All Forum Posts by: Justin K.

@Denice S. Do you know where I can find a standard non-renewal letter I could use the second time around? Also, do you happen to have an eviction attorney in WNY that you would recommend? 

So I contacted an attorney to get the ball rolling and was turned away after sending my documents. My non-renewal notice did not have a date on the document and I sent it via certified mail instead of a service company. So the tenant can say they never got it. If that wasn't enough, two days after closing Belmont (Sec 8) notified me of an issue with the stove (tenant doesn't use) and a drain in the bathroom. They could not provide me detail on the issues, but these were required to be fixed by Dec 15th. Since I was no renewing past December they said it wouldn't be an issue if I waited to fix after the unit was vacated. The attorney says the tenant could use this to try and say I was retaliating against her by not renewing the lease.

All this is speculative since the tenant will not return any of my calls...Which leads me to my next question. How can I provide a tenant with 24h notice to enter to look into non-emergency maintenance items if they will not answer or return phone calls?

In August I went under contract for a 6 unit (2 building) property. Three units receive section 8 assistance. One of those tenants appeared to be trouble from the start. The seller advised me of issues she had been having with the tenant including having more pets than allowed which resulted in a flea infestation of the entire building. Her unit was very cluttered, but not horrible, when I saw it during the initial walk through and inspection that followed. At the end of September I was notified that this tenant would be moving and that the unit would be vacant. Vacancy was not on the contract (lesson 1), but I was relieved to know I wouldn't have to deal with the headache.

Fast forward to November 14th when I went to the property for the final walk through prior to the 11/15 closing. When I arrived the seller advised me that the tenant never left and they were refusing to allow us entry during the final review because the seller did not give her 24h notice. This was obviously a bit concerning especially because their wall furnace was part of the PINA. I should have delayed closing until I could get in the unit, but the seller was leaving the country in 5 days and would not return for a couple months...Lesson 2.

11/17 I met with Belmont to go over paperwork for 3 tenants at the property who receive assistance. During the meeting they gave me an inspection notice (dated 11/15) for this particular unit which included two tenant items: 'Clutter in unit' and 'Clean and Sanitize' which I understand are not handed out lightly. I advised the case worker that I would not be renewing their month-to-month lease. I only had to decide whether or not I wanted to renew the lease for January or force the tenant to move during the holidays. Though I felt like a bit of a Grinch I decided to tear the band-aid off and sent a non-renewal letter via certified mail on Monday the 20th advising I would not renew after December.

She received the letter on the 21st which is the same day Belmont called to report her furnace was not functioning properly. I called and spoke to the tenant to get detail on the furnace and advised I would be by the property that afternoon to take a look. The tenant was not home when my handyman and I entered the apartment. The unit was filthy! It appears the tenant is a hoarder, if not she is well on her way to becoming one. Since then the tenant will not return my calls or the calls from Belmont who is trying to help her with a moving voucher.

I have not received the tenant portion of the rent for December ($199) and mailed her a pay or vacate on 12/7 via certified mail with signature required. USPS was unable to deliver the parcel and she has not picked it up from the post office. I've since learned that New York requires I properly serve a pay or quit so I will need to serve another before I can begin the eviction process.

I can't justify hiring an attorney for the $199 late rent. My hope is that she vacates by the end of the month which I seems unlikely. If she vacates I'll write-off the $199 as a small price to pay to be out of the situation. If she does not vacate she will owe $740 on 1/1 due to Sec 8 not paying after a non-renewal and a couple late fees. At that point I plan on attaining an attorney and filing a holdover eviction along with the overdue rent.

This 6 unit is only my second rental property. I've never had to deal with section 8, hoarders, or evictions in the past. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I bought the newer version on Amazon (doesn't use Monopoly type money) and 202. My wife and I play v1 and I play the mobile version myself. We haven't played 202 yet because there's several hours of video to watch before playing. I would definitely recommend it, especially if you're trying to show a significant other 'the light'.

Check with your local DEC. Here in NY if you're caught relocating wildlife it's a $500 fine because you could be spreading disease to new habitats. I had one that kept burrowing under my porch a couple years ago. We live in a village so I can't discharge a firearm. The DEC officer told me the only legal way to dispatch it is to use a humane trap, catch him, place trap in a garbage can and fill with water. When I told him that wasn't humane he "didn't" suggest trapping it and dispatching it in the garage while running my compressor..luckily someone else got to him first because he stopped coming around shortly after. oh and we also had the hole filling battle with him for several summers before that. Good luck!

When receiving responses to Craigslist ads I always Google their email address to see if I want to reply. I once had a potential applicant who used the same email address for her profile on an 'escort service' site.

@Joe Splitrock same in WNY. There are alternatives like the pet safe 'salt' but it doesn't work well and the ice scrapers damage the concrete. We also still use salt on the roads, though I believe they add sand to it.

After reading through the NY lease I have some questions:

Section 13 (G) - Prohibits the use of marijuana including ingestibles. As far as I know edibles are the only legal medical marijuana in NY. I fail to understand why the landlord would be concerned with a tenant consuming legal edibles in the privacy of their own home. Is it legal for us to prohibit specific medications?

Section 13 (H) - Prohibits the use of ice melt, salt, and similar products. Being from WNY this does not make a lot of sense to me. I'm not aware of any damage caused by these products, and not using them would likely invite a fall. Wouldn't this section cause liability?

Section 20 - Holdover. The way this section reads to me it sounds like the aim is to have the tenant vacate at the end of the lease term and that transitioning to a month-to-month is the exception. Wouldn't we want to sound more inviting for the tenant to remain after the initial term?

Section 24 (O) - Smoking. While I fully agree with not permitting smoking I don't understand why vaping products were included in this section. Misuse of the batteries could cause damage, but the same could be said for most other modern portable electronics. Over long periods of time vapor itself can leave a thin Vegetable Glycerine (VG) residue that is easily removed with a warm wet cloth.

Have you checked RepairClinic.com? They carry a lot of hard to find replacement parts.

+1 for LLC University if you go that route. I formed my LLC a couple months ago using their YouTube videos. They walk you through the entire process set-by-step. I ended up going with the Albany registered agent for the publishing requirement. I saved a lot by not publishing in Erie County. End to end it cost about $500 to form the LLC.