All Forum Posts by: Amanda C.

Has anyone had a tenant not deposit a security deposit refund? It's been 95 days since she signed for it and I read that GA law allows me to keep it after 90 so I was thinking about canceling the check but I don't want to make any mistakes because I think I'm going to be taken to court by this tenant. Long story but she painted my house badly and put up her own lights then rewired everything backwards. She sent her grandfather to bully me at the final walk thru and she didn't attend. We had to have an electrician come out and we had to paint. I sent her an itemized deductions list and the remaining part of her deposit. She was very unhappy and said she would see me in court via email. Her grandfather also called the electrician bullying him making sure we actually paid an electrician. It's a mess but I know she got the check. Would you cancel it or just leave it alone? I don't want to deal with talking to her but I'm also tired of having a check pending.

 The lease says they couldn't paint or change lights. For me it isn't so much the paint it's the sloppy job. It's everywhere. The ceilings, trim, door frames, tile, light fixtures, light plates, etc. We are having to repaint all of it. I am totally moved on. Charging them things we have to contract out to fix but that is it.

 Yes. They changed the light fixtures back & took the dimmers off. It wasn't worth the fight to me however they wired the light switches wrong. The up is now off and down is now on. Also the switch plate was almost 1/2 inch off the wall. I'm in the process of everything but I'm bringing an electrician out to the house to avoid any future liability if something happened to the next family living there. I have already received a threatening email 2 days after the walk through saying they were taking me court if I didn't refund all of the deposit.

 This is how I feel but I was going to be nice and refund half of the deposit because my husband and I can do a lot of the work and cut the cost. (Our rental is for sale because I stink at being a landlord because I hate any conflict even if I am clearly In the right). I received a email last night two days after our tenant moved out saying she is going to sue me if I don't give her a full refund. So frustrating. I guess I will be going to court.

Just wanted to some advice on our final inspection and how you would charge. My husband and I are first time landlords so we are learning. Basically, overall we had good tenants up until the last few months. They became aggressive and difficult. The tenant on the lease did not show up for our final walkthrough instead she sent her new husband and her grandfather. Grandfather was very pushy and tried to get my to sign a form saying everything was good---I did NOT sign it. Overall the house looks good, except they painted 3 rooms. 1 room they did have my permission but the paint job is HORRIBLE in all three rooms. Its on the ceiling, base boards, and cabinets. Plus they left us no touch up paint. I asked about the touch up paint and told them they had to bring it to me but as of now they haven't. They used screws in the walls for pictures. One of the rooms they painted had 14 screws in the wall--very excessive. Then they added their own light fixtures and dimmers which they removed before they moved out. Our realtor has pictures of all of this from where we put the house on the market. Totally against the lease. Well they rewired 2 light switches backwards and now up if off and down is on and one of the plates is no longer up against the wall. We have a to fix it because someone is going to do a lease purchase on the house. Just wondering if charging for an electrician and a full paint job on the three rooms is justifiable? Also we had a laundry room door that was overall in good condition but had some normal wear and tear at the bottom, well they must of decided they didn't like the door so they stored it in the outdoor building all year and its covered in dirt and mildew. We have to purchase a new door but since there was some wear can we charge them for the full amount of the door cost? There were a few more minor issues but we were able to fix those in a couple hours so we aren't going to charge them for it. Any advice you can give because I know this couple is going to be upset if they don't receive all of their money back.

Thank you for your advice. We have been very accommodating and it's just unfortunate. I'm sure no one wants to go through showings but it's part of the lease agreement. I could understand if they didn't want to move but they did. And I thought they were good renters until I went in my house and it was painted pink and yellow. But I have learned a lot and will take that information forward with me. 

Has anyone gone through a short sale on their rental property? We are thinking about trying to get approval. Our rental was our primary house and we moved over a year ago. The house is worth 95k and we still owe 115k. The process of renting the house and dealing with tenants is extremely stressful to me. And we lose money each month on the house because we can't charge enough to cover our mortgage. We have an 80/20 loan and the bank won't refinance. Just wondering how you recovered from the short sale and any advice you can give.

I had great renters until they decided to buy another house and we put the rental up for sale. The last 60 days while we have had it for sale and they were waiting to close on their house, they have become a nightmare. Always arguing with us about showings and we give 24-36 hour notice. Her excuse one time was she had to wash her clothes. In 60 days we have had less than 10 showings so we aren't overwhelming them. I also found out they painted 2 rooms without written or verbal permission. And they changed light fixtures and added dimmers. Always having to explain that the light fixtures don't belong to us during showings have been a MAJOR issue with buyers. We had a showing scheduled this week and I went by the house to place some flyers in the info tube and their was trash sitting our where potential buyers would walk in. Also they quit caring for the shrubbery and they bushes are 1/2 way up the window and a bush in the back has grown up to the roof. I am collecting the keys next weekend from them and I know they are going to be argumentative when I bring these issues up. Just wondering how I should handle it? This is our first experience with renters.

I have a few questions about how I should handle a situation. I am a first time landlord. I made a bad investment back in 2008 with my first house and the area still hasn't completely recovered. Last year we had to move so our only option was to rent out our current house. We had what we thought were amazing tenants. At their one year mark, I decided we needed to sale the house so I told them we wouldn't renew their lease. It turned out to be a great thing because they had found a house and we're putting an offer in on it. We listed our rental house (the one they live in) on the market at the beginning of July. We agreed with the tenants that we would give 24 hour notice for any showings. Well that was just the beginning. Our tenants have become extremely difficult any time we want to show it. They always have an argument..she has to wash clothes, they want money of their rent (we did give them $50 once because they refused a Saturday morning showing and we really needed the client to see it), and yesterday she sent me a text refusing showings for the next three days because they are going to finish moving. We have always given a minimum of 24 hour notice and it's only been shown less than 10 times in 60 days.They also painted two rooms without written permission per their lease and changed out light fixtures & added dimmers. They state my lights will be back up at their final walk thru but their lease says they can't put the lights up. Yesterday I go by the house and the yard is crazy out of control. The bushes half way grown up the windows and they also let a bush grow up to the roof of the house in the back. It looks like it hasn't been touched in months. Then they leave a box of garbage out right next to where the new buyers or prospective tenants will walk in (they knew we had a showing scheduled). I just want to know how experienced landlords would handle this situation? They want to do a final walk through together next Sunday and I feel that it's a bad idea and we should not do it with them present because I know it will turn into a disagreement. Any advice is much appreciated.