All Forum Posts by: Jack B.

I have a guy who has been here since July, but I renew his short term stay for two weeks at a time, every two weeks. This has been going on for months. He has paid dependably, but last night he read my message and has not responded to the renewal. He actually was supposed to renew a week ago. 

What are the rules for removing this person, as I understand it he falls under hotel rules, not the landlord tenant act.

 Hard to do with trespassing. It’s obviously leaning heavily and one already fell and damaged property. Not unreasonable to ask them to cut it down IMO.

Neighbor was contacted about trees leaning heavily toward house by tenant. Neighbor refused to cut trees down.

One tree fell on tenants RV, totaling it. Tenant had to claim against their own insurance. 

There are additional trees leaning heavily toward my other neighbors house and possibly could hit my house. Don’t want all of my insurance policies to go up or deal with the hassle due to this neighbors negligence.

Worth hiring a lawyer to send a demand letter? I want to hold the neighbor with the leaning trees to be held liable. Trees lean mostly to my other neighbors house though.

We got quotes from 2 different companies. Their labor rates are about $500 an hour. As I said, it's a cheap part, but the labor to replace it is a few hours and their rates are high. This isn't Vegas, the average house here is over a million dollars, three times what they cost in Vegas. I suspect that's why their rates are so high. It's a scam IMO, but unfortunately it is what it is. It's the low pressure sensor on a Coleman AC unit.

They agreed in writing to pay the repairs themselves. If there are more AC related repairs, or any hot tub issues, again, they've been told before these are luxuries and I told them from the get-go I will not be replacing them if they fail. AC unit's here are tens of thousands of dollars to put in. Again, it's not Vegas, cost of living here is MUCH higher, it's the 6th most expensive housing market in the country.

 They do, but trust me, turnover is even more expensive. Between paint and flooring that are sometimes needed, and months of vacancy, it would take me YEARS to recoup those losses even with new rent increases. A few years ago when I did just under market rate rent increases, half the tenants left, leaving with 114K in bills to pay out of pocket. Rent increases are not always worth it. But yes, I have some tenants that I've had for 8+ years now and I've had to raise their rents twice to near market because...as I told them...insurance and taxes have gone up, and the property operates at a loss, it's a business and I must raise rents to stay afloat. 

Tenants don't really realize on the west coast it is MUCH cheaper to rent than to own. My mortgage payments are barely a few hundred dollars below rents and when you factor in 300+K minimum in each house, vacancy, repairs, etc. it's barely good for appreciation, or at least it was. Now, not so much...As much as people complain about the cost of renting...they should try being a west coast landlord. It's not even worth it anymore.

I told them when they moved in the hot tub and AC were luxury items that came with the house, but if they break I would not be repairing or replacing them. I can't recoup the cost of a 15K hot tub replacement by raising rents really high. Only way I'd recoup it is if they stay forever and I have no turnover and so far that has not been the case.

The AC recently broke. It's a $60 part but every quote we got (tenant and I) was $3,500 give or take. It's like the head gasket on a car engine, the part is cheap, but the labor to disassemble everything and re-assemble is intensive. 

I declined to pay for the repairs. The tenant offered from the outset to pay for it, no issues. In fact they do this all the time for tree trimming, etc.

I have not raised their rent in the two years they have lived there and they intend to stay for a long time they said. I could raise their rents to market and recoup the cost of the repair, but honestly, of the rentals I own, only two have AC. Only one has a hot tub. I don't think it's worth paying for the repairs for a tax deduction, if the tenants want the AC they are welcome to pay for it themselves and they are. But I agreed not to raise their rent on them. Mind you, if I did, I'd recoup the cost of the AC repair in two years. BUT...the tenant has some weird expensive demand every year. Tree trimming, 3K. They paid for it the year before. I could raise rent but with them it seems I'd just forever be raising rents to just barely cover repairs. 

I feel like I made the right call in this case. Even the HVAC tech told them your landlord must be really nice if he's paying for AC repairs. It's a luxury, not a necessity like heat, at least here. And I told them when they moved in I'd not replace or repair the AC or hot tub if they broke. It just doesn't make sense to offer these amenities here. I can't really charge higher rent for them and the repairs outweigh any rent increases.

Quote I got from an AC company here. To replace a low pressure sensor that is under warranty. They want $500 an hour for labor. WTF??

To add insult to injury, every company I’ve asked for a quote based on the quote I got from the first vendor, wants me to pay another several hundred dollar service fee to come out and look at it themselves. They won’t give me just a quote for what it would cost for the same work in the first estimate.

Am I obligated to replace or repair the AC? It’s a luxury here.

 Not really. This system is only required to be inspected once every 3 years. Others are supposed to be inspected every year. Which is interesting, I own two other houses on septic systems and have never received any notices to inspect.

From the link that Charles posted:

https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/wastewater-management/septic-system/caring-your-system#:~:text=If%20your%20system%20is%20only,a%20more%20stringent%20inspection%20requirement.



If your system is only a septic tank and drainfield, commonly called a gravity system, you need to inspect it at least once every three years. All other types of systems are required to be inspected at least once every year. Your local health agency may have a more stringent inspection requirement.

 Best advice. Thanks!

 It's a state law, the county sent me a notice. It's because THIS property has a pressure distribution septic system. I have two other properties that are on septic but apparently not on this type of pressure distribution. It's not like I answered a call from a random septic company with some story about this and hired them on the spot.