Question

Mary beth owns a rental house. her current tenant, carl, signed a two-year lease and moved into the house in january of last year. at that time, carl paid mary beth $1,600 for the first month's rent, $1,600 for the last month's rent, and $1,600 as a security deposit. carl paid the $1,600 monthly rent in cash on the first of each month during the year, except in november when he replaced the water heater in exchange for his rent. the water heater would have cost mary beth $1,100 to purchase and install. how much rental income must mary beth report for last year?

Answer 1

Security deposit = $1,600  
Rent for 11 months $1,600*11 = $17,600 
 In November instead of paying rent to Mary Beth, Carl replaced the water heater. This water heater would have costed Mary Beth $1,100 to purchase and install, but as this was done by Carl, Carl did not pay rent ($1,600). So, for the month of November Mary Beth’s income is $1,100. 
 Rental income for the last year that is to be reported can be calculated as below: -
 ($1,600*11)+$1,100+$1,600 = $20,300 
 Answer: $20,300 to be reported as rental income of the last year.