All Forum Posts by: James Chung

Thanks Jd! I was definitely a very good tenant who put up with a lot of nonsense (windows that dont lock, chipping paint, mold, ancient plumbing, rude property manager, etc.). I will definitely look into a consultation w an RE attorney and small claims. Much appreciated!

For those of you wondering - I will be picking up a check for $750 (half my deposit), as I was charged $750 for 'paint'. I don't think it's worth my time/money to hire a RE Attorney to fight this, thoughts?

The lease (which was just for 1 yr, we were month-to-month for 3.5 yrs thereafter) clearly stated my deposit would be put into an interest bearing account at a rate of 5% annually. Does this apply even after lease is expired since I remained a tenant for several years after the fact?

Ideally, if I were to be charged for paint, I would've liked to have seen the interest cover a decent portion of the paint price. Your thoughts are much appreciated here. 

Thank you Lynn and Gail, much appreciated. I haven't heard back since emailing landlord about interest on security and landlord obligation to paint every 3 yrs. Will be sure to update on this.

Thanks @JD Martin, I definitely volunteered to take care of the paint myself as a courtesy, but was told not to touch it - it's obvious that this man just wanted to pocket some cash for his materials/labor. I am curious, though, whether or not NJ state law specifically protects me from this situation and where the line is drawn between negligence and standard wear/tear. Any holes that were in the walls, I plugged and sanded...

Hi BP Community,

I really hate to use this forum for 'tenant advice/complaining', but I need your help please. I tried to do some research, but information remains ambiguous based on my research.

We recently moved out of our old apt (Oct 31), and property manager is telling me that we will lose approx. $500-700 from the initial security deposit for painting the unit - I'll get details of the deductions on Monday, I'm told.

Is tenant responsible for painting the unit? This is what I found online, and it's still unclear to me:

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Paint requirements: Interior walls, ceilings and other exposed surfaces in rental units must be kept smooth, clean, free of flaking, loose or peeling paint, plaster or paper and maintained in a sanitary condition. Painting or other protective coatings are the responsibility of the occupant, not the landlord when required more than once every three years, as a result of acts or omissions of the tenant. (Rental units are not required to be painted between tenants.)

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What is the translation here? Also:

- The unit failed state inspection just before we moved out, so they cannot rent to the next tenant until pending issues are resolved (they won't give me a copy of the official notice itemizing the issues), and God knows what toxins we were consuming in the 4.5 yrs we lived there.

- There was no mention of security deposit being deposited into an interest accruing account, and I wasn't aware of this requirement until I started doing some research in lieu of the incident above (so I never requested this information from my end either). So do I lose out on interest here? Do I have a case? Is it worth chasing?

There are many things to complain about, but my primary focus is whether or not losing $500-700 on 'paint' is justified as the tenant. I would've painted myself, but the person they hired to 'estimate damages' told us not to paint because he would take care of it.

Thank you!

@Jessica Spillane and @Tim Pagano - I met Jonathan at a local casual/informal REI meetup hosted by @John Errico a couple weeks ago. He's a great guy and this post goes to show you he's not like the hundreds of others out there (even within the BP community) that simply 'ask for a mentor' (aka handout). On that note, I'm happy to piggyback off of Jonathan and offer my services as well - I am in Bergenfield, NJ and would be happy to help with some manual labor on a pending flip, general rehab, and any other help you may need.

@Jonathan Silverio - thumbs up brother.

@Chris Martino - I agree with @Thomas Franklin, you'll find that specifying your niche/strategy (assuming you have one in mind) will help you pool the appropriate resources to help you achieve your goals faster. For example, I too am a full-time employee, but I've yet to pull the trigger - I would like to go multifamily (2-4plex) as a part-time investor, and collect multifamily doors to generate enough capital to eventually scale up to commercial. I don't think flipping is in my wheelhouse in the near future. Good luck and welcome to BP man!

@Carlos Rodrigues - I agree with everyone else. 1) Keep your head up brother, you're only 24, so know that you are ahead of the game! I'm 32 and don't think I'll have cash reserves + down pymt funds for another 1-2 yrs going conventional. 2) Treat this like a job interview - if 1 prospective employer passed on you you, what would you do? I think you get the point...wish you the best, please keep us all posted!

Thank you sir!

Btw - www.NJReelNetworking.com is not working, unfortunately. Error is as follows:

http’s server DNS address could not be found.