All Forum Posts by: Cory Melious

So I've emailed them both explaining the violation of the lease with a copy of their initialed house rules. I've told them we will split the cost of the repairs between the two of them.

Wouldn't you know it....they are both 100% certain it was not them. One guy even got argumentative because we went into their bathroom (and obvi found wipes). I explained the plumbing emergency allows us entry to find the source of the problem.

I'm planning to invoice them half each in their payment portal. I'll reach out to the lawyer in the meantime, but I suspect if they refuse to pay it, it'll have to come out of their security deposits when they move out?

Got an emergency call last week that one of the units toilet wouldn't flush and was backing up into the shower. My plumber went and discovered tush wipes sitting ON the toilet tank while trying to test the toilet. He proceeded to the other apartments to test their toilets and discovered tush wipes in one other apartment. Both sets of wipes were sitting ON the toilet tank. Both tenants claim they 100% have never flushed such wipes.

Investigating further, we opened the septic tank and discovered it was jam packed with tush wipes, backing up the line into the basement.

We had to have the tank pumped out because if these wipes make their way into the leech field they will create havoc. My question is, what do I do now? Can I split the cost of the plumber and tank repair on both tenants, as they both clearly were using the wipes and it's very hard for me to believe they were NOT flushing them.

I have a lease addendum that are house rules, specific to the property. The second paragraph is below. Tenants are required to initial next to each paragraph that they've read and understand the rules. I also have a separate septic tank rider that specifically calls out nothing except toilet paper and enzymes can go into the tank.


PLUMBING FIXTURES

The bathrooms, toilets and kitchen plumbing fixtures shall only be used for the purpose for which they were designed or built; sweepings. rubbish bags. acids. sanitary napkins, baby wipes, paper towels. should all be disposed of in regular waste receptacles. DO NOT dispose of flushable wipes of any kind into the toilets or drains. These items are not permitted to biodegrade in traditional septic systems. Plumbing pipes are sensitive and must be checked regularly by scheduled plumbing professional. DO NOT pour drain-o or other chemical drain de-clogging agent into any drain. TENANT will be responsible for any repair costs that occur due to failure to follow these rules. See maintenance/repairs below for additional information.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. To be clear, I'm not against animals. I have properties in the city that I allow pets bc I know those tenants will be required to clean up after them per city laws. Why I'm bothered at the country building is that I've had this experience before. It starts out that they're very attentive of the animal, but then a year or two later I'm stepping in dog **** on my own lawn because they got bored with the animal and don't care for it anymore. I know that's not everyone, but it's often in my experience.

I'm concerned with how to enforce any rules now that he's trying to skirt the lease.

A tenant that I’ve had for about 5 years emailed me tonight with a ESA letter from a mail order website. Doctor is in Texas but say’s is certified in NY. It’s literally the first website that comes up when you google emotional support certification. The letter states he has stress. He got a French Bulldog puppy to support his eMoTiOnS. (Little does he know that Frenchie is going to cause him more stress than he’s ever had beforehand, guaranteed).

It actually pisses me off that he decided to go this route instead of just calling me to work something out. He’s clearly trying to play a tough guy, but it’s irritating that he decided to play it this way.

Anyways, whats to be done with this? Is it just the way of things now? Last I checked emotional support are not protected class. Can I require additional deposit to cover the accidents this animal is going to make?

I have a small 3 unit that I manage myself. It's generally been easy to deal with, but as we all know, New York state is anything but supportive for small landlords. It seems like more and more people are abusing the "service dog" rules. I've had a few applicants with "service" dogs show up with untrained pitbulls. Thankfully they didn't even come close to the credit requirements and we found more qualified applicants.

How are people screening and weeding out the legit service animals from the bogus ones, when you aren't allowed to ask any questions? I would love it if there was a form for applicants to have their doctor fill out on their behalf. Instead of some ******** internet letter. 

Yeah I hear you. It's not so much the tenant wanting to leave, it's more dealing with the management company bs that comes with replacing them. 

Any ideas where to find such a clause?

I have a tenant leaving early because she needs to go deal with family in CA. It's stinks but I totally understand. However, it's annoying because that tenant just moved in on the previous tenants broken lease due to a job change.

This is particularly annoying because the HOA has a large fee and requirements for new tenants, and they notoriously take weeks to complete these requirements.

I know many people talk about adding early termination fee's into the lease. How does one go about doing that, where it actually sticks? This is NY state after all, the state where tenants have all the rights, and landlords have none of the rights. And for some effed up reason the HOA's have more rights than the landlords. smh.

Quote from @Ron H.:

I auto respond with a link to a Google docs form to fill out, having them self declare on the requirements that I place in the ad. The Google doc automatically tells them they don't qualify if they fill in data that don't meet the min. requirements, which majority don't meet.

This is amazing! How did you come across this process? Did you develop it on your own?

I'd love to get something like this working for me, so I can send it to all the facebook requests. I feel like this would certainly help weed out the serious renters from the casual clickers! 

Quote from @Pamela W.:

Quote from @Sam Ohanesian:

I've had the most success using Zillow. I believe the person applying can pay a fee and have unlimited applications they can submit for a limited amount of time, so you don't really need to worry about them wasting their money on the application if you don't chose them.
 

 I agree with Sam; Zillow has worked very well for me for the reasons he states. I have tried Avail, apartments.com but don't care for their user interface.Someone used Facebook Marketplace to use my legitimate rental ad in a scam, copying the picture and offering lower rent. The local police made me aware of what was happening. WIth Zillow I can clearly see who has applied, my emails to them, and and their responses. I only own one rental property, and have gotten my tenants via Zillow. I think if people have to pay to apply, they are really interested, saving you time and aggravation. 

I've had issues with Zillow. They have my property "stored" as a single family, even though it's a multi unit. So, every time I need to list a rental...it shows photos of other apartments, etc. I've gone in and cleaned it up numerous times, but it keeps reverting back to "it's" internal data over my updates. Frustrating to say the least.

I may try avail to see if it can subvert zillows internal settings.