All Forum Posts by: Jenn Doll

Hi,

When our tenants moved out, they gave us a PO Box address to forward the security deposit refund check. We mailed it out but now we received a notification from USPS that it was delivered to their PO Box but they have not picked it up and if they don't do it within a week, it will be returned to us. We emailed the tenant about this and asked them to pick up asap.

My question is what do we do if they don't pick it up? We fulfilled our duties, its up to them to pick it up. We were thinking next we can just have it delivered to the PO Box without a signature requirement. What happens if they never pick it up or cash the check? We had the bank make out the check in their name. This is in NJ

Thx, Peter. I don't claim my house to be perfect and we are willing to address issues. The last part you said is the problem with this tenant, they think we are on-call.

We put a clause asking them to address any repairs under $200 just for this reason so they don't keep bothering us for leaky faucets or a toilet that is clogged. We even gave them our handyman, plumber references who charge very reasonable rates so they don't have to overpay. Maybe they are just trying to get everything replaced by complaining so that they never have to pay anything out of pocket. 

We have beautiful laminate floors, new carpets, fresh paint, newly painted cabinets, french patio doors, granite counter tops, spacious closets with organizers, light fixtures throughout including for dressing area, fans, fireplace, new vanity, pedestal sink. Stainless steel fridge and range, heater 1 year old, hot water heater 4 years old. Garage with automatic door opener, attic storage. School walkable distance in one of the best school districts. Not sure what else someone would look for. The appliances are not brand new but working. They are not sparkling but on par with what you will find in any apartment. All this for a low price.

We just need them to be little courteous and patient and not be so bossy.

Can't afford a property manager.

Thx, Bradley. This is a simple working class neighborhood. People who live here are handyman, landscaping guys, etc - working class people with starter homes. So no matter how fancy I prep my home, it will not rent high. Ideally, we should get $500 more in rent to be able to make any money at all. At this point, we are just scraping off. With this high maintenance tenant, we will be left with no savings from this property. 2 other properties listed before us in the neighborhood for $100-$300 more than us, they are still on the market. We had lot of interest in the property only bcoz we had done a lot of upgrades & had a reasonable price.

These people make good money, not sure why they rented here. They were paying $500 more in their previous place. 

We have had the property inspected, professionally cleaned, fixed, etc so its frustrating to hear these waves of complaints in such a short time.

They are scrubbing every nook and cranny in between areas and then saying its dirty. I think if you poke into every hole in the tub you will get something. We have lived in apartments, we never got a deep cleaned washing machine every time we used it. But mostly, we suspect the verizon issue cud have caused it. Bringing their own is fine but they signed only a year's lease and we wud have to put new appliances once they leave to be competitive. We cannot arbitrarily increase the rent too in NJ, we wud have let them bring it if they cud compensate us in increased rent.

We did call them few days ago to try to smooth things out but they just went on a rant and they didn't let us talk, the call went for about 2.5 hours, and they started arbitrarily criticizing everything about us even though we have been very accommodating,  responsive and helped them with references. We just put a stop to the texts and calls and said will only use email/mail. 

Thx, Theresa. That's what my heart is set on now. Today they complained that their mailbox was emptied and questioning if we took their mail. I think they have gone nuts and will keep doing stuff like this the whole term. I am reaching out to an attorney, just can't take this anymore.

 The mouse is something we take seriously too but there was none before and we responded promptly, provided extra traps.

The leak and brown water are of their making which they lied about. The gunk is more a subjective opinion of what an ideal looking one should be. We have had these appliances inspected and everything was fine. used appliances will look used. We have rented several places, we didn't get any sparkling appliances.

We didn't miss any "bad parts"; its just some people have very high standards of what they consider clean like wash an already washed plate or spoon before using and some others would just rinse their coffee cup before pouring in their evening cup.but then you should bring it up before you sign the lease. We would have happily put all new appliances for an increased rent. They didn't seem to have any problem before signing and then they start one a day - they are very impulsive and keep asking for things on the go and expect stuff to be done right away like a 5 year old.

they want to treat their landlord like their personal butler.

Would love to but that doesn't seem to be an option in NJ.