All Forum Posts by: Mattie Covatch

Hello all, I would appreciate some info here on how long a landlord has to get a tenant a lease prepared after they apply.

I'm a tenant. One month ago, I applied for and was approved for an apartment at a large apartment complex. I immediately paid the security deposit.

A few weeks ago, they said the "only thing left" was for them to send the section 8 form in (request for tenancy). This complex regularly accepts section 8 and is known for section 8. It's a large cheap apartment complex in a rougher area of town. I have spotless rental history- lived in the same house for 10+ years. I recently got approved for section 8 after a lot of personal tragedies so I am looking for a place that accepts section 8 as my current place cannot/will not (too pricey). I have a steady job and clean background record with multiple forms of ID and pay stubs. My credit score is good. My downfall is the section 8 voucher.

I contacted them this week and now they're saying they're waiting for an apartment to open, then they'll send in the section 8 request for tenancy. Their website has shown that they have 20+ apartment units available right now for weeks. 

Is it likely that 20+ apartments showing as available now for weeks on their website really need renos/repairs before a move-in? Is it more likely that this apartment is stalling me?

I want to believe that they really have no units available right now even though their website shows 20+ units available now, and hope that I still have a chance at getting an apartment with them. But, I feel like they're stalling me. I don't want to contact them too often and annoy them, but am also concerned. They said they should have units opening later this week and would contact me after. I'm trying to patiently wait, but am worried that they're stalling me with no intentions of ever letting me move in.

Does an apartment complex landlord have to refund my security deposit paid already if they don't send me a lease after a certain amount of time?  I'm trying to gauge whether I should continue to look for other possible places or not. Thanks for any information anyone is able to share, I appreciate it.

 This.

A few hundred in a stipend isn't worth chancing paying their utilities.

"Utilities paid" generally gets taken advantage of. They'll run the AC down to 60 degrees in a 100 degree summer, and turn the heat up to 80 degrees in the freezing winter. A "financial model" of normal utilities does no good when the tenant takes advantage of the unlimited utilities and knows they don't have to pay the utilities no matter how much they cost.  

Dust could clock the system. No filters makes the furnace run hotter from all that dust. 

The dust will also collect on the blower motor and act as an insulation making the motor stop working sooner than it would otherwise. You could get vents and ductwork gather dust and have lower air flow. 

Emotional Support Animals? My city doesn't require accepting them. Emotional support is not the same in my city as a "service animal." (And, I would call requiring a landlord to accept an emotional support animal a silly rule in any city and too easy to get some social worker to call your pet an emotional support dog so you have no dog deposits, though some cities out there might require it.)

Cat pee smells horrible, if it gets into the carpet padding and concrete it's a hard smell to remove.

Cats can ruin curtains, wood trim, scratch windows, etc. easily.

I don't allow cats, ever. I sometimes allow dogs.

It's not peak moving season, but if you're targeting young professionals, you would have more luck than students right now. Are there many 24-28 year old working professionals in your city? 

I "renew" roommate posts on craigslist daily. 

All the "have parents co-sign, ask for 4 semesters of transcripts, talk to employer, credit check" are things I don't do. I run their PACER and court record search, I do rental history, I do criminal history, and I do basic job/school/income verification. 

I wouldn't  have her list specific ages like that. 24-28 is the ideal target, not something to advertise. Just put "full-time working professional and studious student seeks same in a roommate who has a day job/school outside the home" or something, noting that it's a very quiet home, not a party house, few visitors, etc. If someone comes along who's 29 or 30-35 and are a good match, she should consider it. It's the 18-21/2 crowd that are usually too new to rentals to appreciate it, and are too whiny as roommates, and more likely to still be party types. 

She'll want/need to go co-ed to get decent applicants... usually females above 25 are hard to find. Too many live with their boyfriends/husbands already, if not their female friends. I also always listed "absolutely no smokers, not outside smokers, not inside smokers" on my roommate listings, blaming asthma. Otherwise, you get outside smokers, and they bring that horrid smell inside even if they actually go outside to smoke every time (they often don't, especially in snow/rain... and crack a window, at best). I don't allow vaping or pot either. 

If she allows short-term rentals (with 30 days notice) and month to month, she'll have better luck filling rooms right now. (And potentially more vacancy later. Personally, I always keep a roommate listing ad up on craigslist all the time, empty room or not. I don't add photos to the listing. That gives me a constant array of people to email when a room opens, as I do short-term roommates often.) 

How much is she charging for a deposit? 200-300 is probably the upper cap. If someone could afford $500 in rent and a $500 deposit, they'd probably get their own apartment.

Is she allowing pets? Pets can damage, but I say "crated pets ok." No outdoor (not good weather, and noise would bother neighbors) and no pets wandering the house without their owner present. I don't allow cats. Allowing pets, especially larger pets, adds some new potential tenants. I had a roommate with a 100 pound lab that even had the dog wear dog shoes so the wood floor wouldn't be scratched, and he took his dog to dog day care and training regularly. I had a 10 pound dog with a careless owner who jumped/scratched on my doors/windows and peed on the floor all the time. I had to get rid of that roommate. And add "crated dogs" as one of my rules. The owner is the problem with pets, not so much the dog size. 

NO couples in a roommate house. NEVER NEVER NEVER.

For one, that's more wear and tear. Two, more noise. More parking. More damages. More awkward encounters. More awkward... err... nighttime noise. It's also an "us vs them" battle if anything goes wrong. The couple always takes the side of the couple, not the roommate. It's more utility costs, liability (2 vs 1 person), wear and tear, noise, cooks in the kitchen, bathroom sharing, etc. just for the same total rent profit (couples often just pay a little more in utilities, not double the rent). Not worth it at all. Not fair to anyone involved.

When they break up, one is stuck trying to come up with rent, and it's a mess deciding who gets to stay. 

It's not fair for other people in the house if a couple gets a "two for the price of one" special with rent where the "couple" only pays extra utilities and gets "free rent" for the second person. I wouldn't deal with a couple unless it meant a few hundred more a month in profit-- on top of their added utility costs-- and even then, I would only consider it if I was truly truly desperate and never home. And even then, I'd have a 5% chance of ever agreeing to a couple in a roommate house even then.

My leases strictly say single occupancy only, no subletting, no leasee replacements, no additional guests, and limit roommate "overnight guests" to no more than 4 nights/month total guest count- not individual guest, with nights not accueing. My state allows this for roommate houses. 

Financial bath, indeed. :( 

She needs to be less picky. Good credit.. for a student rental? They shouldn't have trashed credit or very recent repos/collections, but you can't expect a 700+ credit score in a college kid looking to rent a cheap room. 

This.

Have them apply and be screened like everyone else.

If things go south and they don't pay or damage the place, things get awkward fast. 

I don't mix business and friends. Or family and friends.  

If the tenant- whichever- doesn't pay the full rent total for the unit, I would proceed to evict per my lease.

It's not my problem if roommate B doesn't find roommate A a roommate replacement; roommate A still has to come up with the total rent, or I evict.

That would affect both tenant A and tenant B, and I would take all parties on the lease to small claims court to attempt to collect the rent due (after eviction).

The roommate who was bailed upon can choose to try to take their former roommate to small claims court too-- that's not my problem, nor does it affect who I will evict (both tenants) if total rent is not paid to me as agreed and who I will take to small claims for any rent due (both tenants).

The idea is that landlords want low vacancy rates.

But, the reality is that problem tenants can take advantage of a year lease or longer, knowing they can get away with more than a month-to-month lease.

I only do month to month leases, and have for years now. Higher vacancy rate, lower pain-in-the-butt rate. I'd prefer a few vacant months than a problem tenant. 

Someone could sound amazing on paper- perfect credit, finances- and be a whiny pain the in the butt. Do you really want to sign a 2-5 year lease with them? WHY?!?!?!? If you have no experience with that tenant yet, you don't know if they'll be a decent tenant or not. I would never, ever even consider doing a 2 year lease. Ever. 

If someone wants a 2-5 year lease upfront, that makes me wonder why. Are they so whiny and such a pain in the butt that they know I won't agree to renew their lease unless I sign upfront?