Despite the many regulations offering clear-cut guidance on landlord-tenant relations, being a landlord in Pennsylvania can still bring uncertainties.
One of these is when a tenant requests unusual occupation dates when renting a home from you. So, what do you do when a tenant wants to move in or out of your rental unit on any day other than the first of the month?
Follow these tips from property managers for calculating prorated rent when necessary.
Reasons to Calculate Prorated Rent
If you own a single rental unit, you can skip calculating prorated rent when a tenant moves into your rental unit if you want to. In this case, you would alter your rent due date to correspond with the day they move into the home.
For instance, if they take occupation on the 15th of the month, they would pay rent on the 15th for every month after that. This can be an inconvenient way to manage things if you own multiple rental properties, and it wouldn't apply if the tenant vacated the unit earlier than agreed.
Landlords are not compelled to offer reduced rent in these cases unless the lease agreement explicitly states this. A tenant who vacates the property early is breaking the lease.
Be aware that under the Fair Housing Act, you must apply the same rules to every tenant, so prorating rent in these cases can set a precedent.
Calculating a Daily Rate
All prorated rent calculations start with determining a daily rate for your rental unit. There are two ways to do these rental calculations, depending on the type of lease you have in place:
Annual Lease Daily Rate Calculations
Calculating a daily rate for annual leases is simple. Multiply the monthly rent by 12 and divide this amount by the number of days in the year, i.e., 365 or 366 in a leap year.
Then multiply this figure by the number of days that the tenant will occupy the unit during the relevant month.
Under Pennsylvania law, landlords may offer both annual and month-to-month leases, which can complicate things a little further. If your tenant has a month-to-month lease and wants to move out earlier, the calculations are slightly different.
Month-to-Month Leases
In this case, you need to factor in the number of days for each month they've occupied. So, you would divide the total rent paid during their tenancy by the number of days they've been in residence.
This gives you a more accurate daily rate to work from.
Professional Property Managers at Your Service
In most cases, calculating prorated rent can be as simple as figuring out a daily rate and multiplying it by the days occupied.
Hiring a property management team is the best way to have instant access to all your questions about managing your Exton, PA, rental properties.
Time Real Estate Group LLC's team of property managers can assist you with managing your Chester County rentals. Our services include rent collection, landlord advice, and tenant management, and our strength lies in clear-cut, effective communications with our landlords and tenants.
Browse our blog for more property management tips, and get on board to discover a more profitable way to manage your investment properties.
