Rent is due the 1st day of each calendar month. 

Tenants pay rent and all other charges required to be paid by valid check or money order made payable to "Hammer Properties NW" at the following addess: 1111 N. Forest St., Bellingham, WA, 98225 OR by using the online portal through AppFolio. 

Unless the tenant uses the AppFolio option, rent MUST be in the form of ONE check/money order - No split payments or a fee of $100 will be assessed for each individual check received. 

If the tenant elects to use the AppFolio option, they are doing so at their own choice and the tenant must initiate the online payment process at least seven (7) days prior to the 1st day of the month or late fees will apply. 

Cash is not accepted. 

If rent is not paid on the 1st day of the month, it is late. However, late fees cannot be imposed until after the 6th day of the month. 

If rent is not paid in full by 5pm on the 6th day of the month, the tenant will pay a late charge of 5% of the monthly rent plus 1% per day until rent is paid in full. 

If rent is mailed, it must be received by the 6th day of the month regardless of the post mark on the envelope. 

Utility payments (water, sewer, gas, electric, garbage, internet, etc.) are agreed upon through the leasing agreement.   

Please review your lease agreement to see if you pay utilities through your Appfolio portal, or if you are required to set up your own account directly through the utility company.  

If you are a current tenant that will not be renewing your lease and wish to move to a different Hammer Properties unit, you do NOT have to apply again. 

To inquire about a new rental, simply find the listing on our website and click "Contact Us" on the listing page. From there, you can submit an inquiry explaining that you are a current tenant and are interested in moving into the unit. 

As a current tenant, you do NOT have to fill out another application or pay the $50 fee again. 

If you have further questions on this subject, feel free to contact your property manager for more information.  

We consider a maintenance issue URGENT if it involves loss of heat, loss of water, flooding, or significant leaking.

If you are experiencing this during regular business hours (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm), call our office at (360) 756-6500 right away.

If you have a maintenance emergency after hours, call (360) 201-7780 to reach Austin in on-call maintenance.

We also ask that you submit a maintenance request and mark it URGENT. This helps date stamp and track situations.

Please come to our office or call us at (360) 756-6500 during business hours. We will either temporarily issue you a key, or use a copy to enter the unit. 

If it's after-hours, please call our emergency maintenance number, (360)201-7780.

Per your lease, you will be charged a call-out fee for responding to a lock-out.  This rate is higher on evenings and weekends.

You can also call a locksmith to assist you, at your own cost.

Unfortunately, lost keys pose a security issue, so we can't simply issue you a new copy of your key. We will need to re-key or replace the locks on your unit. 

The cost to re-key your unit or install new locks in a unit can range from $125-$400.

To alert us that you've lost your keys, please call the office at (360)756-6500 during office hours or our emergency number (360)201-7780 after hours.

Loud and/or large parties are not allowed. Parties can cause significant damage and result in increased liability insurance for the landlord. Absolutely no kegs shall be present on the premises. In addition, large distribution of alcohol is not allowed. 

Small gatherings are perfectly acceptable. City of Bellingham quiet hours are 10:00pm to 7:00am. Noise levels should be kept to a respectful level at all times. 

Any violation of this provision will result in a fine of $500 and/or eviction.

Subletting (lease assignment) is only permited when prior written consent is provided by the Landlord. If approval is given, there will be a handling charge of $300 paid by the outgoing tenant at the time of signing for services in transferring the lease to another tenant.

Any assignee or sublet tenant is required to submit a rental application to the Landlord.  This application is subject to applicable application fees. The application must be submitted and approved PRIOR to move-in.

The sublet is not official until the lease assignment document is fully executed and the effective date is reached. 

No pets are allowed in the unit without the Landlord's written consent, which is held in the Landlord's sole discretion.  

Any violation will result in a 10-day Notice to Comply, and/or a $500 non-refundable fee at the discretion of the Landlord. 

If permission for a pet is granted, it must be evidenced by a Pet Agreement. You will need to pay a one-time pet deposit, and pet rent each month.  The amount depends on the property that you live in.

ESA pets are permitted given proper documentation and permission by the property manager and Landlord.   

Our ESA form must be completed by the tenant's licensed medical provider before bringing an ESA to the property.

No person is permitted to smoke in the unit or 30 feet from the building at any time. A $500 fee and/or eviction will be enforced for a violation of this provision.

Smoking includes but is not limited to: marijuana, e-cigarettes, vaping, hookah pipes, etc.

If you would like to add someone to your lease,  you must contact your property manager to confirm if that is allowed. If it is, the incoming tenant(s) will need to submit a rental application and be approved. 

If approved, the property manager will prepare paperwork to add them to the lease, which all current tenants must sign.

Please note: Adding an additional tenant to your lease may increase the total monthly rent for the unit.

Once the tenant(s) have been approved, created an AppFolio account, and signed their lease, the property manager will post our standard move-in charges to your AppFolio account. These charges include but are not limited to: security deposit, first month's rent, a $100 administrative fee, and a non-refundable cleaning fee. 

On an agreed upon date (typically the first day of the lease) the tenant will come to our office at 1111 N Forest to pick up their keys and move-in checklist. Only one tenant needs to be present to pick up keys and sign move-in forms. 

The tenant(s) will then have three (3) business days to go through the unit with the move-in checklist and note any wear and tear conditions that may have been missed in our initial inspection.  It is important to fill this out thoroughly, as this will be the inspection checklist we will use at the end of your lease term. Any damages found during the move-out inspection that were not reported in the move-in checklist can result in the current tenant(s) being held liable. 

During the first week of tenancy, the tenant(s) can and should report any structural or maintenance problems as soon as possible. Please list any and all maintenance issues in a list format when submittting a move-in maintenance request. Move-in maintenance requests will be prioritized.

This varies by property, and must be requested by the property manager for approval from the owner.  If you have a lease agreement, you can contact your property manager by phone or email to inquire. 

If you are a prospective tenant, you can submit an inquiry by selecting "View Details" on the listing you are interested in, then clicking the "Contact Us" button. This will submit your inquiry directly to the property manager.

Every lease expires at noon (12pm) on the last day of the agreed upon term. The premises must be clean and ready for inspection and the keys returned to the office, all prior to noon (12pm) on the last day. Any tenant can return the keys, however the tenant representative (as agreed upon in your lease) must provide their forwarding information for any future inquries (such as the security deposit return). 

Tentants must have cleaned and restored the premises to the condition the premises was at the time it was turned over to the tenants, except for ordinary wear and tear. Tenants must advise the Landlord of any damage to the premises not mentioned upon receipt of the move-in checklist received at the beginning of tenancy. 

Prompt vacation of the premises is of the utmost importance as the Landlord has a new tenancy commencing immediately after the expiration of the term lease. 

For standard move-outs, your security deposit refund will be sent out of our office thirty (30) days after your move-out date.  This timeframe was updated in July 2023 with a new State law. We will mail the security deposit refund check and an itemized statement with any deductions from the deposit to the tenant representative (as agreed upon in the lease) to the forwarding address they provided at the time of move-out. 

Security deposit refund checks can be requested to be picked up in our office. If this request is not made at the time of move-out, we will send it to the tenant representative's last known forwarding address.

Unless agreed upon between the tenants and property manager, the security deposit refund will be issued in the form of ONE (1) check. The tenant representative is responsible for receiving the check and dividing the amount amongst the tenants. We will not mitigate the distribution of the security deposit amount. 

If you have any questions, concerns, or grievances regarding the security deposit refund or any charges deducted from the deposit, please EMAIL your property manager with these concerns.  Per the legality of security deposit returns, it is best (for all parties) to convey these grievances in writing. 

Maybe. To exit your lease prior to the agreed upon end date, you will have to complete a lease assignment. 

Learn more about Lease Assignments here