All Forum Posts by: Karen F.

Of course you don't rent to this person.  

I don't think you could pass a Sec 8 inspection with this stuff.  It's not a floor.  It's an exercise mat.  

I completely understand you.  You absolutely do NOT want to rent to these people!  Or to anyone else who comes from this address.  It's very, very difficult to get rid of bedbugs in a multifamily, because it's very difficult to get every household to comply with prep and "sleep safe" precautions.  And they absolutely WILL inadvertently bring in bedbugs with them in their possessions, even if they come without furniture.

So, you have an implied contract with them, because you took their money.  You now don't want them, for a reason that you can't really defend, but that would make your unit potentially worthless.  Give them all their money back immediately, including their application fees, every penny you took from them, and tell them that the unit is not ready for occupancy.  No more details, no more contact.  Take the unit off the market immediately.  If it was in need of anything, do it now.  Paint, flooring, whatever.  Then put it back on the market, and just ignore their numbers if they call.  Save their numbers in your phone as "bedbug" and never answer their calls.

You cannot break the contract and keep their money too.

I would love to link this thread to all the people who are thinking about taking out a HELOC or borrowing against their 401K to get into real estate by buying a condo to rent out, or who are thinking that they'll just keep their condo that they're moving away from, as an investment rental property.

One time, as my husband, who is a very kind and nice man, was walking out of court from an eviction hearing (in which the eviction was approved), the tenant approached him and asked if she could rent from him again!

We have over 30 units in the same town.  I save every tenant's phone number in my phone, with their unit and name.  It's amazing how many times I've had an evicted tenant call about renting again from us.  Of course I don't even answer their call.

If you have any way of avoiding having them as your tenants, avoid them.  Your house will be destroyed.  When they leave, it will need new walls, new flooring, new doors, new bathroom fixtures, new appliances, new countertops and new cabinet facings, basically anything that the children could possibly have ruined, they will have ruined.  It has been like this forever.

We decided (and I only have 3 kids) not to buy anything nice or new for our own home, because no matter what, the kids would ruin it.  And my kids are relatively good kids, pretty well-behaved.  And it's my own home.  And two parents, always had one at home.  Now imagine a woman with 6 kids and she's a single parent.  And it's a rental.  It will look like it went through a war within a month of them having moved in.

I have a family of a dozen (parents and ten children) in a 7 bedroom two bath unit.  Section 8 pays me 125% of "allowable" because it's so hard to find a big unit and a landlord who is willing to take a family with so many kids.  I won't go into details, but believe you me, we earn every single penny of that rent - they are SO incredibly hard on the unit, and require so much attention. 

And then there's the problem of the already in place tenant, who decides to get a "service" animal.  That's a really tough one to deal with.

I'm in the same boat.  I inherited an excellent tenant in a large (old) first floor 1 bedroom, in an old complex in a not so great neighborhood.  He was paying $550, month to month, but market rate for the unit was at least $750, maybe even $850, because it's first floor and big, so ideal for a handicapped person.  Sec 8 is probably willing to pay $850 for it (all cold flat prices), but I'm sure it would need some reconditioning, should he leave.  Shortly after we got the place last late winter, we raised him to $600.  He wasn't happy, but of course he stayed.  I'm lobbying my husband that we should raise him to $650 as of January 1.

My feeling is that if the tenant's unit is below market, but they're a great tenant, raise it gradually toward market, and consider that you'd probably lose a month if they leave, plus you'd probably have to recondition the unit.  As for raising rent every year, most of my units (which are virtually all in old buildings in not so great neighborhood) are already at market rate.  If the unit is already at market, why would I try raising the rent?  To try to wring another 3% out of the tenant, in the hopes that they might pay a bit more than marke trate, rather than move?

You may find more specific information on the local forums for CT.