All Forum Posts by: Maria Marrero

@Greg M. I do not run a charity but I do relate to certain people being a single Hispanic mom so I practice COMPASSION while also making a profit, something that the world is lacking a lot of.  So while I would not be losing money by renting to her, I could be making maybe a few more dollars a month.

@Mario Am she's currently living with her mom because she just got her S8 approved back in May so I dont think I would be able to surprise her considering its her mom's house I guess.  

When she did the screening I noticed she has paid a car note on time since November so I am guessing she is trying to build her credit.  She also told me that if she cant find a home in July she'll lose her voucher and go back to the back of the line [which is years long] but I dont know if thats true or not since I dont know that much about section 8

@Dominik MakaneoleShe is getting the deposit from social services she said 

No?

So I am trying to help out a single mom not to lose her section 8 but at the same time, I dont want to lose money.

She makes only $13,824 A YEAR [or at least thats what she reported on smartmove.com]  The rent is $1750 plus utilities, section 8 will cover $1310, she will pay $305 and then she said her boyfriend will help with the other $135 [which I am not sure is allowed but we are seeing].  My think is if she is only making $1152 a month, has a car payment, car insurance plus food & then all this, do you think I should rent to her? I know that section 8 is sure money but its only a portion of it.  Her credit is also only 549 but she has been paying her car faithfully since November [I see this on the credit report].  She has a collection debt of $3,017 

As much as I want to help her & feel section 8 is a 'sure thing' I am not sure... Thoughts? ideas? I am requiring 2 security deposits plus 1st months rent

Thank You all for the replies! I think I will add the vaping and e-cigs and then just leave the rest as 'hazardous'.  Its amazing how the lease the attorney sent me didnt include a lot of these clauses... My lease is 11 pages so far :) I dont want to make it super long but I also dont want to leave important things out - such as no smoking!

I hired a PM company once and I noticed that on their lease, they even included a cesspool clause in which tenants were the ones to clean out if need be... it was interesting.  My tenants refuse to sign their lease with that company

 Thank You @Mike Cumbie I am in Long Island - I dont think there's a law regarding firearms here at all.  In my first lease, I never wrote no smoking and just talked to the tenant about it.  Two years after living there, he started smoking in the house and said it wasnt on the original lease and he was right, it wasnt.  Mind you, that lease came from an attorneys' office so now I try to learn from he mistakes and add things as I see them.

Thanks for all the help! I think I'll leave the specific regarding firearms out since I am not sure of the laws on that here.

@Mindy Jensen Thank You for your reply! I am in NY - forgot to put that in.  Maybe I'll leave the firearm one out because I would hate for the lease to be voided because of one thing.  I just didnt think of that considering illegal weapons are well, Illegal! I am mostly concerned about the smoking & drugs.  I had a tenant growing marijuana in my backyard once and I didnt know how to handle it since it is still illegal here in NY. 

@John N. not necessarily, just illegal activities 

So I know how to add a no smoking clause to a lease however I have learned over the years that if its not in writing, you cant enforce it & my last tenants had firearms and were doing illegal drugs on the premises.

How can I add this to my lease? Here's what I have so far: No smoking of any substance is allowed on the premises. Tenant (s) shall not smoke, nor permit anyone to smoke, inside the property at any time. This includes smoking cigarettes, cigars, pipes or any other smoking device. Tenant is responsible for all damage caused by the smoking including, but not limited to, stains, burns, odors, and removal of debris.

TENANT(S) using, possessing or selling illegal drugs will be subject to possible eviction. No warning notice will be given and eviction may be assessed at the LANDLORD’S discretion

However, I dont know what language to write about the weapons... trust me I know people do whatever they want to do BUT it cant hurt to have it on the lease 

@Erick M. I love your answer so much, it actually warmed up my heart, Thank You!  You see it saddens me to see how he doesnt see this at all.  I am to blame for giving him such a low rent but as you could understand, he was going through so much at the time my nephew had cancer & I too was burned out from the current tenants who lived there for 5 years and I ended up having to evict them.  He knows I can rent that house for even more than $1800 because of the location but he would never admit to it.  They love this house and when I had the last tenants there they would always ask me to rent it to them but I kept telling them I had those people there.  I know he doesnt think of me at all [I am a single parent of 2 doing my best & pulling from every direction I can to move up in the world].  I dont think I was unreasonable with a $40 increase.  The deal was we were going to help each other out [I give him low rent, he would take care of anything that went wrong in the house] however when things have gone wrong I still get the call and I have been having to pay for the parts but he does the labor so I am appreciative although there hasnt been that many wrong things [thank God].  I almost wish he would move but I am sure he wont find a big place like this for what he's paying but we'll see.  

ok so seems like this has turned into 'she's trying to raise the rent bc she's not invited to the parties' so I guess I will take a few minutes and make this clear: I don't have time to go to a party every Sunday or even one Sunday per month.  The reason they no longer invite me is because I never went when they did ask me to, because its my only day off and I cant spend it sitting around drinking beers. Its not only to their parties that I don't go, if my other sister has a party at her house I don't go to those either.  I like my day off, once in a while I would send my kids to the party if its one of my nieces/nephews parties but I cant see myself being in the same house weekly.  The other thing I did not mention is: when he had his own house he NEVER wanted people over because he would say it was too much wear on the house not to mention the beloved cesspool.

Now to give a little background on the raise: I am renting to them below value by about $300-400/month. I haven't raised the rent in 2 years because they take really good care of the house overall, never charged them when they got a dog [and didn't even ask me for permission], never charge extra when another person spends 3 months there [my brother's mother in law spends the summer], never said anything about the pool they put in the yard because I really dont care about those things since this is family & I know that my bother would never do me wrong [the wife might lol]. So I was just feeling bad because its weird to raise the rent but I think I've been fair enough so far but taxes & insurance do go up every year & I feel that I am already renting super low - for a 4 br SFH they pay $1300.

So I called him early, only told him $40 because he started the conversation with: You have to see the pantry, I added shelves to it & fixed a hole that was behind it... As if I wasn't feeling bad enough, I almost didnt even tell him at that point because I felt so guilty but somehow I was strong enough & told him the rent was going up $40 - He immediately said 'WHY' and I told him listen insurance/taxes went up for the last 2 years & I have been taking the loss but I cant take the loss alone anymore.  He wasn't happy & the conversation ended shortly after but I did what I needed to do.  Should he decide he wants to move, I can rent this house so fast for like $1600-1800 easily! and yes I know, got it: NEVER RENT TO FAMILY AGAIN...