Owner FAQ

Yes, we are licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate in the state of California. Paul Kankowski is a Licensed Broker and is a member of the National Association of National Property Managers with a Residential Management Professional Certification (RMP). Christine Kankowski is a licensed agent and a certified property manager. She holds a certificate in Probate sales, Short Sales, and has an e-pro certification.

Contact us at 951-225-4020 today and we can start the process immediately. We will need to find more about your property to see if we are a good match for each other. We can discuss your needs and expectations regarding management service. We begin the process very quickly.

The most important part of listing a property is to get the correct rental price. We use statistical data to make sure that we are pricing your property correctly. When properties are over-priced they will not get many search results and it will sit on the market longer. We analyze the market to be certain your home is priced according to current market conditions.

Prior to placing a property on the rental market or renewing a lease, we do a comparative market analysis and determine the correct rental rate that can be charged. We actively monitor viewings and interest level to ensure we are at the right price.

After a property has been exposed to the market for one week without renting, we look into the possibility that the asking rent is too high. We will consider lowering the rent so that the property will not sit vacant.

Empty units are what cost owners the most money. Our properties average only 7 days vacant in between tenants. Industry average is 26 days.

We use Appfolio to syndicate out to over 100 websites including Zillow, Trulia, House.com, Apartments.com, Realtor.com, Rent.com, Zumper, Craigslist and many others including our own www.housematchca.com

This is all included in our leasing fee, we will list on these sites, schedule and show the property on multiple days at different times to maximize exposure. Remember, our goal is to get you a GREAT tenant QUICKLY!
For our Platinum clients we also list your property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). We pay a $400 leasing fee to the agent who brings us a qualified tenant, whether the agent is from our office or from another company. This is the largest fee to another agent that I have seen in this area. This makes our properties very attractive to other real estate agents.

We will place a For Rent sign 30 days prior to the tenant moving out, unless the owner requests no sign. For a new property, the sign is placed on the date the unit first comes under our management or, if necessary, when the property is in a showing condition. (Unless restricted by Neighborhood)

Yes. We can start the process immediately. To set up a no-obligation consultation to discuss your property in detail, please Contact us at (858) 922-9224.

We start showing properties once tenants give a 30-day notice in order to decrease the downtime between tenants. We are averaging less then seven days between occupants. If the property is vacant, we use special lockboxes that allow the tenant to view the property on their own after going through a screening process. We get a copy of their driver license and verify information before they can receive a single use code. This leads to more showings and less vacancy, because prospective tenants can access the property if they call our office while driving by or if the pre-set showing times do not meet their schedule.

If a property is occupied, we offer several showings times to applicants to sign up online, at which time we meet them at the property.

Your property will be treated as one of our own rentals. As landlords ourselves, we promise to make good decisions for you. Your property will receive professional care and maintenance. Your lease agreement with the tenant will be enforced in a courteous and businesslike manner. We always act in your best interest while at the same time making sure that your tenant receives fair and ethical treatment.

Prospective tenants are shown the property or have viewed the video tour of the property online and are interested in the property. The prospective tenant will submit a rental application online through our application software.. The prospective tenant must also submit a nonrefundable Application Fee. The application fee is retained by House Match to cover the cost of processing the application. A credit check, criminal check, and eviction check will be performed on all applicants over 18 years old. Along with rental references and income verification. If tenant is denied House Match will send applicant a adverse action letter. If application is approved, House Match will send out a lease agreement and collect the Security Deposit for that property. No home is taken off the market until an application is fully approved and a security deposit has been submitted.

We discuss with the owner at the listing appointment which factors the owner requires from their tenants. This would include if the owner will allow pets, how many, what type etc. Once these factors are determined and agreed upon, HouseMatch will approve the tenant for the owner, without the owner’s involvement, as it is in the owner’s best interest due to Fair Housing Laws.

Fair Housing laws in California are very strict and you might violate these laws without even knowing it. You may have a preference for an older couple and discriminate against people with kids. This is a Fair Housing violation and it carries large monetary penalties. Maybe you prefer someone with the same religious background as you, so you pick someone because you see they list their pastor as a reference.. This is another fair housing violation to discriminate against one applicant who is more qualified due to knowledge that is not pertinent to the application process. All it takes is one Fair Housing complaint and you could be spending thousands of dollars having to defend yourself in court.

While your intentions might be good, most of our clients are not up to date on Fair Housing laws. Letting someone pick a tenant, who does not understand the laws, puts both you and our company at risk. Attorneys have told us that the best way to reduce the risk of a Fair Housing violation is to have clear, non-discriminatory rental criteria, that is written, and transparent.

We follow our policies and will not work with owners who want to discriminate or change our rental criteria. We cannot have 100 different policies for renting a house or we are opening both of us up to a lawsuit.

Other reasons to allow us to pick the tenant for you are:
We are seasoned pros at picking tenants and have a great track record. Owners often pick tenants based on personal preferences or emotions and this can lead to problems.

Picking a tenant should be a business decision to get the best-qualified tenant in the property. If you go with our Platinum plan, we will pay for evictions and lost rent. We are that confident that we will pick a quality tenant for you.

Another reason is we can rent the property faster since we do not need to coordinate with you on the tenant. Some of the great tenants may have applications in to several properties and will get approved elsewhere if we are not efficient. We process applications right away and work hard to get good tenants locked into the property so that they do not decide to rent another home.

The last reason it is better if you have a business relationship with the tenant and do not know them. You are not emotionally invested when making decisions on this tenant.

For more information on Fair Housing laws
San Diego Housing & Community Development Services

California Department of Fair Employment & Housing

At House Match, we are committed to following all Equal Housing Opportunity Laws. We do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Handicap, Familial Status, National Origin, disability, mental or physical, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or Age. We take Fair Housing rules and complaints very seriously. We cannot accept any owner as a client who requests that we violate these laws.

This is one of the most important aspects of the successful management of rental property. We look at an applicant’s past behavior as a good indicator of future behavior. An applicant must demonstrate a history of being a good, responsible tenant as well as meeting our financial criteria.

We pull a credit check and review the results looking at income, rental history, credit, employment, pets, and any other stipulations presented in order to make a good decision upon which tenant to rent to.

• Tenant Employment and Income Verifications
  We verify job title, job status, salary and prospects for continued employment. An applicant needs to earn at 3 times the monthly rent in gross income to qualify for rental.
• Eviction and Criminal Reports
  We pull a background check, which searches public records to verify eviction and criminal history.
• Credit Report
  This is one of the most important factors in determining a tenant.

  Average Credit Score (all Adults)
  700- 850……Credit portion approved can still be declined for other reasons
  650 – 699……Credit portion approved can still be declined for other reasons
  600 – 649……Credit portion approved, but higher deposit might be required
  550 – 599……Declined unless credit is due to one issue must have strong income and larger deposit
  300 – 549……Declined no exceptions

  Order they are received is one of the criteria used when assessing two applications that are similar. Order of application is not the only thing that determines an application. An application with marginal credit (600) going against an application with superior credit (800) the application with superior credit could get the property if all other determining factors were the same even if the 600 applied first. On credit we have five areas that we compare credit score 700+, 650-699, 600-649, and below 600. If one person had a 660 and another a 680 we would consider both of those credit scores to be in the same category. The areas that determine if an application is accepted are credit score, income, rental reference, pets vs. no pets, application completion time. These are the main factors when determining a tenant. An application is not considered turned in until all required documents have been completed. If one applicant applies, but not the other 18+ people living in the house that application has not been received and the time of submittal will be when the last adult applies within that group. If someone applies but does not attach paper work with income or license that application is not complete. The time your application is fully completed by all parties determines your time mark on the application.

• Landlord Verifications
  We contact past landlords to verify rental history and ask detailed questions about the applicant’s past performance.

If we find eviction in the last seven years, unpaid balances due to landlords, credit score beneath 550, insufficient income, unsatisfactory references and recent or non-discharged bankruptcies. Unqualified occupants, pets can also be a reason for decline. Felonies of illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance within the last 7 years, felonies resulting in bodily harm or intentional damage or destruction of property for example, “arson”, within the last 7 Years, or sexual related offenses for any time period.

The security deposit is approximately one month’s rent and is collected when the tenant is approved to rent the property. The deposit is held by House Match, the funds are kept in a trust account. Within 21 days after departure, the deposit is returned to the tenant if all provisions of the lease agreement have been met. Payment for damage to the property, caused by the resident, is deducted from the security deposit to cover any cost of repairs. Any deductions from a deposit must be supported by copies of bills for the expenditure, or otherwise authorized in the Lease Agreement.

We require a minimum of a one-year lease, unless instructed differently by the owner. Sometimes a tenant will offer an owner more money for a shorter lease. Any lease under one year will only be given to a tenant with owner approval. All leases are in writing. Longer leases are approved after discussion with the property owner. At renewal, we may on occasion elect to place a tenant on a month-to-month or 6 month rental lease to accommodate sale of the property by the owner, a tenant’s pending departure, or moving the property into a more active rental period such as the summer.

Lease length is always determined through consultation with you, the owner.

Everyone who will be residing within the property must be named on the Lease Agreement. All residents over 18 years of age or older must submit a rental application for the property. Guests under 18 do not need to submit a rental application but if they are going to be living at the property tenants need to inform us of their name and date of birth. It is our Policy that anyone staying with the tenant longer than 30 days is no longer a guest but a roommate, therefore, if the person is Eighteen (18) years of age or older, he/she must fill out and submit our Rental Application for approval by House Match Properties. Tenant(s) must abide by the decision of House Match Properties whether another person or persons can be added to the Rental/Lease Agreement. Failure to do so may result in termination of their lease.

Rent payments are due on the 1st day of each month and are considered late on the 2nd. If a tenant moves into a property during the middle of the month, the tenant will owe a full months rent for the first month, and the rent for the second month will be pro-rated. The second month’s rent is the one pro-rated never the first month.

We deposit your proceeds directly into your checking account with direct deposit. You do not need to worry about getting checks in the mail. Everything is done electronically. We will email you your monthly statements. Also you may login to our online portal to view your monthly statements. All former statements are kept in your owner portal so you can look back at statements for anytime period that you have been with House Match.

Rent money is deposited two business days after the fifth of each month and will be in your account within one to two days. During a normal month, on the 7th you will receive a statement and the funds will be sent from our banks to your account. Most people will see the money in their accounts on the 8th of each month.
Receiving your money on this timeline is contingent on the tenant paying rent on time. Rent is due on the 1st for all tenants and late on the 2nd. If rent has not been paid by the end of the 2nd we will call, email, and text your tenant to get their rent paid on time. We work hard at getting your rent on time so that we may pay you on time. We must wait for checks to clear and that is why we require they pay early so we have the necessary time in case the funds bounce.

With our company, should a tenant not pay rent by the end of the 2nd day, we will call, text, and email them on the 3rd. On the 4th of each month, if it falls on a work day, we will post a three day notice on their door. If we have not received any response back from them and they have not paid rent by the 7th we will call you and discuss continuing the eviction process.

Whether or not we eventually have to proceed with a formal eviction depends on the specific circumstances. It is usually financially better, for all involved, if a solution can be worked out. If the tenant has experienced a one-time financial hardship, and we have had no previous problems with them, we will normally give them a chance to catch up if there is reason to believe they can do so. If the tenant has demonstrated an ongoing pattern of late payments, broken promises and/or evasiveness, eviction or lease non-renewal is usually the best course of action.

Each case is unique, and we make our decisions based on what is best for you and the property in the long run. We always proceed with the legal notices required for eviction regardless of any other factors. We will simply postpone the actual filing of the eviction if the tenant is showing favorable effort toward resolution. Evictions in California are a complex legal matter and we need to make sure if we do go forward with an eviction, we do everything correct to minimize the time. A full eviction if done properly can be done in six to eight weeks. There have been cases where tenants have fought the eviction and steps were not followed correctly that have taken six months to evict.

The best scenario is to avoid placing tenants from the beginning that might be evicted. As of April 21, 2018, when this was written we have not had an eviction on a tenant we placed in four years.

We require one month’s rent equivalent for a security deposit. In certain circumstances if tenants do not meet the single security deposit criteria we might charge up to two months of equivalent rent. California law states that when renting an unfurnished property the maximum security deposit is two months of the rent and three months equivalency for a furnished unit.

House Match Inc. will hold the security deposit in a Trust Account in accordance with State and California Department of Real Estate Commission guidelines. At the end of the lease agreement, the security deposit will be itemized and refunded back to the outgoing tenant. If there are damages that the tenant is liable for that portion of the security deposit will be transferred to the owner after move out.

The most desirable properties will not rent quickly if they are not in top condition and if they rent will have to be rented at a discount price. It is good to avoid having to rent your home at a discount when you can do some things ahead of time to attract well-qualified tenants at market rate.

Properties must show well and have “curb appeal.” When meeting with you, we are happy to go over changes that need to be made in order to get top dollar and attract good tenants. We have checklists for cleaning and require all properties to be in hotel ready condition. We do not want a tenant moving into a dirty property because this will start the tenant off with a poor taste for your property. It is very important that the property is presented in a clean and attractive condition so that it will catch the attention of a good, qualified tenant.

It is very important to keep all keys secure. The keys for each property are locked in a steel wall cabinet and are assigned a control number (they are not labeled with an address). All keys that leave the wall cabinet are documented. Our locksmith provides us with five keys to each property. We rekey each property between every tenant. Rekeying between tenants is required by our company in order to make sure that no one has the key to the property when the new tenant moves in. We give three keys to the tenant and our office keeps two in the locked cabinet.

We specialize in Single-Family homes with over 90% of our inventory being single-family homes. We also work with duplexes, town homes, and small apartment complexes.

We do not manage properties that are in substandard condition and those where the owner does not want to do any repairs to improve the property. These properties could adversely affect the health or safety of a tenant. An example would be the owner has water stains all over the ceiling and the roof is leaking but does not have the funds or want to repair this property. We understand funds can be tight for some owners but we do not want our tenants at any risk of danger from repairs not being handled. This creates a poor relationship with the tenant and could lead to more serious issues. We do not manage commercial properties.

Our leasing fee is 50% of one month’s rent.

There are certain services that to not fall within the scope of our Management Agreement for which there will be charges. This could be services such as property sales, managing a rehab project…

Other times, extra requests from the owner may or may not incur extra fee depending on the time and effort involved.

For example, if an owner recently moved out of the property, forgot to bring in the trash cans and requested us to make a trip out to the property to bring them in. We can do this, but there may have to be a charge for this.
Even the quickest task can take at least 1-2 hours with California traffic. Our goal is to not nickel and dime our owners and if we were doing a showing at the house that day we would not charge for this task, but our employees’ time costs us money and so we do have to charge when outside the scope of the management agreement.

Owners are responsible for all pest control in the first 60 days of a new tenancy. If the tenant has any pests, owners will pay to have the house treated. After the first 60 days, the tenant is responsible for some pest control. This would include ants, flees, roaches, spiders, and small mice. The owner is responsible for maintaining the residence in a reasonable rodent-proof condition and rectifying any condition that would allow squirrels, birds, etc… to enter and nest. Infestations of squirrels, skunks, rats, and other vermin, as they can cause damage to a property and can be a health risk to people. Infestations of this type are treated at the owner’s expense. This does not release the tenant from their obligation to keep the property in a clean and sanitary condition so as not to promote the attraction of rodents and or pests.

It is absolutely your choice to rent to pets or not allow pets in your property. Understand you can ban pets from your property but you cannot ban service or comfort support animals. If a tenant has a service or comfort support animal, it is not considered a pet and illegal to discriminate against them because of the animal.

No pets may be kept on the property without House Match Inc. written authorization. Our properties have restrictions on the number, breed, size, and type of pets. Birds, reptiles, rodents, and fish in aquariums larger then ten gallons are considered pets.

We highly recommend that you allow pets in your rental property considering 70% to 85% of today’s renters have pets. If you do not allow pets, it could double or triple the time that it takes to rent your property.

Tenants are liable for any damage caused by their pet. If an unauthorized pet is found on a property it can result in eviction and/or numerous additional charges and fines. We take un-authorized pets very seriously.

The eviction procedures are initiated against the tenant if they have not paid their rent on time or have not remediated a lease violation after being given notice like illegal pet on property. On all leases that we create, rent is due on the 1st and late on the 2nd. We do not initiate late charges until the 3rd of each month and will post three-day notices on the door on the 4th. If a three-day notice is given to the tenant, they must pay the full amount of rent or if the notice is given for a violation of the lease they must fix that violation. For example, illegal pet must be removed from the premises.

After the three day notice has been posted, if the tenant still has not fixed the problem, then we will hire an eviction company involved which will file an unlawful detainer and continue the process.

Legal fees and filing fees for an eviction usually cost between $700-1500. This is dependent on how far the eviction goes and if you have to have a lawyer represent you in court.

Before a new resident moves into your property, we will complete a detailed move-in inspection complete with a few hundred pictures. This provides written documentation as to the condition of the property for both owner and tenant. Once a year, we also do a safety inspection where we test the smoke detectors, the carbon monoxide detectors and do a general safety check of the home. Every few months, we do a drive-by of the front of the home checking the maintenance of the yard and to see if anything is out of the ordinary.

If there is something needing maintenance at a home, the tenant can enter a repair request in their online portal (also where they pay rent). In an emergency, they have our direct cell phones where they can text. House Match will contact the resident to determine the exact nature of the problem, see if it is something they can repair themselves, (Ex. Reset button on the garbage disposal) before spending your money on a service call. After determining that it is a legitimate problem, we will send a service vendor to make the repair. The vendor will contact the resident and coordinate a date and time to perform the repair. If the repairs exceed a preset dollar amount, (typically $250) we will notify the owner prior to the repair being done for approval. We confirm with the tenant that the repair has been completed prior to paying the bill. Most repairs are scheduled within 1-2 business days. Comfort items such as air conditioning , no hot water or heat, receive the highest priority and are attended to as soon as possible.

We do have an owner manual which answers many of the questions owners have for us. It details the scope of our management, how we go about renting your property, documenting the condition of your property, deposits, pets, leases, and much more.