All Forum Posts by: Ben Shaw

@Lucas Dalton it seems you are right. She flat out refuses to pay and is threatening to "enforce her rights" if it goes unresolved. Such a pain. I've always been quick to resolve issues and I've already scheduled an exterminator, so that's covered. Unfortunately, Minnesota law, much like the way my lease is written, leaves gray area that can easily be interpreted to support the tenant in a situation like this. Still, I know the bugs were there for a while without being reported (although, she won't tell me exactly when they started). I'm planning to just drop it for now and pull the costs from her deposit. The kicker is I agreed to pay for half since the house is a duplex and a full treatment was for a whole house, leaving her less than $200 to pay over the course of a year. She's made it clear she refuses to budge.

Thanks, all! This tenant has been a headache over the last year. She's saying now she cleans regularly therefore she can't be considered negligent, and therefore the roaches are my problem. She said she thinks they were dormant in the house before she got there, which was over a year ago. She also says that such provisions in leases require "adequate considerations," which my lease is not supported by, which doesn't appear to make a lick of sense (my lease is a standard MN lease pulled from Bigger Pockets).

One of my tentants in a duplex reported a roach issue recently. I've called an exterminator but I'm wondering how or if I should divide the costs with the tenant. There were no roaches before she moved in (I lived in her unit), and there haven't been signs elsewhere in the building. She said she's noticed bugs in the kitchen before but it just ramped up recently. I wouldn't call it an infestation, but it's certainly enough to cause concern. Below is what my lease says about pests and bugs. How should I handle the costs?

(F) Tenant shall take any and all necessary actions to keep the Premises free of all pests, including without limitation, rodents, fleas, bed bugs, ants, cockroaches, gnats, flies, and beetles. If pests infestation occurs due to Tenant’s negligence, Tenant shall pay for all costs associated with remediating pests from the Premises. Tenants shall inform Landlord at first sighting of any pests in order to avoid any infestation of pests. In signing this Lease, Tenant agrees that Tenant has examined the Premises and certifies that it has not observed any pests in the Premises.

 Thanks! I agree. I do have it in my lease that all animals need to be up to date on all licenses and requirements of the state, which in this case would mean vaccinations. She was in violation of her lease by having it unvaccinated.

In the end, I decided to refuse to pay her boarding fee because I considered it her responsibility. Solving the bat problem has proven tricky because killing them is not an option. I'm relying on professionals to solve the problem.

Recently I had a bat caught in one of my units that has a cat in it. We've had two other instances in the past year a bat has gotten in the basement and guys from another unit have caught it and let it go. This time, the young lady caught the bat and told me it was trapped, after which I called animal control to have it tested. It came out that her cat was unlicensed and unvaccinated, a requirement in MN (it was the first time I had allowed an animal and I didn't check when I screened her), so the cat had to go with animal control for a couple of days until the bat could get tested for rabies. Results came back--no rabies. Now my tenant wants me to pay for the boarding fees for her cat while it was there. However, if her cat was licensed appropriately, he would have been vaccinated and he wouldn't have had to go with animal control; he could have quarantined at home.

My question is, am I opening myself up to liability of some kind if I pay for the boarding fee? I don't necessarily want to admit guilt in any way since it was her responsibility to license the cat.

I do want to provide a safe living space, so I'm doing what I can to prevent bat visits from reoccurring.

M

Thanks, Evan! I'm getting the sense I was over charged on that quote. In any case, my plan, based off of some of these comments, is to focus on the windows for now. I have 2 offstreet spots for 7 cars, the garage would give me 2 more, but it's not a complete necessity right now. Next year, maybe. I'd love to get a quote from your window guys. I'll message you!

@Greg Henderson Thanks, Greg! Great tip about Lowe's. I know someone who's pretty handy who can help with install, too; I may get them to help me with a window or two, do the rest myself, and possibly hire the finish work out. 

It seems folks are putting an emphasis on window repair over the other options. I suppose I should start there. 

@Bruce Runn thanks for the advice! See, that's why I asked.

I was thinking about doing it myself if it just needed inserts, but for whole windows I was a little nervous. I'm pretty handy, though, so I think I will go the route you suggested! The quote i got did seem outrageous.

Thanks again!

Hey BP Community! 

I'm a new investor in the Twin Cities having purchased my 1st owner occupied duplex this past November, and I'm happy to say it's going well so far. I'm looking for some advice on how to prioritize improvements on my property for this year with a fixed budget. See below for specs and list of possible improvements as I see them. Any advice would be helpful, thanks! 

Specs:

Owner pays:

Monthly mortgage: $1493

Utilities: $500/mo

Rental Income:

Unit 1: $1,850

Unit 2: $1,000 (available at the end of the year when we're planning to do our 2nd house hack)

House Projects:

• Repair/replace old windows, some have rotting outside wood. Quoted at $5000 for 3 windows. I have 25 windows.

• Garage is dilapidated and needs new doors framed and installed, bottom plate installed, new siding. Quoted at $5000 to rehab the garage. Currently can't use for parking because the doors are facing the yard (there used to be a driveway but driveway is gone and now alley is behind the garage). 
• House needs painting (I'm not seeing this as a pressing concern necessarily--could wait a few years). 
• Facea needs fixing and painting. 

Budget: $5,000

We've already put in $4,500 for many cosmetic repairs. All of these these things have clearly been issues for a while and they could continue to be issues without creating too much of a problem for the next several years, but I would like to invest some $$$ to preemptively make improvements as opposed to waiting until something falls apart and potentially having to owe more later on. Obviously, as time goes on my repair reserves will build and I can invest more in these things later on, but I'm wondering what would be the best "bang for my buck" right now. I'm leaning one way but with an abundance of counsellors there is wisdom, right? 

I'd appreciate any advice. 

• Thank you all!

Thanks, all. I'm going to check the codes and go from there.