Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, we do. If you need to drop off rent or any other paperwork you’ll find our box to the right of our office door.

We advise that you remove all personal belongings and clean the house thoroughly including floors, walls, trim, windows, bathrooms, counters, cabinets, appliances. All carpets should be shampooed. Gutters should be cleaned out. The roof should be free of leaves and debris. If you are responsible for lawn maintenance, then the grass and hedges need to be trimmed to a reasonable height and all beds should be free of weeds. We ask that all damages be repaired by a licensed contractor that is approved by Decas Group. In addition, a forwarding address is required.

Our maintenance supervisor sets the price of the make ready work with pricing that is fair to both you as the owner and the vendor that eventually will do the work. These repairs are a combination of normal wear and tear as well as maintenance items that need to be done for a new tenant to move into the home. The highest cost item on the list is a complete interior paint job. We recommend doing this so that the house will have a fresh look when it is shown to a new prospective tenant.
The pricing we use is a guide. When the work starts, some items will require more cost and others less. The breakdown of pricing is used to come up with a total amount.

Once you approve the scope of work, we will need you to transfer the full amount of the repairs to Decas Group. When we receive the funds, a vendor will be selected to do the work. The vendor may be working on another project and as soon as they are available, the work will start. Once the work starts, it typically takes 1-2 weeks to complete the make ready work. If the house is in good enough condition to show to prospective tenants, then we will start marketing before the make ready work is done.

We always recommend removal of the outside equipment on vacant houses as the unit can be subject to vandalism regardless of the neighborhood. This is in your best interest as the replacement would be in the thousands of dollars. Although you may have insurance on your property, there is usually a $1000.00 deductible. This is the portion that you would be responsible for. If the unit needed to be replaced due to vandalism or theft, and the cost to replace was $3000.00, you would be responsible for $1000.00. Removal and storage is substantially less and keeps the equipment in a safe location.

A security cage will cost between $350-$450 depending on the size of the unit.

Section 8 will not pay for damages caused by a tenant.

Generally, the price is between $150-$250 but we don’t know the exact amount until the job is complete.

As a property management company under the laws of Alabama, we are not allowed to enter the tenant’s home unannounced to inspect how they live. It is their home while they are living there and we are required to respect that fact. That said, the lease renewal includes an inspection of the property.

During Spring and Summer, we have our vendors cut the grass every 2 weeks. This is important because high grass indicates that the house is empty and vandals can break in. Our yard vendors also look around the property and note anything that indicates someone is trying to break in to the house. Once the tenant is placed, they become responsible for lawn maintenance and care as stated in their lease.

The reason we leave the utilities on is so that when we have a tenant lined up for the property, the house can be inspected. Monthly charges should be minimal. If we disconnect power after work is completed, when we reconnect, there may be another deposit and another account establishment fee. The utility deposit comes back after service has been turned off. Utility companies return of deposits sometimes can take 2 months.

Homeowner’s insurance does not cover plumbing repairs as this is more of a maintenance issue. Insurance covers damage caused by a plumbing problem but usually not the plumbing repair itself.

When there is a deficit in one property, we move funds from another property that has more money. The reason for this is so that you do not have to make constant transfers of funds to us.

A property management company is under no obligation to visit the property when the tenant does not pay rent. We provide you and all of our owners with owner statements every month. If you see that your tenant is not paying rent, this is a notice that we have given you and it is up to the owner to instruct the property management company on how to deal with this issue. A tenant has the right of quiet enjoyment of the property while they are occupying the property. We cannot show up unannounced. We are required to provide a 48-hour notice prior to visiting any occupied property.

This is case by case, for the more delinquent accounts, we may send an employee or a process server to post notices and do an occupancy confirmation check.

Once we determine the amount that we consider to be tenant responsibility, charges will be placed on the tenant ledger as an amount owed to you. At that point, the security deposit will be used to pay for those charges and that amount will be applied to your owner statement as a credit.

The tenant will have charges placed on their credit as a collection. In the future, if they want to rent another house, this will come up on their credit report and they will request that it be paid before renting to the tenant. Unfortunately, with low income tenants, it is not likely that this will be paid any time soon.