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All Forum Posts by: Jacky Johnson

Jacky Johnson has started 36 posts and replied 69 times.

I have installed surveillance camera in the front of my house and 3 days ago it captured that a pickup truck towed a coupe (a type of car) to the front of my house and the coupe has been since parked in front of my house. I don't think the coupe belongs to any of my close neighbors as I have not seen this coupe before. It also captured someone opening the door of the coupe but left soon afterwards. I inspected the coupe through the window and it appears the car hasn't been driven for a long time and there was dust accumulation inside. Today marks the 4th day of the coupe being parked in front of my house and I looked up my city's vehicle abatement code enforcement that if a vehicle appears to have been abandoned on a street for more than 72 hours that I can call the abandoned vehicle hotline in the police department. I'm considering calling the hotline but concern if the owner of the vehicle may retaliate. I have a feeling that since the coupe was parked in front of my house, the owner may be around. Any suggestions on how I should proceed? Thank you.

Quote from @Greg M.:
Quote from @Jacky Johnson:
I put it in my lease that any unpaid bills (in the lease I list cable, phone, internet, trash, gas, water, power, etc) associated with the property will be paid out of the security deposit. Even if I'm not personally responsible, if I'm aware of an unpaid bill, I'm going to take it out of the security deposit.

I have a friend that bought a rental and even though the prior renter was liable for the bill, in order to turn on the utility, she had to go in person and show proof of who she was and of her new ownership. Took her half a day. The utility refused to turn on the service over the phone due to being owed money by a prior tenant. I'm not going to have that happen to me or one of my tenants. 
I think the issue with this approach is that landlords must refund the security deposit within 21 days (for my state) after the tenant has vacated, but landlords may not be notified of tenants’ unpaid utility bills until months have passed (most likely the case). The laws side with the tenants more than the landlord. This is discrimination.


be 
Quote from @Greg M.:

Please post your mailing address so that numerous people in this thread can send you the $8 that apparently they value so little.  

More important than this $8 bill is finding out who is responsible for utility bills that go unpaid. In my area the bill belongs to the tenant. If they don't pay, nothing happens to me. If you are on the hook, you need to adjust your practices to take this risk into account. 

How did you make it if tenants’ utility bills go unpaid, nothing happens to you?
Quote from @Jonathan R McLaughlin:

you have to be kidding me? Please don't tell me "its about the principal of the thing"

Pay the guys the $8 for goodnesss sake and move on. You must have better things to do. 

Tell us what happens when you take the guy to collections for $8. 

my question is “whose responsibility is that?” and this is for garbage only. I’m not sure if he has other bills he did not pay and final notices of those bills are coming to me.


I had a tenant who moved out almost 6 months ago. Yesterday, I received a written notice mailed to my address from his garbage collection company that he used while renting my property that he has a past due around $8. The garbage collection company said this is a final notice and I need to pay this amount within 30 days or a lien will be placed on my property. I have noticed my tenant and still waiting for his response. I know my tenant’s new address and he bought a home. What disciplinary action can I take against him if he doesn’t pay on time? Paying his past due myself is the last resort.

I'm a homeowner who plans to install a fence on my driveway along my property line to preserve privacy b/c there have been a lot of strangers going in and out of my neighbor's house constantly. I'm concerned. I gave a note to my neighbor (owner of her house) a few days ago that I'm going to start today and any post or rails will be on my side and I will pay the cost of the installation myself. In addition, the neighbor's trash bins have been next to my neighbor's side of the wall adjacent to my driveway. If I completely enclose the driveway with the fence, my neighbor will have to move her trash bins somewhere else b/c there won't be enough space to let those bins to pass through. I started the work today and my neighbor suddenly said I installed the posts past my property line and she will have to ask the county tomorrow to do an assessment about the location of the correct boundary line. I said I wouldn't object. I plan to ask her how long does the process take b/c I'm positive I did not install the posts past my property line (I measured it). What else should I do now and how should I continue to handle this situation?

Originally posted by @Russell Brazil:

@Jacky Johnson What exactly do you mean by "The handyman got his hoodies on when he rang my doorbell, so I'm suspicious." ?

I couldn't see the handyman's face clearly because he had his hoodies on.

Originally posted by @Andrew B.:

Everyone else has already pointed out your rights to do what you please on your property, so I wont go into that.

However, I need to out your inconsistency here. You invited them to build the privacy screen, then refused access to do so. That's going to be confusing on the neighbors side. I don't think you're obligated to install the privacy screen, but you need to figure that out before you continue the conversation. At this time, nobody is helping the situation. 

I agreed that they can build their privacy screen at their own cost, but never agreed to allow access through my property to do so.

Originally posted by @Mary M.:

wow, well, if this were me I would allow neighbor access so they can build their screen.  if you are concerned with liability have the handyman show proof of insurance. 

if the fence belongs to the neighbors they can take it apart if they want.  

why escalate an already stressful situation? help your neighbor by being a decent person...  sheesh.

 the fence is co-owned.

Originally posted by @Adam Martin:

Personally I wouldn’t have agreed to pay for the screen the first time.  You did however so it seems like you aren’t opposed to the screen  so I would let them have their handyman install it.  If you are worried have them hire someone who is insured so that takes the liability off of you.  I would also make it very clear that while you are allowing it you have the right to remove it and they are responsible for upkeep.  I don’t know anything about these screens but I wouldn’t want to maintain one.  My bigger question though is did they plant their own trees?

They will pay for the entire cost of the screen. They did try to plan a few trees (those that have grown 5-6 feet).