I have a house in Nassau County NY. Currently going through a nonpayment case with tenant. Today, I was using the portable heater, washer, dryer, and overhead hair dryer all at the same time. The power completely went out and I was able to fix it within seconds by turning the power breaker switch on. This happened two to three times today until I eventually just turned off the portable heater.

Due to hostile environment and past harassment from tenant, I locked the door going down to basement when I was doing laundry to prevent interactions with the tenant. There is only one washer and dryer so it’s one person use at a time. When I leave and I am done using the laundry room, I make sure to unlock the door to give tenant access to laundry room. According to lease, tenant is allowed to use washer and dryer. It’s only locked for about 2 hours while I complete laundry. I am pregnant and for the safety of my myself and my child, I try to avoid stressful situations as this nonpayment case is already stressful.

Tenant called the cops accusing me of turning off the electricity while she was playing her music (which goes against lease because it’s extremely loud and disturbs others but that’s another story). When the cops came, the lights were on. The electricity was only off for a few seconds each occurrence to give me time to turn the power switches back on. I know it is illegal to turn off electricity on tenants so that’s not something I would intentionally do. Can my nonpayment case get thrown out for the power breaker cutting out?

As for locking the door while doing laundry, is that illegal? I am the legal owner of the house. The cops told me I shouldn’t lock it which didn’t make sense to me.

Hi everyone,

So the scariest thing happened to me... I received an application from a young guy who had excellent credit, great income, and a clean background. I did my verification and approved him. We scheduled a final walk through a week before his move-in. To my surprise a COMPLETELY different man than who was shown on ID + SOCIAL MEDIA showed up along with his sister. In fear of violence and due to the fact i am a young, petite woman who was outnumbered, I very quickly did the tour within minutes and sent them on their way. (I know this could've gone badly) I immediately reached out to let him know I would not be moving forward. I was too afraid to sneak a photo to show authorities.

ANOTHER instance of Identity Theft was with another tenant the same week.. I met her once for a showing. She submitted her app, everything looked good and landlord references and employment verification came back good. Red flags were raised when her ID showed she was 47 years old... but she CLEARLY looked much younger. At most, mid 30s.... I thought I was overreacting UNTIL the day came for her to pick up keys where she came in smelling like weed smoke (she said she was a "non smoker"... red flag) Anyways, after the final walk through I asked to see her ID.. She didn't have it.. So I asked her to confirm her age and DOB she said she was 45.. 2 YEARS YOUNGER than what's on her ID. I could tell she was getting very nervous. I pointed this out and she shrugged and said "...oh. well it was just a 2 year mistake." She then ignored my request for her DOB and asked can she just go grab her ID.. I canceled her contract. Please tell me that I didn't overreact on this!

Any advice on how to avoid tenant identity theft cases would really help!! I use Zillow applications!!

What websites do you all recommend to filter out some of the more troublesome tenants? Where do I check if a potential tenant has had an eviction?

Thanks

Title sums it up. I shared my lease with the HOA management, as required, and they informed me I'd have to pay $800 per year to rent the house out. This is not indicated anywhere in the bylaws. Are they allowed to do this?

Hi, I hand delivered 5 day pay or quit notice on the 27th of last month, on Wednesday of this week I will go to the Phoenix precinct for my rental house to file eviction complaint. On complaint form, it has space for case number. That's all that appears on that form that I don't have yet. There is also a summons form, which has spaces for defendant(tenant) attorney and the court proceeding date, which of course hasn't been made yet.

The instructions on the Maricopa justice website say I have to complete the summons and complaint forms, and make at least 3 copies of them.

Is this something I have to wait until actually visiting the justice court to fill out or can I fill it out before hand and then take it to the justice court? Anyone in AZ have to do an eviction recently? Can I do ANY of it online?

Thank you!

This is my first time being a landlord. I want to ensure my tenants are very satisfied with the home. I’m concerned whether I’m trying too hard or if it’s expected on a few things.

The first is lightbulbs. I was anticipating replacing all the regular lightbulbs in the house before they move in so they have a fresh start. Things like canned lighting I wasn’t anticipating replacing.

Second is toilet seats. I was debating replacing all toilet seats for a … fresh experience. None of the current ones are damaged or worn or anything.

Third is getting the air ducts freshly cleaned including the dryer trap and exhaust (last done maybe 6 months ago)

My last question is regarding income. I assume I have to claim all of my rent as income and will be taxed. What is the best way to go about this? Just noting what they pay each month? They’ll be using Venmo I believe

Any concerns or feedback is highly appreciated.

Now the supposed aggressor is having trouble finding a new place and finding a replacement. $1200-1300 per month in lost money if she moves and no replacement is found. We would want tenants to pay this per the contract. Wife is the Property Manager and is a lawyer. Should wife have ever talked to any of the parents? Would be hard not to talk to them. Parents now write wife often and put pressure on her to be the solver of the issue. Parents were co-signers of the contract. Advice? We have had homes for 4+ years and no big prior issues like this.

My kitchen sink has not been working at all since Tuesday (6 days now), and on Tuesday is when I first let them know of the problem, and have been reminding them since.

My landlord says he needs to "get the part" to fix the sink.

My question is - do you think this would be considered an 'essential service', that I can just go ahead and hire someone and deduct that from what I pay? I ask because if this is a minor or major defect, I'd have to wait 7 more days.

But not being able to use my kitchen sink at all is quite bad.

Finally making some progress with my CityFHEPS tenant (I would like to preface that the tenant herself is great with working with me but just entire program stinks).

They have finally responded to my request for rental increase (though it had to come with am eviction letter for several rent checks that were sent to the wrong address) but the responding agent said that a rental increase cannot be done with a "rent reasonableness being conducted."

What does this entail? My own costs for the unit increasing? That the unit is collecting less than similar units in the area (not even including that in order to get what I'm getting now I wouldn't have to cover the utility costs of other tenants either)? What do I need to do? What do I need to present?

Thank you

Should I ask for the check back? Not sure if this is fine but any help is appreciated!

My insurance company (Travelers) said that since I have more than 9 policies for homes and 4-plexes, I am now considered a commercial insurer, and they canceled all my policies effective in February. I don't suppose the two recent flood claims (a broken pipe in a condo unit above mine, and a broken tub in a unit) helped my case, but regardless, I'm in the market for a new insurance company. I currently use a small broker who shops multiple carriers, but it's become too much of a hassle to manage him. I don't need to reinvent the wheel so looking for options for larger portfolios. I have 12 properties and 30 units between them. A mix of SFH, duplex, quads, STR, and commercial.

Looking for commercial insurers or advise from anyone else who's been here?

TL;DR - Carrier canceled all my insurance because I have too many policies.

Been a landlord for 4 years now and had a lot of luck so far with tenants (I'm not a professional landlord, I rent my home out in Edinburgh so I can work in London where I rent).

Have a local Edinburgh man in who lied to get the tenancy. He said he had no pets and also claimed that he had an autistic daughter who needed to be close to the nearby school. Both were untrue, and he has been seen with a dog and cat in the property by the neighbours. He's stopped paying rent since the dispute and resulting eviction notice and keeps claiming he will leave every week but never does.

He's also been in dispute with one of the neighbours and the local community there has several issues with him like the dog barking, loud music playing at weekends, and the keep of a commercial work van in the grounds (against the local community rules). Needless to say I'm getting some heat for the poor choice of tenant (I use a local agency to manage it but I still do choose the tenant and this one only got it because I thought his daughter needed it. He was the worst pick otherwise, notably - we had a doctor and other professionals apply and this tenant was lower income window-fitter, self-employed, and also failed the credit check. I still okayed him after the credit check due to the daughter and him giving a pandemic-related excuse).

I'm accepting blame for the poor pick. I really need to get a feel for how this plays out. The legal fees seem expensive from what the agency has shown me for a local solicitors - pushing £2000 all in. After the deposit is taken into account, his current amount owed is around £2000 too and will grow daily from there tomorrow again.

How have you dealt with this type before? He's not responsive and when he does actually respond, he says something like, 'nah wouldn't bother coming round, will be out next week'.

Agency seems at a loss at handling him also as their hands are tied legally.

When I screen new tenants I ask for recent paystubs for proof of income, and also do credit checks. In addition, do you also ask them for recent bank statements? Or is it too invasive to ask for bank statements?

I have two applicants (friends) applying today get her to increase income limit to be able to rent. One filled for bankruptcy section 7 around 4 years ago but actually interestingly enough the fico score is above 700 What is your advice? If I rent to them can they file bankruptcy again and not pay rent? What questions I should ask?

We share a backyard and we can't open our window since the smell is making the apartment smell like poop.

Neighbor had dog for 4 years and they dont pickup the dog poop it keeps piling up. They wait for us to remove it for them.

Me and my other neighbor keeps complaining to our landlord they don't do anything.

We called the city they came and only gave her a warning and since the beginning of summer they only pick up once.

What is our landlord supposed to do?

Tenants of three years text notice of vacating our rental back in August and said that it would be a few months before they actually move, which was maybe November. At that point, we accepted their notice and within a few days we rented it to our Daughter, that would be moving in in February. A few weeks later, they decided to change their mind and we told him it was too late that ourDaughter‘s lease would be up at the end of January and she would be moving in. It’s now December and I will be giving them a notice of eviction tomorrow, but my question is under the circumstances. Do I need to give him a 60 day notice or would a 30 day notice be sufficient?

tenant and i reached a settlement in court where they agree to "leave the premises and deliver free and clear possessions no later than 11/30." They have moved out and took all their belongings and even removed the lock on their bedroom. Everything except a table. But they did not return the keys. If they do not return the keys and do not take their table and I change the locks on 12/1 would they be able to come back and say this was an illegal eviction? Does them not returning the keys break the settlement?

My tenant of two years has NEVER paid her water bill. The bill goes straight to her but I get a courtesy bill sent to me. The lease clearly states tenant responsible for water and electric. Each time I get a courtesy bill I remind her to pay ot...she always says she forgot and she will pay it. But she doesn't.

My rental property is in a small town in MD where eventhough the tenants are required to put the water in their name...if they don't pay the bill the landlord (me) is responsible. Last bill was about $1400 due to non-payment and late fees.

Her lease is up for renewal on March 1. I was thinking of telling her the lease won't be renwed if the waterbill remains unpaid. ...but not sure that's legal.

I'm open to suggestions on how to get her to pay her water bill🤔

Hello,

Me and my wife are first time landlords and we got into real-estate investing by buying a new construction in Texas with the idea that we would have less problems. After 2 years of our first tenant living in this property, we did not receive rent for the last 2 months so we had our property management company pursue eviction. However, we then discovered that the tenants have fled the property although leaving a lot of belongings and also leaving us with $10,000 worth of damages. The damages include junk removal, carpet replacement, etc. There were feces left in multiple areas of the property so the trashing seems to be not just careless but intentional. We got the property back to rent ready and have photos/receipts of all damages. The management company has sent the owed rent and expenses to a collections company although it has been months and the previous tenants are not responding.

My wife wants to sell after our new tenants move out due to the hassle and the lack of control of this process, as we are out of state investors. I feel we just got super unlucky but definitely want to get our $10,000 back that we are owed.

Additionally, we did not explicitly request the management company to check the "non-real" property such as washer and dryer and those were also actually destroyed by the tenant but due to the timing, as we have a new tenant living there, this expense had to come out of pocket and could not be added to collections.

Ultimately looking for a community to chat with this issue about and guidance on getting our 10k back, preventing these issues, and learning more about these processes. The new tenant we have seems good so far although we can say the same about of first tenant as well. We just need to get some control of the situation. The collections is between our management company and the tenant so we are not sure if we should switch that to our names in order to get more updates from the collection agency. Also not sure if we need to go to court or how to do that. Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

I am a landlord and my house is rented out for college kids. Last week I got a call from the police department and they gave me a citation for the loud music and disturbance of peace. The police called me and took my driver license number and issued a citation. First i was hesitant to give my DL but did not want to cause more friction.

- Is landlord responsible for the citation to pay.

- Does it cause any issues for me later as this will go on my record.

- What can i ask the tenants to do ? Should i get any written letter / amend the lease?

Edit: I am the landlord.

Sadly, one of my tenants took his own life a few weeks ago. The incident occurred in the basement of the rental property and it will require professionals to come in and properly clean up.

Although I don't legally have to disclose this information to new tenants, I think they would find out eventually by word of mouth from the neighbors. Has anyone had experience renting after a murder or sucide occured on the property? The victim's family is interested in buying the property, and I am wondering if I should sell to them instead of trying to rent it out under these circumstances.

Ive been renting from my landlord since August 2023 (a little over a year now) . Pretty nice guy but he has no other income besides the 3 units in the home. Its a completely private renting , no contract or written agreement. Since i moved in there was a slight musty smell in the common entrance which i assumed came from the basement which the basement door is always open. I didnt budge on the smell because its $900/month and looks better than the $1,200/month in the area , caught a fairly good deal .

After a few months of being here i noticed the walls would buildup moisture in the common entrance hallway of the home . Now and then he has someone wipe them down and touch up paint (slumlord special). There was an instance when my bathtub leaked into the hall and he had to fix it (took over a month for him just to come look at it which upset me alot because mold was growing). The leak was none of my fault , it was all from underneath from the pipes. For a moment i thought the bathtub leak caused all the moisture but after the fix , the moisture would continue to build up as it is as of right now.

Right now, the paint is discolored from an egg shell white to a grayish color with moisture dripping . Some of the walls have pilled off and exposed the brick. Upon returning from an overseas vacation last week, i noticed most of all my goods within my cabinets have gotten exposed by moisture (the seasoning have turned to rocks) and my apartment smells of a musty smell which i havent noticed before inside my apartment.

I would simply like some advice on how to address my landlord and if he does not agree to properly address the moisture instead of little fixes , what can i do to give him the "push" . I just lost my job and im living on unemployment so i dont have many options to move and i love this place and its price so i genuinely would prefer to stay. I also thought about buying a dehumidifier and taking the quick loss for better luxury but money is low . I also dont know the full extent of my legal rights as i dont have a rental agreement. This is obviously a burden and health risk issue . Any advice would be amazing

P.S. : My landlord is nearly deaf so i cant discuss over the phone , he barely hears me in person . He barely answers texts and lives over an hour away so he barely comes by even when there is an issue . And im unemployed and low on funds so i dont have many options at this moment .

My tenant wants to install a bidet. Any experiences with this? They said they will install it and uninstall it when they move out

Anything to look out for? Potential liability for water damage? This is in a condo building.

Hello, my home is owned and I am considering a room mate.
The person I am considering is more of an acquaintance. They keep to themselves and are generally quiet. They have reliable employment. I am disabled and the cost of existing has been crushing, and having that extra income would help exponentially.

I am considering a month to month lease, so it gives some room on both our ends to leave if something isn’t working out. I’ve also considered doing a room mate agreement on top of that (I know it’s not legally binding but I think having clear expectations and boundaries doesn’t hurt). The lease I will use will be a standard Michigan lease, my town/county has no special provisions.

My questions:

1. What background/credit check service is available to someone that is not a landlord outside of this?

2. For those that have done a successful room mate/landlord situation, what do you feel helped it be successful?

3. For those that had unsuccessful attempts, what would you do differently?

4. Any other pointers for a first timer?

I’ve been the room mate in these situations and most of them did not end well, but the causes weren’t on my end. I’m taking those experiences with me and looking for some outside perspective.

Thank you so much!

I own a duplex in Washington State. (Not Seattle)

The neighbor of my building (not my tenant .. the neighboring property) sent a ring video that shows unit A's front door across their yards. (The front doors face eachother, about 30 or 40 yards apart.

The ring video appeared to show 3 young people leaving unit A's front door. I'm guessing it's 3 teenagers based on look and type of conversation. (Also clearly intoxicated)

I hear one of them saying "my neighbor will be back tomorrow" and "we need to get out of here" and "the cops might come".

(I am unaware of my tenant in unit A's schedule. He could be out of town last night. Not sure.)

I don't know if there was any damage. I don't know much except that there was drunken commotion, and obviously these kids went into my tenants unit.

I'm thinking based on a handful of indicators that one of these three young dudes is the son of my tenant in unit B. The parent at unit B is out of town currently.

I'm thinking the unit B son threw a get together, and had some knowledge of unit A being out of town. They get drunk and decide to go ... Do things that young drunk people do. Go places they shouldn't be, get in trouble, etc. I've done this plenty in my younger past, I totally understand being a young dumb kid.

Anyway, young dumb kid or not, that's breaking and entering and a MAJOR issue... I guess unless unit A knows and has given them permission to enter. (I doubt it).

I'm at a loss for how to handle. I have a decent relationship with both tenants. I'm happy to , and planning to speak with both of them about this.

My questions for you:

How much do I inject myself into this situation as the landlord? What's my liability? Do I need to involve the police? Does this depend on the reaction from my tenants? How do I best document this for proof if I need to evict? Does this depend on Unit As desire to pursue further?

Etc etc.

Looking for advice, general and specific. I'll clarify any details if you have questions.

Thanks.

One update: Unit A asked the kid in Unit B to feed A's cats while away on holiday, so unit B kid has keys. The ring occurrence took place at 12:30 at night.

Update 2: I spoke with unit A and gave him choice on how to handle it. He's pissed that the Unit B kid (15 years old) brought friends over in the middle of the night, but is considering, pending no damage, to leave it at a stern conversation and to try to correct future behavior. I told unit A that I would support him if he wanted to take more action.

Seeeeems like it will blow over generally.

It is being addressed. Doesn't look like mold but I'm having the place treated in case. It sounds she need the referral urgently having found a place to move out to but I want assurance from her that she will not have any claims now or future for having threatened me for retaliation etc.

Hello, I am thinking of renting a home (preferably a townhome), and this would be my first time. I've always lived in apartments. I'm reaching out for general advice on this process, what to look out for, green flags, red flags, etc.

But I do have one specific question. Would it be okay to ask for a longer lease for a reduced rate? I do want to rent longer than a year and if the rent was reduced then that would be a plus. And what's a fair amount of reduction, if so? Thank you.

Hi! So I moved into my rental house in April. My neighbors have their friends over 24/7 and all the do is burn outs, reev their Hondas 24/7 to the point where it’s so loud their mufflers pop. I have young child’s and I’ve told them hey can you guys please stop my kids and sleeping and they told me to F myself their friends live there and they can do what they want. My landlord won’t do anything. She tells me that’s “sucks” and to call the cops. My landlord owns my house and that house. I have called and the cops do nothing unless they catch them doing it. Now since I called they are doing burn outs smoke shows all day and night long. My landlord won’t do nothing. I need help or advice!