All Forum Posts by: Dennis Ulrich

There was a small water leak under a toilet in a rental property I own. I asked a general contractor that I've not worked with before to fix it. We did not discuss pricing, and I instructed him to fix it and bill me, this is my fault. Because it was a trivial job, I expected a reasonable bill. When it was fixed, he came back with a huge bill, more than 2X what is normal. He claims that the plumber spent many hours on the job, but I know it's a lie because I have many other properties where the same issue was fixed for less than 1/2 of the price, and did not require much time. I learned an expensive lesson. What are my options in this case?

I have a model female tenant at my property. She is respectful and has never caused any problems. Her lease says very clearly that guests are only allowed to stay on the property overnight with advance written permission from the landlord (me). So I was surprised when she notified me that her fiancé will be moving into her apartment and staying with her for one month, beginning tomorrow. The fiancé is recovering from surgery, so I would like to be supportive. However, seeking advance written permission is not the same thing as "Hey, by the way someone is moving in tomorrow". That is not "asking". If I just allow it, the other tenants in the building will take notice, as this is highly unusual. On the other hand, I can't say no without appearing callous, given the circumstances. There's also the fact that this tenant has been stellar in every other way so far. What would you do? One possibility is that I could raise the rent for that month.