All Forum Posts by: Mike Franco

especially under sink.

and run water and toilets to check for drain clogs.

I hate when tenants ask for landscaping and end up neglecting it.

Almost 100% of my previous tenants never took care of the yard. This is why I don't provide backyard landscaping. It's just dead grass. Only a few prospects have been turned off by it, but most prospects don't mind because they know they won't take care of it. I sell the barren backyard by telling them they're saving a boatload in water bills.

quarterly at most, half yearly in general.

plumbing and hvac.

negotiation of mutual lease termination is the only thing I can think of. That involves $$$$

exactly. The OP's gf is in california.

You can sue for breach of contract in small claims court.

She just needs to present her case well with regard to habitability, safety, etc.

The threat of lawsuit might be able to goad the LL into action.

Not bad advice at all. I hope you have read your state's laws regarding issues like this.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/repairs.shtml

In california, if appliances were included in the lease, and the LL does not fix them after repeated requests, tenants CAN hire someone to fix them and deduct it from the rent.

In this case, to be the most effective, all the tenants should team up and deduct a proportional share.

This LL sounds like a slumlord

There's usually an incentive involved. My previous 2 tenants wanted to leave early. I gave them that option provided that I could show the house on the weekends.

But even so, it was somewhat difficult because the carpets were dirty. That didn't make a good impression on some prospects.

In the distant past, I would usually have to eat 1-2 weeks rent.

Any kind of incentive you can give the tenant would likely be better than losing 2 weeks to vacancy.

in the future, you should use a driveway sealer.

yes, you can charge for the blinds he took, even if you decide not to replace the blinds. It should be a fair price. Mini blinds aren't expensive.

But again, you should have some hard proof he took them.