Tenant Experience:
Initial contact, pre-screening and showing the property
Once you, the potential tenant, locates a property you are interested in from any of the many sources of advertising and makes contact with Avenue Property Management (by phone call, email, or by stopping by the office), few pre-screening questions will be asked to ensure that you are a viable candidate for one of our properties. After this initial contact takes place and the potential applicant has been pre-screened we will set an appointment for you to view the property. You will walk the property with one of our leasing specialists/property managers and will be allowed to ask any unanswered questions about the property at that time. All lease terms will be disclosed and agreed to at this time.
The Application Process
At this point you have viewed the property and have decided it is the right place for you! Prior to lease signing you will have to fill out an application either at the office or online. There is a $50 application fee for each individual over the age of 18. The applicant will be screened for credit, criminal history, eviction history, employment and income verification, and will be checked against the sexual registry. An application is required for each tenant and no applicant will be checked until all fees are paid in full. Applications can take up to 24 hours to be returned to us for final decision. Once the report has been returned to us we will either call and set up a time for you to sign the lease, or if there any issues that have not been disclosed we will call for clarification or to reject the application.
Lease Signing and Move-In Inspection
Great, you have been approved for tenancy in one of our properties! Now it is time to sign the lease. All terms have been discussed and agreed to already, and it is time to sign on the line and secure your future residence. If desired a copy of the lease can be emailed for you to read through prior to signing. You will either meet the leasing specialist/property manager in the office or at the property to sign the lease. All deposits, pro-rated rents and first months rent will be collected at this time. All initial payments must be in the form of good funds (wire transferred into our account, cashiers check, money order or paid by credit card). Once the lease and supporting documents have been signed and deposits collected, you will walk the property with our move-in document. This document is vitally important to you as this is the same document that will be used once you vacate the property. You will make notes on the condition of the property being sure to note all deficiencies. This document will be used to determine what condition the property was in upon your exit, and all fees assessed to you from your deposit will come directly from this form. The lease has been signed, the deposits collected, and the inspections have been completed, now it is time for us to relinquish the keys to your new place to you on the commencement date set in the lease. All utilities are to be switched into your name by the commencement date.
Your Residency
You have moved into your new place and are getting settled. Ongoing rental payments are required, which you can pay in several different ways: automatic account draft (most popular method), online payment, credit card, mail a check into the office, or you can drop off payment into the office directly. All rent is due on the first of the month, and will be considered late in accordance with the terms set forth in your lease agreement. If payment is not received before the late date a late fee will be assessed and the rent will not be considered paid-in-full until all penalties and fees are paid. Partial payments are considered late. If all fees and penalties are not paid in full by the 15th of the month you will be turned over to our attorney for eviction. If all fees and penalties are paid the proceedings will be stopped. No tenant will be allowed to reside in the property without paying rent in full each month.
Maintenance issues are not good for anyone, but they do happen. If an issue occurs you will have several ways to let us know about the issue. You can call the office, email the office, or log into your tenant portal on our website (preferred method) and bring the issue to our attention. If the issue is an emergency you will be provided an emergency number to call, if the issue is a non-emergency service person will be dispatched to your property to rectify the situation. If the issue is determined to be the fault of the tenant, you will be billed for the cost of the repair. If you do not pay this bill your rent will be considered late and all fees and penalties will apply. If the matter is determined to be an issue with the property itself it will be repaired at no expense to the tenant.
Time has passed and the term of your lease is 60 days from ending. We will contact you to see what your future plans are. If you have been a good tenant we will offer a lease renewal if that is what you would like to do. If you have decided to move on we require 60 days notice to remarket the property. During this last 60 days the property will be shown to potential renters and you will be required to allow us access (with notice) to show the property. Once your lease has expired and you have vacated the property we will perform the move-out inspection. We expect you to leave the property in move-in condition. A forwarding address will need to be left with us and your deposit will be mailed to you within 30 days.