All Forum Posts by: Joseph F.

I am rehabilitating an apartment and it has fleas.  The prior tenant had 4 cats so I have had to rip out most of the floor.  In the past, in a different apartment, I hired an exterminator to address the fleas issue.  He put a spray on the floor and required that I vacuum everyday; the vibration causes eggs to hatch and die with their exposure to the spray.

I want to save myself the hundreds of dollars it cost me by doing it myself.  Is anyone aware of a potent way to address the fleas and where to purchase the chemicals?

In a property I recently purchased, I gave one of the tenants a Notice to Terminate.  Not only were they giving me the run around with respect to rent but they had four cats in the apartment and were very dirty tenants.

Fortunately, they moved out.  Now I have to rehabilitate the apartment.  I plant to pull out all of the existing carpet. linoelum and any area where there is the slightest sign of cat urine.

Despite my plan, I suspect that the apartment will harbor a cat smell.  I have been told that there are products available that eliminate even the strongest of odors.

Does anyone have any recommendations on product or otherwise?  

Has anyone used "Odorfix Plus"?

Thank you

Tenants recently vacated apartment after 18 months. The apartment was occupied by four college students and their hygiene and living conditions were very poor.

I had one of the student's mother as the main lessee. On more than one occasion I had to contact the mother and inform her of the poor hygiene in the apartment.

She came numerous times and cleaned and made the students clean the apartment.

To her credit the apartment was vacated in better shape than I expected however, two weeks into the new tenants lease of the apartment, I have received notification that there are mice in the apartment.

I have not returned the deposit. I would like to know if I can use the deposit to address the mice issue and have a legal precedence in my favor.

My rentals are in NY state. I recently had a tenant move out after 18 months. The place was left in fair condition. I still spent several hours putting in light bulbs, batteries in the smoke alarms and CO detectors, touching up walls, etc.

My lease does not go into specific detail. I always tell tenants, "I will refund your entire deposit provided you return the apartment in the same condition you found it".

What is reasonable to expect after tenancy?

One of my tenants in a fourplex I recently purchased, March 2014, has been giving me the run a round with respect to rent. The very first month, April, she was late and claimed the bank made a mistake. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and she eventually paid April. Now, May's rent is due and she's giving me the run a round again. The same recycled story about the bank making a mistake. We agreed to meet at her bank so that I can speak directly with the bank and see where the problem is, but she did not show.

I gave her a 3 Day Pay or Quit and was planning on evicting her, but I chose to give her a Notice to Terminate instead. I am giving her until June 30, 2014. I have a deposit, so I will be out one month's rent.

Now comes the kicker. It so happens that her hot water heater, although new, shut off and she doesn't have hot water. I think its Karma, if you ask me.

I tried lighting it on my own but was not able to light it. I think something got wet and needs a service call.

The question now is, how strong an effort should I make to get the hot water heater lit for a tenant that has been dishonest and deliberately not paying me rent.

She was served her Notice to Terminate today and she claims she will be out June 30 as instructed, but they are not trust worthy tenants.

My first instinct is to try to get some money from them, at least to cover the cost of the service call, but perhaps there are better suggestions.

@ Jon Holdman, you mentioned six months of holding time, what interest rate is considered when using hard money?

I am plan to rehab a property. I will purchase the property and finance all of the labor and materials. I have spoken with a contractor, but have never used him before. I will make sure to vet him before I agree to enter into a relationship with him. However, even then there is always a risk. I would like to keep him on schedule and committed. Does anyone have a good win - win contract? I would like to offer incentives on staying on schedule and coming in on or better yet, under budget.

Are there other things to consider when applying the 70% rule/guideline? For example, interest rate on a hard money loan? Days on Market for the area? If one is paying high interest for money borrowed and the DOM is long, maybe the 70% is not sufficient. Anyone know what carrying cost criteria the 70% rule considers?

@Edward Burns, correct the upcoming hearing is about lost. I expect it to be a slam dunk. I have numerous emails from the tenant telling me she will pay me or how she doesn't have the money. Not one email complaining about the space. But one never knows how the court will rule.

I had a commercial tenant on a one year lease. The tenant fell behind on the rent and would not pay. I presented tenant with a "3 Day Pay or Quit". Tenant did not pay and I proceeded with the eviction. The tenant vacated premises before court date. On our court date, tenant falsely claimed "Constructive Eviction" and alluded to a counter claim. Our court case is now set for early February.

Is posting the unit for rent on Craigslist sufficient to show an effort to mitigate damages or do I have to spend money on a print news media?