All Forum Posts by: Mike Franco

what happens if you interject that they are a legal document?

Would he go Judge Judy on you and tell you to STFU and rule against you out of spite?

so she's living paycheck to paycheck.

I have used security deposit refund as leverage . i.e if tenant moves out and leaves everything spotless, I will refund security deposit on the spot. That way she will have immediate funds to apply to her next rental.

small claims court is a joke.

The judge is a jack of all trades, master of none, and doesn't know the minutia of the law, so he comes up with a bullchit judgment in the 5 minutes allotted for the case.

If you go in prepared, quoting various laws and codes, then sometimes the judge might side with you.

An $8000 shed does not sound like "personal property" that you can store in a 10x20 unit at Public Storage. 

I just googled $8000 shed, and at that price level, sheds are some fancy chit!

Chattel vs Fixture/appurtenance. Once it becomes part of the real property, it stays.

Abandoned Fixtures - When a tenant that is leasing/renting an apartment installs a fixture it will become an appurtenance as well. This fixture when installed becomes permanent and an appurtenance to the real property that he/she is leasing. It must be left with the apartment at the time the lease ends.

Now the question is- how was the shed bolted down, and was it easy to remove?

I would appeal and countersue. Do your homework and go in with overwhelming law logic and facts. 

Countersue $8000 for your shed, and $8000 for storage fee on your property. $8000 is too big an amount to pass up.

Over the years, I've had to hire and fire a bunch of gardeners.

They all ended up getting lazy and not showing up eventually. The last gardener, despite telling him not to, would scalp my tall fescue grass during the heat of the summer, and that would cause the grass to nearly die because it was too short, and the soil was getting baked. Plus, he probably brought weed seeds from other houses on his mower, and there was a big bermuda grass infestation. And the leaf blower was just aggravating the weed seed situation, contributing to a lawn full of weeds.

I ended up having to rip out half the turf, digging up all the bermuda, and replanting seed.

Although I hate to have to do it, now I do my own yard maintenance. I let the grass grow 7" long, to shade the soil and keep moisture and help prevent weeds, so I only mow once every 6-8 weeks. I spray preemergent weed killer, apply fertilizer. And the results are better than what I pay others to do.

I just haven't found a single reliable contractor. They're all minute men. They work for 5 minutes, collect their $35, and get out quick.

you want it done right, gotta do it yourself.

I wonder if this would be considered normal wear and tear.

It's certainly preventable... by sticking saran wrap on the walls, and cleaning regularly.

One thing to consider...  do you have a stove hood exhaust fan? is it powerful enough?

If all the cooking oils and smells are getting on the walls, you can blame the exhaust fan.

Grease is usually easy to clean up. Purple Power is super cheap and very effective at degreasing. If the walls are semigloss paint, spray it on at half concentration, and wipe promptly. It's sodium hydroxide, so it's not powerful, but not weak either.

yes.

smoke and pot smells are beyond normal wear and tear

how bad is the second best applicant?

leave your conscience out of it. 

I bet they're paying below market rates, and giving them a 60 day notice gives them plenty of time to find something they like.

rule of thumb

clogs are tenant responsibility. When they flush condoms, diapers, paper towels.

Leaks are LL responsibility.

i used it once recently. on Android, it's buggy as hell.