Your home must be left in a professionally cleaned condition. Your Property Manager prefers to arrange this cleaning to insure that the cleaning guidelines are strictly followed. The carpets must be professionally cleaned and all debris and personal belongings removed from the house. It is not necessary to paint, but you should consider painting any room that has dirty or marred walls. A neutral color is best. Your Property Manager will be happy to discuss any necessary repairs or painting with you. Neutral window coverings such as blinds should be left, preferably not curtains. Tenants moving into a rental property do expect some sort of window coverings to be provided for privacy and safety. The tenants are required to maintain the yard in the condition it is provided to them. Therefore, the yard should be freshly mowed, weeded, trimmed and the leaves and debris removed.

Your property will be advertised on our website, as well as several other national third party websites. It will also be posted on craigslist regularly. A Property Information Sheet will be prepared for your property with all the necessary information and pictures. This information is given to anyone who views the property, and is often emailed to people who have indicated an interest. We are in frequent contact with many real estate agents in the Portland metro area as well as the relocation offices of major companies. The average time to rent a home is usually 20 - 35 days, although it may take longer during the winter months. A property is usually activated on our website soon after we receive a 30 Day Notice from the existing tenant, and permission from the owner to re-rent.

Commonly move-in costs in the Portland area are about two month’s rent. We do not collect last month’s rent. We collect a pro-rated rent at move in plus a conditionally refundable security deposit which is determined based on the credit report. The security deposit is intended to cover damages and any necessary cleaning at move out. All Security Deposits are held in a Clients’ Trust Account, as mandated by the Oregon Real Estate Agency.

Pet owners make up 75% of the people in the market for a rental house! Being open to allowing pets will make your property available to more potential renters. Additional security deposits for pets generally run $300 to $600. However, if you feel very strongly about this issue, we will agree not to show your property to anyone with a pet. Service or assistance animals are the exception as they are not considered pets. All of our properties prohibit smoking, in the interest of protecting your investment.

Fair housing laws were enacted to protect against illegal housing discrimination based on “protected class” status. The intention of federal, state, and local fair housing laws is to require that all individuals be given the same treatment, the same services, and offered an equal opportunity to live in a home of their choice. In other words, the same rights as everyone else--realize that all of us fall within one or more protected classes and are all, therefore, protected under the law! The only "special rights" are those provided to individuals with disabilities in order to establish equal opportunity. Federally Protected Classes: race, color, national origin, religion, gender, familial status, and disability. State and Local Protected Classes: Oregon's fair housing laws include the following protected classes: marital status, legal sources of income, and sexual orientation / gender identity Housing providers have an obligation to make reasonable accommodations for assistance/service animals. In addition, Oregon effectively created another protected class for domestic violence survivors.

The rent is due on the first of each month and considered late after the fifth. The majority of our tenants pay their rent by the fifth of the month. If not paid by the eighth of the month, we will take the first step in the eviction process, which is to send a “10 Day Notice” to pay the rent or vacate. If they have not paid by the end of the 10-day notice period, we would notify the owner and file at the courthouse for an FED (eviction) hearing. In most cases, we will handle all evictions ourselves, without an attorney. You would pay initially for filing fees unless you have participated in Mainlander’s Eviction Protection Plan. There are no additional charges for our time to attend the hearing. If an attorney is necessary in a contested FED, you will be responsible for any legal fees.

The rental funds must have cleared the banks before we can begin disbursing funds. We begin the payment of bills on the fifteenth and owner statements (along with disbursement of funds), go out between the 18th and 23rd.

The security deposit collected at move in is intended to cover tenant damage. If the tenants leave the property owing more than is covered by the security deposit, they will be billed. If they do not pay, they will be turned over to a collection agency.

The tenant is responsible for rent through the entire term of the lease. If they are forced or choose to leave prior to the termination date, the owner/agent may charge the tenant either A) an early termination fee not to exceed one and one-half month's stated rent or B) all actual damages resulting from the early termination.

We handle all emergency and non-emergency repairs.

We use a variety of in-house and outside contractors depending on what needs to be done. Many of our vendors have been with us for years and are available 24 hours a day for emergencies. They work at competitive rates and are licensed and bonded as appropriate. You are billed for exactly the amount of the vendors invoice; we do not charge for supervision of normal repairs.