All Forum Posts by: Alan Grobmeier

Noooo.

It's radioactive, literally.  

The radioactive dumping area is IN a flood plain.  OOOOOOPS!

http://www.stltoxicaware.com

Why isn’t Clayton Morris in jail?  

@Chris Clothier How do you have a house with no electricity for the stove?  Was it supposed to be a ‘woodburner’?  

Update:  I had a long talk w the tenant.  She has figured out there is no place to move to at this time that meets her needs.  As a result, she is presently honoring her lease as is.  She is targeting January at the earliest to look elsewhere.  

I explained to her why we did not entertain a new fence, security system, or dual paned windows and won’t consider any of those in the near future.

Thx to all who chimed in.  I appreciate it.

Thx,

Alan

@Dan H., the woman in question is dark skinned of Portuguese descent.  The property is in La Mesa, a city not exactly known for its racial diversification.  She is claiming harassment due to the color of her skin.  She’s not ‘black’, but dark.  

@Mike Franco, already been close to that.  Tenant requested, for her safety per the police, that I install video surveillance at the property.  My family has owned the property almost 50 years without as much as a break-in.  I declined.  My thought process is that she didn’t need it until recently.

The property has 2 fences.  One is a 50 x 6 ‘dog run’ on the side of the property.  The other is a pool area fence that has a steep hill that works normally as a natural wall.  These dogs are larger than the ones which my previous tenants owned.  They are able to scale the hillside and get out of the pool area.

Originally she asked me if she could build a fence at her cost.  I gave her permission due to the fact I wasn’t paying for it.  If I didn’t like it, I could tear it down.

Now the tenant expected me to offer to pay (or at least pay half) for said fence.  To me that’s a no-go.  She rented it a year ago w no fence.  She saw the property and knew her dogs.  Imho she should have known this would not be a good fit for her pets.

She has a ‘helecopter mom’ that is beyond ridiculous.  She (mom) stated that they would like additional towel bars in the bathroom.  Presently we have hand wash ‘circles’ for towel holders.

Tenants mom also states that daughters’ last SDG&E bill of $450 is too much.  Requested dual pane windows (no).  AC unit is 1 yr old.  All lights were replaced a year ago to low wattage lighting.  Ceiling fans in every room.  Tenant states it’s hot, but no ceiling fans were in use when we were there Saturday.  

I’ve owned as many as 10 rental properties over the last 25 years.  Today I still own 6 sfr, all B+/A- areas in great school districts.  Most properties have been extremely quiet.  My ‘highlights’ have been Hoa ‘weed notices’ or Air conditioner outages.  I eventually bought my own portable ac units in case of failure.  I can count my late pays on one hand and never needed to do an eviction.  This tenant has created ‘high touch hell’ in my world.  Police & animal control have been called a number of times.  Some warranted, some not.  And I am quite sure I have no idea what is the truth.

I’m not an inexperienced landlord, but I truly never saw anything like this coming.  I feel like I have been a pretty good judge of character.  I never saw these ppl as being/becoming a problem.  My previous tenant was with me over 9 years.  Never a peep from anyone beyond normal maintenance issues.

Tenant is 29 & first place outside of helicopter mom’s place.  Despite this fact, it appears that mom is there part time.

Tenant was also kind enough to tell me that when I go to rent the place again, that I shouldn’t ask over $2800 a month.  ;-)  I am presently charging $3100, including pool service & landscaping/gardening.  I had my choice of 7 qualified tenants when I chose her.  4 of the 7 were US Navy, but they could have afforded the property.

I will update when I have an update.

Thanks to all for your responses!

Alan

@Theresa Harris, rent has been paid thru Oct 1.

I am in Phx, so we took a long weekend to beat the heat & try to come to a resolution.

I don’t want the tenant showing the property.  If some else happens, it could be on me.

As a result, I’d prefer her to leave.  I just don’t think I should be out October’s rent when I have a 24 month signed lease.  I also recognize I could be dodging a ‘bullet’ by getting her out now.

Thx,

Alan

@Dan H., thx for the response.

I don’t want to force her to stay.  But I don’t think I should be the ‘biggest loser’ in this deal.  Right now I am.  I gave a discount based on a 24 month tenancy.  If I refund her deposit in full, I am out 100% the rent for October.

Personally I think my offer was a good one.  I could just wait & see when I get a new tenant and litigate for my damages in small claims.

With that said, what would you do?

Thx

AG

Greetings.

I own a property in the San Diego area.  I rented it to a tenant a year ago on a 2 yr lease.  The existing lease has either 11 or 12 months left.

All was well until about 2 months ago when this women’s dogs allegedly bit a jogger.  Since that time, the police & animal control have been called on numerous occasions for ‘vicious dogs’ on the loose.  Some of these calls were truly not warranted as the dogs were not even present on the property.

The application, next door.com, has raised the amount of noise to just under lynchmob mentality.  The tenant alleges that her car was egged due to the next door posts.  She states that she does not feel safe.

As a result, the tenant wants me to either build another fence OR let her out of the remainder of the lease.  I do not want to build another fence specifically for her dogs.  In addition, I am doubtful it will keep the peace in the neighborhood.

So, I offered her a break lease option where I would keep her deposit as a break lease fee.  She responded that if she moved & I kept the security deposit, that she would sue me.

The rent is $3100 a month, the deposit is $2500.  I will be vacant for at least a month no matter what happens.  There is no break lease clause, so she is on the hook until the end of the lease.  At least that’s how I see it.

In addition, I charged a $500 non-refundable pet deposit.  She, somehow, thinks she is entitled to getting that ‘refunded’ as well.

We don’t have a firm move out date.  I asked for Sept 26, stating I would refund her 4 days worth of rent.

To the CA peeps:  thoughts? 

I don’t want to go to court, as a plaintiff or defendant.

Thx,

AG

@Larry Turowski, you already know the answers!  But if you don’t, let me help you.  ;-)

What is your pricing schedule?  As much as the mark, er student, has available.  Cash, grass, or credit works.

What is the success rate?  It’s too difficult to determine what success is to different people.  As a result, we don’t keep those statistics.

How do you qualify your applicants?  Easy.  If they have the money, we have the time.

;-)

I’d build.  Maybe a container house for Airbnb?