All Forum Posts by: Ralph S.

Warren Buffet's quote was to leave your kids just enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing.

There is too much of an entitlement mentality, and it is growing. Not enough tough love, or as I like to call it, the "Boy named Sue" mentality. Get tough or die!

That sentance gave me the willies.

Greg, I think this one is up to you, your abilities, time and what expertise you can personally bring to bear on the project.

In a simple analysis, are you GC material? Or, could this turn out to be penny wise, pound foolish?

I think it's really more about what you bring to the project.

Not if they're not paying rent now and are a couple months late on the utility bill. Their financial hole is too deep and paying rent will be the last thing they pay. Can't get'em out fast enough, now.

The 99:1 of Customer Service:
Please 99 customers, they'll tell 1 other.
Piss of 1 customer, they'll tell 99 others!

I always enjoyed finding a condemnation or raze order from the dept of neighborhood services! Ha!

To avoid the flood of emails all together, don't select the notify check box at all.
When at the opening "Recent Forum Activity," use the grey bar, and the drop down list under "Forum" which includes options for "Posts Since Last Visit" (same as Recent Forum Activity, except it includes other forums, such as political, etc) and "My Posts" which is list of threads that you have posted in, and who has recently posted there.

Who needs to be a rocket scientist to know the climate is changing? When, in the history of the earth has climate not been changing? Can anyone really believe the atmosphere is capable of staying in any kind of perfect balance over a long period? Ice caps and glaciers melting. An increase in cancer among people near the poles where the ozone is being depleated. Man pumping tons of carbon out of the ground and into the atmosphere. Smog is not natural, save for a volcano eruption. It's not so complex of a chemical reaction to not understand the concept. And, I am sure, if left up to the governments of the world, they be as successful as they were in preventing the bubble from bursting. I don't think that it is changing is in question. I question their motivation and conclusions as to the rate of change, and what, if any, is the cause. Is CO2 having any effect. I's sure it is. How much, I dunno. Who caused it, I don't care. I've heard numerous times that the snow in the NE and lack of snow in Vancouver is an El Nino event. You know, something that happens every seven years or so. Maybe just a little more extreme here or there than in the past, but what about next year? It's not like snowmageddon, or something like it, didn't happen 90 or so years ago, when nobody was clamoring about global warming, is it? Anyone ever heard of a 100 year flood plain? Any doubt the most recent flood wasn't blamed on global warming? Who was clamoring about global warming during the dust bowl years of the great depression? Any guesses what we'll be bombarded with if the dust bowl years repeat?

Years ago there was Green Peace and others, those radical tree huggers of the time got smart, went to college, and went to work for the EPA, NOAA and at state Departments of Natural Resources. In effect, if ya can't beat'em, join em. Don't like the environmental laws, rather than protest, go to work where they have influence. Seems a little like, uh, natural selection (haha).

Can a segment of these global warming pundits be accused of employing a Reefer Madness approach to further their cause? No different than any other SIG.... Still, it's happening. How fast and who's to blame, I dunno. I'll try to be green. Seems the right thing to do, either way.

I think Josh and his team of moderators do a great job.

I think this is pretty rare. Never encountered this myself, but having been a Realtor, I would suggest finding out who the Realtor is representing. If they represent the tenant (exclusinve representation), and will be negotiating rent, etc. for the tenant, chances are they are getting paid by the tenant, and, as landlord, wouldn't offer any fee or commission. If they represent both you and the tenant (dual representation), and have or will provide valuable assistance to you (i.e. provide only tenants that meet your qualifications, do background checks, etc.) then a split fee might be in order. I wouldn't want a Realtor who only represents me, or only charges me for finding tenants. Also, check around if you can and find out what's a normal fee in your area, and don't agree to anything not in writting, and get full disclosure from the Realtor.

Anybody can fight such a charge, right or wrong. Somebody will win, somebody will lose. Also, it could be totally fair. You don't give enough information to really understand this situation. So, read what I write understanding I'm not a lawyer in your area.

If the door damage occured while you were in the apartment, and is sufficient enought to require replacement, it is your responsibility, regardless of who actually did the damage. It wouldn't be considered either "normal wear and tear" or "An Act of God."

This is why there is renters insurance. It not only protects the tenant against loss of personal property, but damage to the property, too. It is also why landlords charge deposits against tenant damage.

If the damage existed prior to you moving in, you should have been able to list it in some kind of move-in inspection, gotten them to fix it, or at least show it was there when you moved in.

If the door was damaged to the point of needing replacement, then it should have been identified during the move out inspection, and if you were present, you wouldn't get a surprise when they send you the list of damages. Were you there? If nothing else, being at the inspections protects your interests, and the move-in, move-out reports are for the protection of tenants. It makes a record of the unit condition at the time of move-in/out. A bad front door is not something that would be discovered later, after the move out inspection.

If the door doesn't need replacement, and they are just charging you totally unfairly, contact any one of many tenant protection organizations (most likely a charity of some sort). They will often review and provide free legal advice, or even free representation if they agree with you. They may already know about your landlord if making unfair charges is a regular thing with them.

And one other thing. $700 is an awful lot to replace a front door unless this is an upscale rental. The landlord is obligated to charge reasonable amounts for needed repairs and not sock it to the tenant.

Don't really know which of these you would fall into, but, there are a lot of people who wrongly think they are not responsible just because "we didn't cause the damage."