All Forum Posts by: Jim Bentley

What about just buying a clean, cheap, used washer on Craigslist - easy to find for less than $100 - and swap it out with them until the broken one is fixed?

Then you always have a spare and don't have to worry about giving a credit the next time this happens.

@Mark Thanks; that's exactly what I'm thinking (No damage=give back deposit).  But the guy I'm talking to has always done pet deposits as non-refundable, and he's adamant about it, so I was curious about other people's opinions.  Good point about checking state rules.

I have a renter who wants to get an outside dog for protection because her boyfriend is going to be working out of town off and on.  I'm going to agree to this after meeting the dog and getting a $500 additional deposit, on top of the $500 they've already paid.  

I have a friend who says this pet deposit should be non-refundable.  My thinking with this is that this essentially gives the renter subconscious permission to let the dog to $500 worth of damage - "Fido's scratching up the back door, but that's OK because I've already paid $500 and it won't cost that much to repaint it."

To me, it makes more sense to make it refundable, and that way the more damage they prevent the dog from doing, the more money they get back.

So, refundable or non-refundable?

Thanks for the replies.  Much of my reason for asking the question in this forum was simply to get others' opinions as to whether the DOL/IRS would take a dim view towards this.  Obviously, that would not be worth trying to save a few bucks.  I'm not trying to bend the law.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but maybe not.  

I have 2 rent houses in a SDIRA.   I have someone whom I've been paying $25 do go over and do minor things like change the air filter, unclog a toilet, etc, since I'm not allowed to do this myself.  

I know someone else locally who's in the same boat.  We have the same genre of rentals.  Would it be permissible for he and I to work on each other's properties for free for these minor things?  e.g. he changes my air filters every three months, and I change his every three months.  When my renter calls with a clogged bathtub, I call him, and vice-versa.

@Account Closed  How often do you have to change the battery? Do you have separate knob and deadbolt locks, or just one lock (electronic) per door?

Drop a snake down the wall and let the circle of life take over. Of course, you might need a mongoose waiting in the wings...

Electrical engineer, 25 years in hard drive design.

I'm really surprised how many other engineers are here.

I can usually tell as soon as I walk into someone's house if they have a cat, unless they are very clean housekeepers. But, I'd say let her look elsewhere.

Even if the carpet is replaced, there will still be pet dander in the HVAC system and possibly cat urine on the floors underneath the carpet. $6k over 24 months is $250 of month out of the rent for an expense that would be unnecessary for most people. Even if you replace the carpet, she could still move out in 3 months because she still feels allergy symptoms.

It sounds like you have access to the furnace, and thus to the ductwork going to your apartment. One way to find out if that ductwork is also going to your neighbor's apartment might be to close your vents, turn off the heat and turn on the fan, and place a stink bomb (egg and vinegar, see http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Assortment-of-Stink-Bombs) in the exhaust draft. It will stink up your place, but if you see the downstairs neighbor come running out of his apartment, then you'll know what's going on.