All Forum Posts by: James Qiu

@Nathan Ku If she has given you the deposit and signed the lease, she is responsible. Good thing she changed her mind before getting the keys and moving in. Now you hold all the cards. In CA, by law, you need to show reasonable effort in trying to re-rent the place. Once the place is rented, you need to return her deposit minus the days equaling to lost rent. If that number is negative, you're OOL, as trying to sue and collect is probably not worth the trouble.

@Vanessa S. while, in CA, there's no limit on the amount of rent increase, but for >10% increase, by law, you need to give the notice to your tenant more than 60 days in advance.

For M2M, you might get better/higher rent, but if you manage it yourself, your quality of life will suffer. You can't plan vacations more than a month in advance and you have to be prepared everyday that your tenant will move out in 30 days.

@Meena Balaji If you are using the standard CAR lease agreement (or most online forms), it should have a clause stating that the tenant is responsible for keeping the place clean. Have your PM (or yourself) inspect the property, take pictures and document everything. As a courtesy I'd paid for the first treatment and maybe one more follow up. But after that, it's tenant's responsibility. The spray stuff you buy at local stores doesn't work. I've used Advion Cockroach Gel Bait bought from Amazon with great success, but YMMV. As for penalty, it's a grey area. You can ask them to pay for the treatment, or 50% of it. But if it's not clearly stated in the lease, you need to be careful.

@Liz Lozano fumigation is suppose to kill all living things inside including fleas. If she keeps on getting them, she is the one keeps bring them in. You should definitely let her move out and find out if there's really fleas inside and kill them all. Tell her that you're not responsible for her furniture etc. and she should contact her renter's insurance. If she really sues you in Small Claims (if she is only losing property), you just have to defend yourself. Sounds like you have done everything you can. Don't be afraid of the Health Dept. You will get a letter from the City.  Just show them what you have done and have the pest control company give you some type of proof or clearance. My guess is that your tenant found somewhere to live, and want to break the lease and is looking for an excuse. There's no gain in trying to keep a problematic tenant.

@Justin Scull If the overflow was installed properly and your water pressure is normal, even if you leave it on, the water should not overflow the tub. So in a way, she was right. If she agrees to pay 50% of the deductible, I think you should settle.

If the injury is serious enough, the victim will go after the renter's insurance first, if not enough, then yours. My insurance co. specifically prohibit 6 breeds of dogs, mostly bigger ones. So make sure you don't allow those breeds, service pet or not.

@Rich Waldis why have your kids pay you rent. You should be "paying" him to "manage" your property. This way, his salary can be deducted from your rental income, and he can use that to pay his tuition (and hence 100% deductible). I'm assuming you're a high income family that your son's tuition can't be used to deduct your income anyway.

@Account Closed It can be a little tricky. Did she ask you to add the BF? If so, she wants him to legally pay half of the rent. If your original lease didn't allow "long term" visitors, you have no choice but adding him,  even if he doesn't qualify, unless you're prepared to kick her out too. But I would still get him to fill out an application to get his SSN and background info. If she only simply gave you the FYI, if it's up to me, I would leave it the way it is, and inform her that she is still 100% responsible to the unit. It's much easier to deal with and evict one tenant than multiple. Let her BF be her problem not yours.

 My thought exactly. As the % of renters increase, it might not be too far before we have to worry about rent control or other nonsense. 

But back to the original topic, there're many jobs around in CA, granted might be low paying. If you move to the desert, yes, the rent is low, but there might not be jobs. In my experience of dealing with renters, a single mom with 4 children should qualify for social assistance of roughly $400-500/child/month, and/or HUD (sect 8).

@Edward Dones Ok got it. So it's 30-day notice. Was the additional 30-day only verbal (eg no text msg, email, any trace etc)? Personally I think it's a grey area. If you gave someone your word, you should honor it. If you end up in Court, she might say that you allowed her to stay, and filed eviction too early. The best approach IMO is to help her find a place and move out voluntarily. If she has nowhere to go, she would have nothing to lose but fight you. I'm not sure about MA court system, but if it's tenant friendly like CA, you need to tread carefully.