All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Normal wear and tear is what happens when you use something the way it is meant to be used over time.  There is also a life expectancy for things like counter tops, appliances, paint.  Personally, I wouldn't charge then for anything you've shown.  Those light switches must have been garbage to begin with, same with the seam on the counter top.  The patch on the wall was an attempt to repair it.  If you wanted to nit pick, you could charge them for sanding it down when you paint, but as I say, I never charged for anything you're showing.  There's just always going to be some stuff that needs to be fixed, painted, upgraded after a tenant moves out who just lived a normal life in the unit.

Can you kick her out because the unit isn't habitable?  Sorry, need to kick you out because the unit isn't habitable and we don't have the money to fix it right now?  Then give her cash for keys?

 You could always buy her out under the new law.  I think you have to pay them two months rent.  But, the new law that says you can't kick them out except for cause also has a provision where you can kick them out without cause with 60 days notice, I think, and you have to pay them two months rent, I think.  I'm assuming the property is in CA.  

Anyway, I learned not to tapdance when a tenant demands it.  I had to learn the art of calling a bluff with a demanding tenant.  Sorry, nope, we can't do that.  They usually go into shock.  Then you can wait and see what they do.  But, in your case, if they're a regular pain in the rear, it might be worth it to just pay them to leave under the new law with proper notice.

 I could always tell who the testers were, too.  They never ask normal questions like where are the laundry facilities, what's the parking situation, they never look at how big the closets are.  I actually had one show up with a clip board one time lol.

But, no, you don't have to let people onto your property who don't have a right to be there.  If they have been denied through pre-screening, they don't have a right to be on your private property.  As long as your reason for denying them is legal.  No need to just let anyone onto your property and into your units.

Have you tried calling them yet?  If I was the owner, I'd not want a hard sales pitch.  But, if you called me and said, I'd really like to buy your house and fix it up if I can afford it.  Would you be willing to talk to me about working out some kind of deal for me to buy your house?

You have the right to give notice to enter the apartment for repairs.  I'd start giving her notices to come in to inspect the plumbing.  Say you must have a leak in the plumbing somewhere because the bills have been really high.  Go in, inspect the sink and the toilet, take a lot of time doing it.  Then, after a few days, give her notice again - something is still wrong, you need to check again - go in a bang on the walls in the shower, remove the shower head, look at it, put it back on, look under the sinks, tell her she needs to move everything out from under the sinks - in other words, make it more uncomfortable for her to continue what she's doing than to stop.

One roof, one sidewalk or parking area to maintain, one tax bill, all maintenance in one location, etc.  When I managed a building as an on-site manager, the owner who did most of the maintenance himself would come one day a week to do whatever was on the list (unless it was an emergency).  So, he could just come and spend a few hours fixing a leaky faucet here, running toilet there, replacing a window a/c unit there, relighting a pilot light there - all in the same location.  

But, it sounds like you have ideal SFH rentals and really know that market, so if it ain't broke, why fix it?

She probably just wants out of a lease.  Is the tenant on a lease?  Just offer to let her out of the lease.  That's what I'd do.  Just tell her you're really sorry but you can't afford to pay for a mold testing company, so if she wants to move, you'll waive the notice requirement and give her her full deposit as long as she leaves the place clean, and you'll give it to her in cash on her move-out day after she gives you the keys and you see the place is clean.

Then, if she actually gets some legal aid or lawyer involved, you can deal with it.  But, odds are, she just wants out of the lease.

I did this with some tenants of my daughter's.  It was a similar situation and I just told them that my daughter doesn't have the money to fix what they wanted done.  They were threatening to call the buiilding inspectors, yatta yatta.  I said, yes, they have that right, but if the building inspector says the place is uninhabitable, they'll have to vacate right away.  And even though the law says my daughter has to pay their relocation fees, if she just doesn't have the money, then all they can do is sue her or force her into foreclosure, but if she doesn't have the money, she just doesn't.  But, of course, you have the right to call inspectors or get a lawyer, etc.  Or - you can just move.  In our case, and what I experienced 9 times out of 10, was they decided the place was okay after all and they stayed and quit complaining.

Either way, if you just say, well, I'm really sorry you're not happy with the unit, but we don't have the money (you could say because you're struggling because of Covid 19), so if you decide you need to move, I'll work with you...

You know what I'm thinking is to just put in a larger window instead of centering that one.  In other words, a window that spans that whole space over where the sink is now all the way over to include where the outside door is now - one big window over that whole space.  Then, put in a dishwasher where the outside door is, with counter space above it.  You could probably just keep the sink where it is.  Then, you do dishes with a view of the outside, but you've got your dishwasher right to the right hand side of the sink.  And, there's a nice big window over the sink and the dishwasher.

Then, put your stove in the middle of the 12 food cabinet wall, and the fridge across from where it is now, but on the 12 foot cabinet wall, with the door opening from right to left, so you can open it from right to left, and easily put stuff from the fridge on the counter.  

I'd kill to have that much counter space!  

Another option would be to move the stove and fridge (same configuration with stove closest to sink but on the 12 foot wall, fridge to the left of it, and then change out the cabinets at the end of that wall into one big pantry with shelves for food items.

 Yeah, definitely don't rip it up.  If you do that, you have to jump through a bunch of hoops regarding asbestos mitigation or whatever it's called.  But, if you just cover it up, you can just do that.  We did that in the old building I managed.  We just put in linoleum on top of the old 1920's asbestos flooring.  In your case, it would depend on the flooring throughout the house and what's in the hall right outside the bathroom.  But, for a tenant who would rent a place with a retro bathroom, you could probably just find a nice cheap linoleum that would be fine.  Others here know more than me about the newer stuff that's available now.  There's some really nice and cheap flooring options out there now.  I'd just go with something that's not busy, like just a white simple design that matches the white of the sink and toilet.