Owner FAQ

We understand all of our residents want to leave their place in tip-top shape!  To help, residents can find a clear breakdown of what’s considered normal wear and tear versus resident-caused damage in our Move-Out Procedures document. This document also explains how security deposits are handled and what deductions might apply.

We take pride in ensuring our rentals are move-in ready! After a resident moves out, our team conducts a thorough inspection. This inspection includes detailed notes and pictures to identify any necessary repairs or cleaning. Based on this inspection, we create a specific plan to get the unit in top shape for the next resident. This plan is then reviewed with the owner before any work begins.  For a detailed overview of what our standards are to prep a home for rent, please check out our Rent Ready Checklist found on our Owner Resources page, https://truehomeohio.com/owner-resources/.

At True Home Ohio, we understand the importance of creating a living environment where residents feel valued and comfortable. That’s why we consistently achieve lease renewal rates exceeding the industry average (68-70% compared to 51%). 

Here’s what sets us apart:

Yes, after a resident moves out of a unit our team will replace the locks/rekey. Future residents will have a new set of keys as will our True Home Ohio team. Previous residents will no longer be able to access the unit.  This cost is at the owner’s expense.

Yes, owners will be notified as soon as a resident has decided to not renew a lease. Our team will do an analysis to determine a new listing price and then will inform the owner prior to listing the unit. If the owner is in agreement, the leasing team will move forward with listing the unit. Once a qualified renter has applied, met the qualifications and signed a leased, the owner will be notified of the new resident.

If a unit turnover will cost $500 or more, property owners will be notified with our team’s recommendations and a quote for the work. Once approved, if a property reserve is not in place, a payment request will be made to the owner prior to beginning the turnover work.

No, residents are not permitted to use his/her security deposit towards rent. Residents are made aware of this information in the lease agreement they sign and in the Move Out Procedures document.

Residents are contacted 100 days out from lease expiration. If a new lease is not signed or if the resident does not inform us of his/her decision 60 days prior to the lease expiration, we assume the resident intends to move out and we begin finding a new resident.

Please review our Application Process document.

Please review our Application Process document.

Yes, True Home Ohio follows all Federal Fair Housing laws and abides by the Fair Credit Act. All applications are screened and processed in the same manor.

Yes, residents agree to obtain renter’s insurance upon signing a lease agreement.

This depends on the property and unit. When an owner begins working with our team, they are asked to provide details of how utilities will be handled. Most single-family properties require a resident to put all utilities (gas/electric/water/sewage) in their name. However, some units only require gas/electric.

Yes. All applications are treated the same and are processed in the order we receive them. True Home uses an Applicant Scorecard on every application received and processed. If an applicant receives enough points on the scorecard, we will approve him/her. Owners are not asked for the final approval due to Fair housing laws. Every application must be screened and processed the same.

No. Due to Fair Housing laws we are not permitted to share this private information.

For legal purposes, property owners are not permitted to view leases prior to activating a lease agreement. However, once a lease agreement is signed, owners are able to view every lease from his/her online account. All leases can be found from the Documents tab.

True Home Ohio holds all security deposits until a resident’s lease terminates.

We utilize a software known as Tenant Turner to advertise.  This allows us to create a single listing with pictures, rental amount, terms, descriptions, etc.  Then this listing is syndicated out to 30+ of the most popular FOR RENT websites and apps.  We find that the majority of our tenants discover our listings through the “Zillow Group Affiliates”.

Yes.  Professional photography will allow for a shorter vacancy time and attract the highest quality renters.  

We work with a photographer that charges by the square foot and for a typical single-family rental within our portfolio, the cost is usually less than $200.

Absolutely.  The software we pay for will tell us how many people have clicked on our listing, what website it came from, and provides a full owner report.  This “owner report” has data analytics that tell us how many people were pre-screened, how many people scheduled a showing, completed a showing, and finally feedback after a showing.  The software will auto-text prospective tenants who viewed the property and ask for them to rank the property between 1 and 5.  In addition to the score (with 5 being the highest) it requires them to provide feedback on what they thought about the place.  If they liked it, we email & text them links to apply.  It is extremely streamlined and is why we can fill vacancies in under 7 days.

If we price the home appropriately and aren’t asking above market rates, we can keep the Days on Market limited to a maximum of 3 weeks.  Our target for number of days on market a FOR RENT listing sits out there is less than 3 weeks.  Our company is incentivized to reduce our number of days on market because we also incur a fee (from Zillow) to advertise on their platform.

If we do not hit the 3 week target or are not on track to hit the 3 week target, there are two things that we can do.

First, we can lower the asking price on the home.  This is the direction that is taken 9 times out of 10.

Secondly, we can suggest costly improvements to the home to attract folks to the asking price.

No.  Our company covers this cost for all of our clients.  This is a great example on how our goals and priorities are aligned with our clients.  The longer your rental stays vacant, the more money we have to pay to keep advertising. 

Yes, go to our Homes for Rent page and click on one of our FOR RENT listings to see the process.  Click on any listing and fill out the “Contact – Details – Schedule” form, but do not actually submit it.  You will see once you get to the “Details” portion of the form, we state the following:

“Great! Thanks, (prospective tenant name). So you know, this property is not available for tenants with recent felonies against people or property, an income less than 3.0x rent, pets (pet requirements are up to the client/investor and will be reflected here), a move in date too far out, or any unmet property requirements. It is available for immediate move in.”

Furthermore, on this same page for the “Details” we ask the following:

When are you looking to move in?

How many animals will you bring with you?

What is the source of your rent payments?

At least one occupant has been evicted. Yes or No?

At least one occupant has filed for bankruptcy. Yes or No?

At least one occupant has been convicted of a felony against people or property. Yes of No?

At least one occupant had a judgment filed. Yes of No?

When a prospective tenant finds our listing (regardless of what website they found the listing such as Zillow, Hotpads, Trulia, etc), they are required to fill out this information before getting in contact with us.  This is the first line of defense to ensure we are finding and placing the highest quality renter possible.  If certain criteria is not met based on their answers through this form, an auto generated email is sent to them to notify they do not qualify and will not be a candidate to rent from us.

We have a very detailed and thorough process to screen our prospective tenants utilizing our “Resident Scorecard”.  First, head over to our Rental Application page to get a feel for the initial items we require all of our applying tenants who will be potentially living in your property to answer.  Not only do we do a thorough background and credit check, but we also score the applicants on a number of other important criteria.  Each person 18 years or older is required to apply.  Some other important criteria we screen against includes Prior Landlord Reference, Rental History, Current Rent vs Proposed Rent, Job Stability, Income, etc.

We require the applicant make 3x the monthly rent and there is no history of rental debt on their credit.  In some instances, we require an additional deposit to lease the property if the applicant has a marginal Resident Score (a combination of the above details). We collect a hold fee once approved and this takes the home off the market.

• • Current Landlord Letter of Recommendation

We have found this is a critical piece of information to receive from all of our applying residents.  As seen on our Rental Application page, we state the following for all applying applicants:

“In order to fully process this application, we require a touchpoint with your current landlord. This application will not be complete until we have a conversation or receive a letter of recommendation directly from your current landlord.

To save time, please complete our Consent to Background and Reference Check form. This form gives us permission to contact your references.”

In the rare event we need to pursue an eviction, we have a team of lawyers who assist us in the process.  As our client and owner of the rental property, you will not need to be involved in this process.  We will take care of all the work required to handle the eviction (post physical notices, documentation, and appear in court) for you. We do not up-charge you for the eviction work.  We pass the attorney fee straight through to our clients.  The attorney fees for a typical eviction is ~$250. 

Historically speaking, we do not have to do evictions on tenants we place due to our strong screening process. 

Yes.  We will collaborate with you before finalizing our “asking price” for rent on the property.  Remember, the only variable we have control over is the “asking price” and not the “market price”.  This is the same concept with a FOR SALE home.  We can ask for a very high rent, but if it is above what the market is able to sustain, our analytics will show us that we priced the asking price too high.  If we set the asking price too high, we will extend our vacancy times and force the listing to become stale after it’s been on the market for a while.  This is why we will reach out to you after 7 days if the property has not been rented yet and provide analytics feedback.