All Forum Posts by: Marie Skaggs

Thank you everyone for all the good advise.  We have a really good rental application but did not do such a great job at the research.  We only now found out that, just as you stated Steve, she had someone else pose at the prior landlord and her employer.  She had a picture badge from her employer but we think she lost her job.  We also believe the prior landlord did the cash for keys and that is how she had the money to move into our house. Well the good side of this story is we are getting to learn alot about how the courts work, and that we need to learn more about doing our background research. 

Sue, I'm sorry if I misrepresented myself.  The sewage problem has happened 3 times. The reason there has been a sewage problem in this place is because someone has put multiple tampons down the toilet each time the eviction is started.  The plumber we hired for the first 2 times to fix the blockage told the tenant not to put tampons down the toilet, but somehow they keep ending up there. The 3rd time the plumber couldnt even get the snake down because there was a complete blockage. It ended up being a 3inch pvc pipe shoved down the cleanout blocking the sewage flow from the house. This was not an accident because there is a cap on the cleanout. So someone had to remove the cap, shove the pipe in and then replace the cap. 

I never said the entire basement flooded with sewage, actually there was very little sewage that was in the toilet and small amount in tub.  Had we not addressed it as soon as we did then sure it could have been a big mess. As for the time it took to fix the last problem... well it took a week but we told the plumbing company to make sure our tenant had service everytime before they left each day. Which they did and we notified the tenant that she had service.  We are not bad landlords as it seems to me that you are implying. We have ALWAYS been very professional with our tenant.  She has sent us text messages on what great people we are and how nice we have been to her.  She knows that her lease is coming to an end and we gave her the notice not to renew her lease (because we have to fight to get the rent every month) 45 days in advance . She wants to continue to stay at our place and this is why she is now mad at us. 

Your statement "Tenants are not ATMs. They are people, consumers expecting a fair return for the price they pay."  None of this would be happening if the tenant would pay her rent.  She has had  local churchs pay her rent when it came time for eviction day.  We have offered her from day 1 a discount of $25 if she paid in the first 5 days of the month.  I have plenty more statements that I could tell you about but I am going to end this.  I am sorry you feel the way you do, but we have been MORE than fair with our tenant.

Thank you everyone for your responses!  Today my husband and I got a T&L attorney. So it seems that in PA all the laws are for the tenant, and the landlords have to just accept what is happening.  We really want her out of our house but in a small way we would really like to pursue her in court and teach her a lesson about not screwing with other peoples lives.  I really don't want her to do this to the next landlord!! Good luck to all of you out there!  

OK so we bought our 1st rental property...  spent about 10 months of hard work and sweat to completely gut it and put it back into great shape on our own.  Got our tenant and she had a good background check, a job, previous landlord reference and 1st, last month and security deposit ready to go!  All is great... until it was time to make the next rent payment.  Luckily we only had a 6 month rental agreement. But every month we had to file for eviction and possession but we got the rent.  on our last month to get the rent, our tenant files a late appeal to stop the eviction.  she has lied on all her forms for this appeal.  (lied about rent amount, lied about having a job, lied about us(the landlord) not addressing her complaint of sewage in basement and much more)  We have always responded to her complaints of sewage within a couple of hours. and usually had them resolved the next day, except for this last complaint.  We had to hire a plumbing company to completely excavate all underground sewage pipes and traps because of a PVC pipe that was shoved down the cleanout in the yard which backed up everything in the basement! This costs us over $9000. Of course there is no way to prove who did this. The past 2 days my husband and I have spent all our time trying to put a motion together to stop her appeal.  Tomorrow is the big day for us to file our motion!  And her lease ends tomorrow 7/31/17 at 8pm.  But she told us she will not be leaving tomorrow.  I hope we can get her out.

There is one small problem... her brother has just rented the place next door.  I have a bad feeling that they will do damage to our house if we evict her.  Does anyone have any advise for us?

Thank you very much for the advise. 

Hello! Today I just created my account on biggerpockets! Which is a very exciting first step. My husband and I have found 3 duplexes for sale.  At first glance they look in good shape from the outside. I called to get the price and they are asking $150k each. 4 of the 6 units are rented for another 6 or 7 months and agent said should only need carpet and painting and the kitchens and baths could be updated so you could increase the rent. Not sure if this is something too big to do for a 1st investment? Also how do you go about financing something this pricey for a 1st investment?

My husband and I have some experience in renovating and know licensed people that can help if needed. These duplexes are in a nice area, along a busline and next to a park. So much seems like this SHOULD BE a good deal without considering $ yet, but when I run #s against some of the rules that I hear about on the BP podcasts like the 50%rule it tells me to run. The 4 units that are being rented are bringing in about $2900/month. Any advise to stay or run would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Marie