All Forum Posts by: Andrew Reis

@David M. Thanks! It's great food for thought! Let me continue to troubleshoot. 

@Chris Seveney Thanks Chris. Good idea. Let me look into that

@Richard F. Thank you for the note. I will take this back as homework. I am 99% sure no one smokes in the stairwells, but can confirm the tenants smoke outside, and the smoke on their clothes may be coming in. 

@Colleen F. Thank you Colleen. I appreciate the note as well. If I believe the cooking becomes an issue, I will definitely remedy the situation. 

@Colleen F. Yes. I swapped one out. Called Kidde, complained, and they sent me two replacements. Thought I had the issue fixed until they continued to sound. 

Happy Fourth to my fellow Real Estate Investors. I am a landlord here in Boston and own a 3 family. I have two common area stairwells with 2 Kidde Smoke Alarms in each (Model P4010ACS). They are hard wired fire alarms and all less than 2 years old. They are very sensitive. After closing on the property last August, the fire alarms randomly sounded, at various times during the day and night. I vacuumed them for dust, dusted the stairwells, vacuumed the carpet stairs, and even called the fire department to confirm they inspected and passed these alarms before I closed. In New England this spring and summer, it has been very wet. I understand pollen or even the smoke from Canada may be an issue. I have tried to perform a science experiment with these alarms, isolating one variable to figure out the issue, with no luck. Does anyone have a similar experience with these hard-wired fire alarms in particular? Any reasoning or solutions to fix this? Much appreciated!

@Nathan Gesner thank you for help!

@Katherine Earle thank you for the help!

Hello - I am told I can open a tenant escrow account before choosing a tenant. How do I open a tenant escrow account without having tenant W9, a SSN and a birthdate? Called one local bank who said I would need my SSN or the tenant's.

And if this is possible, what local banks on South Shore of MA can open these "blank" escrow accounts?

Thank you for everyone's input. Very helpful. 

Sorry, let me clarify; I closed on the property August 16th, and inherited the tenant. I delivered non renewal letter on August 17th for September 30th deadline, basically explaining September was last month. Now I have delivered a 30 day notice to quit for October, because they have not yet moved out. The summons (eviction) process would start November 1st. Does this clarify the situation?

Hello - I want to make sure I am doing this correct. I have a tenant at will, no written lease in MA. They have a security deposit with me but no last month's rent.  I gave the tenant a notice of non-renewal in August. Today, a 30 day notice to quit was served by the constable, with a deadline of November 1st. The tenant dropped off a rent check for September in my mailbox. Can I accept September rent?