All Forum Posts by: James Mc Ree

You would almost certainly run afoul of fair housing with a limit of 1 as you are preventing a partner and a parent with child unless you have a compelling reason for the limit. Even then, it's very risky.

Are you sure the problem is with Section 8 and not the PM? Get the case worker's name and contact them directly. Try to speak with a supervisor if that doesn't work.

I had situations in which the case worker quit, but nothing was updated to say so. Messages just went unanswered. Your PM may be experiencing that, but should have plenty of other cases workers to contact for advice.

You are only looking at less than half the situation. You have revenue (rent) and need to consider expenses to calculate cash flow. $5,000 Rent per month is great unless expenses are $10,000 per month. Consider appreciation as well.

There is more to consider, such as how you will manage the property, etc.

In order of escalation...

1. Inform them they violated a term of their lease and the smoking must end immediately.

2. Inform them they may be responsible for any smoking remediation that needs to be done on their move-out, such as carpet and curtain cleaning, painting, etc if there is a smoking odor or residue.

3. Charge them for smoking remediation (#2 cost made real). Ideally, you get them to pay you directly for the cost. You could charge their security deposit, but it likely wipes it out leaving you with no security at all. You could re-charge them to refill the security deposit.

4. End the lease or evict them. This is the sledgehammer to be used only if this is a major issue for you and you are willing to take the cash flow and renovation impact now.

I would do #1 and #2. Discuss the issue with the tenants before sending them a letter. #3 Depends on their reaction in the discussion. A promise to cease and desist that is kept would end my escalation. Otherwise, I might do #3, but probably only on move-out. I would only end the lease or evict if I thought I caught the smoking early; otherwise, the damage is done.

Self-insurance is really no insurance. Landlords can easily do it without a mortgage but they are taking a huge risk. Set aside a big pile of cash or rely on a line of credit you won't be using.

The oversimplified insurance concept is to pay a small premium to cover a large loss. In self-insurance, to whom does Landlord pay the small premium? Who pays the large loss? It all comes back to Landlord who pays the full bill, so it's really not insurance at all.

@Nathan Gesner Thank you for the info. I will read through the doc. It looks like just the reference I need. In this case, the tenant did have a doctor recommend he get an emotional support animal for his disability. I don't have details on the disability. The reality is he already had the animal as a pet, then applied online for the certification.

@Dan H. Thank you for the reference for petscreening.com. I will use that going forward.

@Cathy B. I agree the chicken wire might not do the job. It was my contractor's suggestion. I think I will be going with a mesh I use to keep critters from getting under sheds.

The doctor in this case wrote a note that the patient's condition would benefit from having an emotional support animal. The doctor did not specify any training or requirements for the animal and the dogs are not trained in any way the tenant represented. I was unaware of the training requirement in this situation, so will study-up on this some more for next time.

@Scott Mac Thank you for the idea. The condenser is in a corner of the backyard. We are going to find a way to block it off with chicken wire to keep the dogs out. We just need to be sure the dogs can't rip out the chicken wire which may cause us to upgrade to a stronger mesh.

There is absolutely nothing special about these dogs. I think they were picked up at the pound. They were "certified" with an online service that never saw the dogs as far as I know.

Thank you for your advice. It is what I expected that I can bill the tenants or evict the tenants, but can't get rid of the dogs only.

The dogs are not the trained dogs you expect for service animals. I used the wrong word in my post. They are "support" animals which seem to have the same disability benefit, but no training whatsoever. The tenants used an online service that gives a support animal certification within a few days. It is truly a scam. Some training or skills should be required of the animals to get this certification.

I have a tenant with 2 certified service animals (dogs). The dogs recently chewed my central air compressor resulting in a repair for which I told the tenant they were responsible. Then a second chewing. And now a third today. Each chewing generated a repair call. It seems these tenants may be incapable of supervising or training their dogs in the fenced backyard to prevent this from happening. The dogs are probably left out there and they do what dogs do: dig or chew. I haven't seen holes (yet). I am thinking of installing a chicken wire fence around the compressor, but I'd rather just tell them, "You broke it, you fix it!" or the dogs have to go.

Here's my question: Can I do anything to require the tenants to get rid of their destructive service animals without just evicting the tenants? I don't want to interrupt my cash flow and I don't want to keep dealing with the damage. I don't know if service animals are a protected class with regards to damage they cause. If they were just there by an animal addendum, I would end the addendum and order the dogs out.

Any ideas? I am already requiring the tenant cover repair costs and want to tell them the dogs have to go. The property is in PA.

How does your insurance company know you need to fix the roof?

Can you just replace the roof yourself, then apply for insurance with any different company and not mention the roof just like you wouldn't call out any other component of the property?