Don't hate the landlord

[kymom99]

Did he have a pet?

 

[china mom]

Why, yes, he did - an unauthorized dog. Was told to get rid of it. He did, for a while, and then brought it back. The house is all carpet on the lower level and it all had to be replaced due to stains and smell.

 

[DLgal]

Sounds like you need to be running credit checks and getting letters of recommendation from prospective tenants going forward. And up your security deposit. $2500 is too low for a house. You are probably allowed to ask for 2x the rent in security deposit (check state laws).

 

[DLgal]

Why, yes, he did - an unauthorized dog. Was told to get rid of it. He did, for a while, and then brought it back. The house is all carpet on the lower level and it all had to be replaced due to stains and smell.

You could sue him for the damages. He violated the terms of your lease.

 

[china mom]

Sounds like you need to be running credit checks and getting letters of recommendation from prospective tenants going forward. And up your security deposit. $2500 is too low for a house. You are probably allowed to ask for 2x the rent in security deposit (check state laws).

My requirements are

Qualifications: $8,250/month gross income. Credit Score 650+. No Smoking. Pets case-by-case, if approved there will be a pet rent of $50/month per pet.

He did not have approval for the dog and if he had asked, it would have been denied for size/aggressiveness. He had an excellent prior landlord reference and owned his own business. He didn't have the dog at his previous house, it came with his adult son when he let him move in (also unauthorized) The son moved out when we told him that he would need a rental application. The dog went with him but came back later.

I ask for one months rent security deposit if the tenant looks good. Two months rent if they are not perfect on paper (plus a pet deposit). Yes, state law limits us to double rent for security deposit.

Oh, and we are on the market for $2750 this time

 

[china mom]

You could sue him for the damages. He violated the terms of your lease.

Yes, we are planning on that but he did not leave a forwarding address and even if we get a judgement, you can't always collect on that.

But I think it is important to file so that other prospective landlords have warning (we did file a Fail to Pay rent just before he vacated)

 

[longboard55]

We have a vacation rental, its fun and the value has increased, but the truth is it has been money pit. Would be better off selling it and getting 4% t bills.

 

[LuvOrlando]

That carpet mess looks like vandallism to me.

Sad this happened to you. We considered renting the family home for a while but I just want out of the entanglements.

 

[china mom]

We have a vacation rental, its fun and the value has increased, but the truth is it has been money pit. Would be better off selling it and getting 4% t bills.

We had a beach condo and we subsidized it to the tune of about $1,000/year for 19 yaers. We did get to use it off season though.

We sold it for a $90k profit though so I can't complain. We did a 1031 exchange for our short term rental near Disney World. It has only been two years so it is still too early to what our annual profit/loss will be. We don't get to use it much for ourselves yet because our travel is limited to school breaks and those are our money weeks. But we are up about $200-250K in equity right now.

 

[longboard55]

On the other side, our next door neighbor has been out of work for over a years, so they sold their house before securing a place to rent. I am thinking, no job, I assume bad credit, so who do think will rent to them? Ouch

 

[china mom]

That carpet mess looks like vandallism to me.

Sad this happened to you. We considered renting the family home for a while but I just want out of the entanglements.

I am pretty sure that was the unauthorized dog but the excessive holes in the walls was just disrespectful. Blinds broken, stickers on all the doors and walls, every curtain rod have at lease one end pulled down - either bracket pulled form the wall or bent. towel bars pulled from the wall, somehow, even broke a doorknob.

A couple of these items could be racked up as wear and tear but in totality, it is just disrespect.

Many of these are minor fixes but I am non-weight-bearing right now so I have to pay someone to do everything. The cumulative cost for all of this racking up.

 

[DLgal]

Yes, we are planning on that but he did not leave a forwarding address and even if we get a judgement, you can't always collect on that.

But I think it is important to file so that other prospective landlords have warning (we did file a Fail to Pay rent just before he vacated)

You said he owns a business. Go after that.

 

[china mom]

On the other side, our next door neighbor has been out of work for over a years, so they sold their house before securing a place to rent. I am thinking, no job, I assume bad credit, so who do think will rent to them? Ouch

That is rough. I think that corporate landlords (apartment complexes and such) would be the best fit for them. Us small time operations can't take the risk.

 

[china mom]

You said he owns a business. Go after that.

We plan to - unless that is under water. Supposedly, the reason he left before his lease was up was because of his business failing.

 

[DLgal]

We plan to - unless that is under water. Supposedly, the reason he left before his lease was up was because of his business failing.

Well, he should have personal liability insurance if he's a business owner. And if he doesn't, that's on him. It's crappy that he didn't offer to pay for the carpet damage. I spilled some bleach on the carpeted stairs in our rental a year after we moved in and offered to pay to fix the damage. The landlord said she would take it out of our security deposit if we moved out before the carpets would need to be replaced anyway. But now, it will be 10 years old by the time we move out, so by law she can't charge us for it.

 

[White Cat]

Why, yes, he did - an unauthorized dog. Was told to get rid of it. He did, for a while, and then brought it back. The house is all carpet on the lower level and it all had to be replaced due to stains and smell.

Saw that many times, an unauthorized pet, or pets. It’s usually not long until they move someone in. Sometimes it’s a relative that just got out of prison, or a drug addict. Usually it’s someone down on their luck, at best.

 

[longboard55]

We had a beach condo and we subsidized it to the tune of about $1,000/year for 19 yaers. We did get to use it off season though.

We sold it for a $90k profit though so I can't complain. We did a 1031 exchange for our short term rental near Disney World. It has only been two years so it is still too early to what our annual profit/loss will be. We don't get to use it much for ourselves yet because our travel is limited to school breaks and those are our money weeks. But we are up about $200-250K in equity right now.

In one sense, maybe the short terms are safer. I have a friend who buys houses just to VRBO. What kills us is taxes and management fees. Also the need to refurbish every few years. At least we never have to evict anyone.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'm sorry for what you are going through. In my early 20's, my first house was a duplex - I thought that would be a great way to subsidize my mortgage. After several deadbeat renters, I just let the other half empty and lived in my half.

I totally understand the hate - my DH is a Sheriff's Deputy in the evictions unit. He gets called every name in the book for evicting people.

 

[penn19]

I am pretty sure that was the unauthorized dog but the excessive holes in the walls was just disrespectful. Blinds broken, stickers on all the doors and walls, every curtain rod have at lease one end pulled down - either bracket pulled form the wall or bent. towel bars pulled from the wall, somehow, even broke a doorknob.

A couple of these items could be racked up as wear and tear but in totality, it is just disrespect.

Many of these are minor fixes but I am non-weight-bearing right now so I have to pay someone to do everything. The cumulative cost for all of this racking up.

People are animals. I don’t get what joy someone gets from purposely damaging other people property and even wanting to live in conditions like that.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I think you are absolutely entitled to whatever the market will bear. If you can get someone in there then the rent is reasonable for your area.

I am a good renter. Tenant for 5 years, then left the state due to a job (of course gave appropriate notice), tenant for 5 years and landlord sold the house (we worked together and she gave us plenty of notice. it was a great relationship), tenant at our current place for 3 years with no plans of moving. Our landlord literally lives across the street so no secrets kept here. LOL. To be honest it would be very difficult to come up with $11,000 to move into a new place. The reason we haven't bought a house is the down payment and you're getting close with that amount. We would be doing a VA loan so our down payment would be less than typical. I have never ever not paid my rent on time. It's a priority to me. I know everyone isn't that way. I have always given appropriate notice and have been willing to show the house for the landlord to new potential tenants or buyers. It's hard for quality landlords and quality tenants to meet and connect. I treat a house I live in like it's my own. I don't ask much from the landlord except for a major repair beyond my control. Small things I like to take care of myself with letting the landlord know, but I don't want to mess with a major appliance that could just make things worse. Our landlord gave us a shot based on our excellent tenant history and we are so grateful.