All Forum Posts by: Lawrence Hsu

Much appreciated for all the replies. Not sure exactly about the local law, but I'm in California so I imagine not landlord friendly here. My concern is if I have to take the first qualified applicant, am I allowed to say unemployment benefits dont count as income, thus they are not qualified? Sounds like I'm allowed to do that.

Novice poster here.

I have co-applicants to a unit. One makes good income, but not enough to satisfy the monthly income 3x rent rule. The coapplicant submitted unemployment benefits as income, which combined with the first applicant does satisfy the 3x rule. 

I'd prefer not to accept the unemployment benefits as income because I imagine it's not steady and I have another very qualified applicant that submitted their application second. However, I am also concerned this would cause legal issues. 

Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!!

In brief, I have a rented condo that was damaged due to an upstairs unit leaving their bathroom water on. Master bath/bdrm unusable (it's a 3 bdrm unit). Can argue up to 50% of the unit is not usable. Have a tenant who is reasonable and prefers to stay, but wants some partial rent abatement for loss of use. The unit is still partially habitable in the meantime. Tenant is currently on a month-to-month lease. My main question is getting a partial loss of use settlement from the insurance company. It's been 6 wks, and damage mitigation is done, but repairs not yet even started, so this will likely take a while.

There is an open liability claim for the at fault unit (they have a renter's policy) that I've been dealing with who have been putting up a fight. They will not even give a guarantee of partial loss of use payment until all repairs are complete. It's understood an exact amount can't be calculated until the duration of repairs are known. However, they won't even give a guarantee there will be payment, nor even estimate a percentage loss of use in the meantime (there is enough information available to at least make this determination). The issue is I'd like to give my tenant some certainty he'll get an abatement, since this affects his decision to stay or leave.

Using my own policy is not an option. I only have 1k loss of use coverage (not enough), and it only kicks in if I have to put them up in a hotel. I'd also prefer not to have a claim on record. My tenant's renters policy states the same. 

Questions:

1) Is this standard for insurance companies to make no guarantee of payment until everything is all done? Understood an exact amount can't be calculated, but it's pretty easy in this case to at least guarantee a percentage loss of use in advance. Is there a strong chance they'll simply reject my claim? I'm not sure how insurance companies determine loss of use in this situation.

2) Any other advice how to handle this? Have filed a complain with insurance board.

Any advice is appreciated!!
 

Hi

Newbie here. Have a rental in a condo building in Los Angeles. Tenant occupied. A unit above left their water on, causes damage to my unit below. They have already admitted fault, and I have an email stating that. Damage probably a few thousand dollars, mainly that the walls need to opened and dried to prevent mold. Already have someone working on it now to mitigate damage at this point, Is it best to claim this through my own insurance, then have them go after the party at fault? Or, should I claim with the insurance of the party at fault?

My main concerns

1. Being made whole with the least hassle

2. Not having this count as a claim that I filed, which would raise my future premiums

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks everyone! Sounds like we're just over thinking this.

Thanks Kathy

That was my first thought.  But looks like he's last lived with his brother, and then his dad prior to that.

We a newbie investors.  We have a class A condo in HCOL area that we self-manage.  There has been some other interest so far, but only 1 application since we started showing 1 week ago.  We have co-applicants who are cousins that are both young professionals with good credit and income.  There would be no other occupants.  One is a young physician starting his practice.  However, his background check revealed a misdemeanor domestic abuse conviction in 2016, for which he was given 2 years probation.  This appeared to be an arrest from abuse of the domestic partner at the time.

Are we overthinking this one and should we ignore this?  Or, should this be more concerning?  We are willing to be patient to find a good tenant if needed.  Thanks in advance for any advice!