All Forum Posts by: Jim Bouchard

@Andrew Bosco

Thanks for that! Great suggestion.

Hi there,

I've read several forum posts about noise complaints and everyone's feedback has been really helpful.  That said, I'm not sure how to go about resolving this issue...

Both our upstairs and downstairs tenants moved in July 1.  Both are on autopay, have insurance, keep their places clean, and are civil to each other.

The upstairs tenant is a school teacher in her late 40's.  She's kind of a high maintenance person to begin with. The downstairs tenants are a young couple, one works about 30 minutes away and the other goes to school as an engineer. They've been fabulous from the very beginning, responsive, polite, paid their first month's rent and deposit early, etc. They're seldom home during the day and on weekends.

The upstairs tenant texted me yesterday (I do have a separate phone line for our properties) saying she's having noise issues with the downstairs tenants: banging the screen door closed after she's gone to sleep on weeknights (11:00pm), talking on the phone at 1:30am, up and about at 2:30am on the weekend. No loud music, parties or anything of that kind.

The house was built in 1908 and not soundproof.

She said she's talked to them directly and hopes that will solve the problem, but she starts school next week and is worried about her sleep.

I haven't approached the downstairs tenants yet.

There is a noise clause in our House Rules, which mentions "quiet hours between 10pm and 6am", which everyone has signed.

I don't want to take sides or get in the middle of this issue, but I also don't want to risk losing good tenants (on either side of the argument).

Any advice would be welcome and appreciated - thanks so much!

@Nathan Gesner Thanks for that.  I did text her saying we'd lived there without any evidence of cockroaches, and did suggest perhaps they came in on her moving boxes. She responded saying she thought the same. I contacted our pest control folks and told her I did so.  I will offer the first treatment on us. 

Here's what ME lease agreement stipulates for pests:

(F) Pest control, after the first ten (10) days of the Term of this Lease, shall be the sole responsibility of the Tenant, including, without limitation, prevention and remediation. Tenant shall keep the Premises free of all pests, including without limitation, rodents, fleas, bed bugs, ants, cockroaches, gnats, flies, and beetles. Tenant shall pay for all costs associated with remediating pests from the Premises and shall inform Landlord at first sighting of any pests in order to avoid any infestation of pests. In signing this Lease, Tenant agrees that Tenant has examined the Premises and certifies that it has not observed any pests in the Premises. A tenant shall promptly notify a landlord when the tenant knows of or suspects an infestation of bedbugs in the tenant's dwelling unit.

I like the idea of adding a clause saying "we'll deliver the home pest free and and handle pest treatment for the first two weeks"...would you mind sharing what you have in your lease?

Good morning!

We just had a tenant move into one of our apartments July 1. She sent a text this morning (July 8) saying she saw two cockroaches in the kitchen. She was "horrified and couldn't sleep."

We lived in that house for almost 30 years prior to returning it to a rental property and we've NEVER had cockroaches of any kind.
I'm wondering if they might have come in on some of her moving boxes.

Regardless, we have a pest control contract in place, and I've already contacted my technician.

Should we be worried about this tenant, or am I just over-reacting?  She breezed through her application, has great references and credit score, had already paid her July rent/security deposit, has insurance in place, and is set up for auto-pay going forward.

Thanks for your insights!

Sorry to have missed this one! Please let us know when the next meet-up is planned.

Looking forward to meeting you all.

Best thoughts!
Jim

I just read the regulations for Maine. Here they recently changed the law to make no distinction between service animals and ESAs. However, landlords can charge for damages caused by the animal or have the animal removed if it poses a threat to the peaceable occupancy or safety of other tenants. Damage charges must equally apply to all tenants. Not sure how that works if you generally have a "no pets" policy, but it seems prudent to include an animal damage clause even if you have a no-pet rule just to comply. What a mess!

This article draws a distinction between ESAs and "service animals." I'd like to learn more about this too! Maybe a state by state issue?

https://www.moving.com/tips/working-around-a-no-pet-policy-e...

Looking for an effective rent collection platform. Can you offer comments on TurboTenant or your favorite? Thanks!!!