but if, in our opinion, the expense was due to their negligence, the tenant will be billed and become liable for the entire amount. We do not do bids or estimates on repairs under $250.00. On larger jobs, a bid will be presented to you for approval before work can begin. In addition, we would require a 50% payment up front to cover any costs of material to begin the work.

We ask that owners deposit $250.00 for a maintenance reserve upon signing the Residential Property Management Agreement. A copy of any bills will accompany your statement explaining the type of work/repair accomplished on the property and posted to the owner portal.

If the home is vacant, you can use your own vendor.  If home is occupied, then we will  use our approved vendors.

Our Director of Maintenance can go over any further details with an owner.

Unlike other property management companies – RentWerx San Antonio CAN manage your home that has a swimming pool. We suggest building enough cash flow into the lease to provide a regular professional pool cleaning service to ensure the pool is being maintained correctly. This service will be contracted by the owner or property manager and access will be granted by the tenants.

Smoking is not allowed inside any of the homes RentWerx manages. We will rent to tenants who smoke, but we require them and their guests to smoke outside. We make this very clear to them; they are required to sign that they fully understand this at the time of their application, and it is also part of the lease agreement.

We prefer that the owners do not use a Home Warranty Company to make repairs at their rental property. It is possible for us to accommodate a home warranty – but read this first!

There is a HUGE problem in the home warranty industry, and the public is becoming savvy to it.

Try searching Google with the name of your favorite home warranty company and the word `complaints’ or `fraud’. You will be amazed. Find out how many people feel like they got burned, turned down wrongfully, or got seriously bad service. Furthermore, feel free to visit www.my3cents.com for even more examples of this currently growing problem THERE ARE MANY OTHERS…..

Almost Every time we call a home warranty company for a problem, they deny the service either on grounds of lack of maintenance or abnormal wear and tear. How do you define abnormal wear and tear and lack of maintenance? When it comes to exclusions and small print, Warranty contracts say a claim can be denied for lack of maintenance, improper maintenance, improper installation, pre-existing problems, code violations and numerous other reasons.

Warranties are typically purchased by home sellers or their real estate agents to avoid lawsuits if something breaks in the first year.

Not to be confused with a builder’s warranty, a so-called home warranty — Actually a service contract — is typically purchased for existing homes, especially homes sold by real estate agents. These service contracts generally cost $400 to $600 for a year-long basic-coverage plan that includes items like ceiling fans, water heaters and furnaces.

The contracts come with loopholes. You need to carefully read your service agreement to determine what is and what isn’t covered. Coverage for plumbing, for example, typically ends at your home’s foundation, so leaks or breakages beyond that would be your responsibility. “Pre-existing” problems typically aren’t covered, nor are breakdowns that result from poor maintenance or improper installation. The contract also may require that a system be upgraded to current building code standards — at the homeowner’s expense — before they agree to consider repairs. People who have had problems with the home warranty companies say that the more expensive the repair or replacement, the more likely home warranty companies are to invoke these exclusion clauses.

You don’t have control over who does the work. The home warranty provider contracts with local service companies to perform the actual inspections and repairs. You don’t get to choose, and scheduling repairs can sometimes be a trial taking days for immediate service.

The service technician may also try to sell you unneeded services.

So what is a homeowner to do? Many consumer advocates would say it’s better to “self-insure” — setting aside a reasonable sum each year to cover routine maintenance and finding reliable local contractors to do the work. You can’t shift all the risk of home repairs to a home warranty company because, as noted above, many repairs won’t be covered by your agreement.

So when might a home warranty make sense? If you are trying to sell a house, a home warranty can give buyers some peace of mind and may reduce the chances of your being sued should an appliance or system break down after the sale.

We have had hundreds of problems with home warranties.
An example: we had a bathroom faucet go on the blink; we called the Home Warranty Company. After paying the $55 deductible, their contractor refused to make the repair. So we had our plumber go out and they made the repair for $65. We have experienced this over and over where the owners are spending money on deductibles and then we have to send out our maintenance people to fix the problem.

Our next problem came in the form of a malfunctioning air conditioner. After 2 days with the tenants having no A/C and paying a $60 deductible, the service technician reported that there was lack of maintenance and therefore it had to be replaced and cannot be covered under the Home Warranty. They gave us an estimate of $4,000 to replace a 6 year old A/C system. Also the tenants are staying in a Hotel and want to be reimbursed for their expenses. We sent out our A/C vendor and he said the A/C unit is perfectly fine except that a small part had to be replaced; total cost from our vendor was under $250 to fix the problem while on site!

On another property, a dishwasher repair was needed. The home warranty company took 3 months and had make 15 trips out to the property to repair the dishwasher. If you were the tenant how would you feel? Would you be renewing your lease with this landlord anytime soon?

On one property the A/C went out in the summer and it took 21 trips and 3 months before the warranty company finally replaced the A/C. You can be sure the tenants moved as soon as their lease agreement was up. Other tenants would have gotten an attorney and been suing the owner.

Often they will leave tenants hanging without heat or A/C for days while they go through their “second opinion” process.

If, as a property management company, we wanted to damage our reputation with as many tenants as possible by providing the lousiest repair service possible, there is no better way to accomplish that than by using a warranty company on all service calls. They simply are not compatible with the level of service we demand of our vendors.

Our owners have been burned so many times in years past that we finally decided we had enough, and said “no more”. Nothing affects the reputation of a property management company more than the manner in which repairs are handled. Tenants judge us by almost no other measure. It therefore makes little sense to entrust vendors we don’t know, whom we have no relationship with or control over, with the reputation of our company and the relationship with your tenant. Instead, when repairs are needed, we will send our trusted vendors with whom established relationships exists, and they will provide the quality service we require in a professional and timely manner. That said, if we determine through our own vendor that a covered mechanical item in your home has failed, or is in need of costly repair, we will endeavor to get whatever Home Warranty company you have out to honor the warranty, provided that they accomplish the service call and repair in a time frame and manner that is reasonable and just to all parties.

Take a look at Paragraph 18 section F of the tenants lease agreement 18. REPAIRS:
F. NOTICE: If Landlord fails to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant as required by this lease or the Property Code, Tenant may be entitled to exercise remedies under §92.056 and §92.0561 of the Property Code. If Tenant follows the procedures under those sections, the following remedies may be available to Tenant: (1) terminate the lease and obtain an appropriate refund under §92.056(f); (2) have the condition repaired or remedied according to §92.0561; (3) deduct from the rent the cost of the repair or remedy according to §92.0561; and (4) obtain judicial remedies according to §92.0563. Do not exercise these remedies without consulting an attorney or carefully reviewing the procedures under the applicable sections. The Property Code presumes that 7 days is a reasonable period of time for the Landlord to repair a condition unless there are circumstances which establish that a different period of time is appropriate (such as the severity and nature of the condition and the availability of materials, labor, and utilities.)

Tenants have more rights now than they ever have had in the past and Judges are normally on the side of the tenants and if repairs are not made timely, owners can find themselves on the wrong side of the legal system. It is hard enough to try to use a home warranty on the home that you live in. It is not cost effective or practical to use a home warranty on a rental property.

Insurance: You must advise your insurance company that the property will be a rental unit, and Texas insurance regulations require that any existing Homeowner policy be cancelled. You will need to take out ‘Fire and Extended Coverage’ and also notify your agent the property will be a Rental Property. In order to protect your investment the amount of insurance should equal the replacement cost of the property.

Also, be certain that you have adequate Property and Liability Insurance coverage.

The Residential Property Leasing and Management Agreement requires the owner to carry insurance adequate to protect all parties.

IF YOUR RENTAL PROPERTY IS VACANT BEYOND 60 DAYS, REQUEST THAT YOUR INSURANCE AGENT ADD A VACANCY CLAUSE TO YOUR POLICY. WITHOUT THIS CLAUSE YOUR INSURANCE IS INVALID.

Have your agent name RentWerx as an additional insured, or property manager in your liability policy. We need this proof of insurance in our files. We must be provided copies proving coverage no later than thirty (30) days after signing the Residential Property Leasing and Management Agreement.