All Forum Posts by: Jeff Wirth

No security deposit to refund- here in NJ the governor signed a bill allowing the tenant to request that it be applied to past due rent during Covid, which she did and we gladly accepted.  It got her current at that time but she soon fell back into not paying after that.

Not sure about the physical address but I'll find out if it is required.  She cares about the credit ding as she was trying to turn that around when I first rented to her.  She was a great on-time pay up until Covid. Pretty sure she got some of that gov't assistance that businesses got and she was just taking advantage of the fact that landlords couldn't evict during that time.

 That is some good leverage you had there!  I'll have to check the law here unless I decide to hire the attorney, at which point they will know the law.

Good point. Well she was doing fine with her rent up until Covid.  Her business still seems to be up and running at least according to her website so I think if she doesn't have a lot of money now, she will start to accumulate again as things move forward.

Our tenant beat us for about $8K due to not being able to evict her during Covid.  We were recently able to extract her at the end of her lease.  She skipped out without leaving a forwarding address although she is self employed and we seem to have her correct P.O. box address for her and her business(business does not have a physical location).  Have her business and personal email and her mobile #(unless she changed it after moving out).  Our lease says she pays all attorney fees if we have to collect moneys owed.  I am in New Jersey- the lawyer is asking $750 retainer and says the minimum we pay him will be $1,500.  Any thoughts or advice?  First timer here.

Thanks in advance!

Update:  my insurance company denied his claim.  Said he should have mitigated right away and contacted his insurance company to put a claim in.  I suppose when he does, the 2 ins companies will battle it out.  I talked to him after he called again asking why I am not paying and I told him it was in my insurance company's hands.  Turns out he didn't want to pay his $500 deductible(

Thanks Nathan- my insurance company adjuster is dealing directly with the owner of the unit with the damage now.  They told me he should have immediately taken steps to mitigate damages, i.e. dry out the carpet, walls etc. so he might have a bit of a battle on his hands with them.  Also don't think he contacted his insurance company right away, which my company said he should have.  I don't think he did because he contacted me over a week after the incident occurred asking if I "fixed the leak" yet, because he wanted to get some estimates for repair and send them to me.  So he sends me 2 mold remediation estimates for $2,800 and $3,800.  

Thanks for your reply Michael! Good question- so I called my Insurance Company and they requested all of the HOA docs...Cert of Insurance, By-laws and CCR's copy. The adjuster will handle from here on out to determine liability.

Bought our first rental property late last year- a vacant, second floor 2 BR, bank owned condominium.  Needed remodeling, i.e. some carpeting, painting, kitchen appliances, countertops, but overall not in bad condition.  The A/C, furnace, majority of flooring etc all in good condition.  Found a good tenant who moved in March 1.  

Got a call last week that the tenant in the first floor unit directly beneath ours was at her door complaining her A/C was leaking water down into their unit.  I visited and sure enough it was...the condensation pipe was clogged and the water was overflowing and leaking through the ceiling in the back closet directly above where our furnace is located(and theirs is as well).  Just got a bill from the owner of the property for close to $3K for mold remediation.  There was some mold I noticed when I visited and looked at their unit where the leak was coming in- I fully expected to get a bill for drywall repair, maybe a section of wet carpet, some painting, etc., but not complete mold remediation.  Does this sound right?  The property is in N.J. and our tenant only started running the A/C maybe a month or so ago.  Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome- I guess I will just turn the bill over to my insurance company if this is my responsibility.