All Forum Posts by: Masha Alferova

Thank you everyone for your inputs! Yes, there is a stipulation in the lease about the right of entry for repairs with a 24 hour notice. The fact that she replaced the lock without our approval complicated us being able to enter the property. As you might have guessed, we do not have much experience being landlords - this is our first tenant and the only property we own besides our primary residence. I am definitely learning my lessons now. We are getting the key from this lock she installed this weekend and from now until the lease expires will be addressing issues (if they come up) following the lease stipulation. 

Question #2 - the lock she installed is some sort of a security lock that has a box, it was installed by AT&T. Since she did not seek anyone's approval and altered the door by getting it installed, would you say she needs to have it removed and get the door to its original condition when she moves out? 

Hello Bigger Pockets Folks. My very first time writing in a forum, so please bear with me. I am leasing out a condo to a lady. She is a single mom, employed full time and has a busy schedule. The lease started in May of 2015, we signed for 2 years, so it will expire in May of 2017. First things first, she has never skipped a payment. In that regard, everything has been perfect. The issues I am having with her are:

1. Her complete lack of flexibility accommodating other people's schedules when any maintenance related issues come up. Most recent example: we have a water heater that is still under warranty that went out on Thursday, Jan 26th. She only reported it to us the following day after 5 pm (Fri, Jan 27th). I spoke with the technician right away and he gave her 2 separate windows on Sat that she was unable to accommodate. My husband went to check it out instead when she was available that day and with the technician on the phone determined that something more serious than lighting the pilot switch was going on. The tech came in on Sunday 1/29 at 7 am as she couldn't make Sat, and uncovered that one of the parts needed to be replaced but suppliers are closed on Sunday, so he couldn't get it that day. Unfortunately, none of the suppliers had the part on Monday, 1/30. We had to overnight the part and tried to install it today on 1/31. She was unavailable all day, so I had to have the tech go there at 8 pm today for a 3 hour job. Which obviously will cost me a lot of $ due to the fact that it was after hours. She refused any kind of flexibility. I would have let that go, but in 2016 she violated the lease twice when she installed the security camera outside the home and replaced the lock without notifying us. I found that out from neighbors. When I contacted her to get it removed, she kept giving me the run arounds for a month until I was served with an attorney letter representing HOA that this is a privacy violation. Eventually, my husband went there and removed it himself. Per the lease she cannot alter premises or replace the locks without approval. She also hosted a dog for a while without getting our approval. So at this point I am not inclined to renew the lease and my question is, would you experts out there say as long as she pays on time, its all that matters? Should I renew? Sorry its a wordy post, but this is all very new to me and I want to be a fair landlord. I love that place with all my heart and it is very upsetting.