All Forum Posts by: Jessica Young

Quote from:

@Jessica Young any reason why email communication won’t work? I have not had any direct communication with tenants for the past 10 years as everything is managed electronically.

@Allan C. the law is that I am supposed to send them a certified letter notifying any funds withheld, plus they have given me no way to send them funds either electronically or by check. Whether I'm giving back their whole deposit or part, I still need to send the money somewhere. They're so weird. Anyway, I decided a solution. If they don't give me any other choice, I'm going to send a check to the last known address, which is the rental, via certified letter, since that's written in the law. I just don't want to be dragged to court out of state as it is very costly, and certainly not because THEY caused their own snafu in receiving their money. 

Quote from @Kim Meredith Hampton:

@Jessica Young 

Couple of notations;

If they do not give a forwarding address, you only need to send my certified mail to their lady known address.

Secondly, you ONLY have 30 days from date of move out in which to send the certified mail making a claim on their deposit. If you miss that time window, you must, by law, send them back every penny 

Tick tock, get that out there to their last known adddress right away

Yes, no doubt. I still have 19 days before 30 days is up and the invoice for the work is coming today/tomorrow. I'm good on timing I think. 

I have no way to give the notice to these tenants that I'm withholding a small portion of their deposit. They broke the lease early (happy clause), and the FL statute says under that condition "Failure to give such notice [providing a forwarding address] shall relieve the landlord of the notice requirement."

I plan to send the notice via certified email anyway, just to cover my bases. 

If I run out of time on my deposit-return requirement, and I send a check for the remainder of the deposit to the last known address, per FL statute, should I use the address at the condo which is technically the last known, or the one from the drivers license they provided upon application? Or...?

Meanwhile, they're freaking out about getting their deposit back and seeing an attorney Monday — supposedly. I'm interested to see what an attorney will say when there's nothing in writing from me yet and I'm still well within my 30 days notice period. 

I feel like they're playing games with not giving me a place to reach them legally. I can't be the first person to run into this. Thoughts?

@Nathan Gesner So weird - they refuse to give me a forwarding address, so I have no way to give them notices or refunds. The condo is in Florida, and they have both left the country to travel. I told them I have no choice but to use their last known address, which is the condo itself. I looked at the actual detailed statutes and they are required to give a forwarding address or they forfeit the right to receive a letter detailing what funds are going to be withheld.

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

How much is the cost to repair the vanity?  I know this is what the tenants from hell are hoping for, but if it is a few hundred dollars, I'd absorb the loss and tell them to screw off and then block their number.

$150, which actually matters to us, as sad as that is to some people. It already cost $600 to travel there to do the walk through and get them out early. 

@Greg M. right, sorry — it's a Florida condo.

They think we're inventing something or did the damage ourselves just to be able to hold some of the money. The implication is that we can't produce a receipt for a recently new vanity because we're lying. We believe one of the tenants is mentally ill, so the whole thing has been a fight upstream. Sigh.

Quote from @Kim Meredith Hampton:

OMG, move on from these people. You have tried to work with them. Keep before and after photos from their move in/move out, then do before and after photos of the countertop repair, do the repair, deduct from their deposit and move on

I agree overall, but I specifically want to know the answers to the questions I put in bold/ital, reassurance that I'm correct on those things, which I assume I am. I engage with them the bare legal minimum. 

We are receiving threats and demands from tenants who recently vacated.

Our tenants, who you know were a total nightmare if you're following my other posts, finally embraced the happy clause and are out half way through their lease.

Luckily they took exceptional physical care. The only damage is glaringly noticeable scratches on a vanity top that was brand new upon their possession 3 months ago. It appears as though someone cleaned it by scouring in a highly-visible spot.

We're retaining the cost of resurfacing it from the deposit. 

Not surprisingly, they're making this into a giant drama.  12 texts and one email later...

They're saying it's their legal right to come next week and see the damage with their own eyes, take their own photos, and get professionals to give cost estimates. 

Question: Am I accurate to think that it's not typical nor their legal right to enter the property now that they vacated? Is it also not their right to demand the timing of repairs? I'd like to get this repaired soon, while the handyman is available.

They're demanding an invoice, article number and value of the vanity. Question: I don't have to share that, as it is my private info, correct? Doing so would be a courtesy, I assume? 

Among several threats, one is to retaliate with a bill for "all the repairs [they] made which [we] as landlords should have done" and we have no idea what those would be, honestly. We sent repair people repeatedly for their many requests, always within a day or two. 

They also keep demanding financial compensation because they believe we misled them into paying too much rent and made them think the condo was nicer than it is (they had two thorough walk-throughs). They've been telling everyone in the condo building that we're bad people without scruples and that we lie, which is literally the opposite of our life approach. I digress. Question: isn't it compensation to allow them to break the lease without holding them to the full duration financially? 

A friend who was a landlord with problematic tenants in the past tells me that if they do fight us legally, in her experience, things are always in favor of the tenants, and she suggests just dropping it and returning their whole deposit. Question: Landlords, is this your experience, too? Should I let them bully me and absorb the cost of this repair? 

If so, that's going to really burn me. My landscape worker husband and I are working our a**&s off to own this investment. I have been a landlord and a tenant many times, and fortunately it never came to this, so I value your opinions — thank you!

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Why do you put yourself in these positions? Don't answer that stuff, arguing on the internet like this is a no-win situation. Ignore her, legally figure out when you can/need to get her out, do that and keep it moving. Preferably, hire a PM and don't engage in this nonsense.

She mixes the harassing texts in with legitimate communication. Unfortunately, she's extremely manipulative and clever. I don't engage with all the crazy - only about repairs and things, but it wears on me a LOT. This is why I'm posting the question. 

Is there any course of action for a tenant who repeatedly texts purposefully disrespectful things about how much they hate the rental and constantly tells you how much they regret renting it? 

It's gotten to the point that my tenant is now accusing me of misleading her, saying I "took advantage of" her and am overcharging for rent. She had 2 walkthroughs and the lease discloses no upgrades will be made/as-is condition. 

I used the happy clause 3 times and she CHOOSES to stay. But the texts go on and on.   

Even small repair requests are a nightmare drama she draws out forever.  She seems extremely mentally unstable. 

I've also come to find out that she slandered me to at least one handyman, to multiple neighbors, and to a friend who is her acquaintance. This is an out of state condo that I plan to live in within a couple years, so I feel like she's out there laying a foundation I'll have to work against to prove I'm not some rotten slum overlord, which I assure you I am not. 

If she feels she made a mistake, which she keeps telling me, do I have to just tolerate the constant complaining about it? She's only been in there 2 months and it feels like 20. 4 more to go. 

Is it out of line to ask the other person on the lease, with who I have no contact, if her mental state is ok? I'm not being funny. I'm worried.