All Forum Posts by: Melissa W

I've had several applicants who have less income than the rent.  So for a 700 dollar apartment your income is 600 - how is that going to work?

One guy said it was ok because he has a lot of cash income from running a recording studio in his apartment.  He's outraged that we only consider income sources with proof of income and hangs up on me.

Another man has a rental subsidy but they require him to move into the apartment before he can even tell me what kind of subsidy it is or who to contact about it.  Sure.

Numerous people have told me they need an apartment in the next 72 hours.  When someone is evicted they have a 72 hour notice put on their door.

People have filled out the application online and then come into the office and told the office manager that I told them to come pick up the keys - without ever talking to me or seeing the apartment.

I use smartmove because it's part of the property management software I have. I also do a separate seach of the courts for evictions. NY State has a database of local court cases. I actually search this before I make the appointment. It's amazing how many times people tell me they have no evictions and then turn out to have several, including one last week!

After 5 years of renting properties, I have a lot of these.

"I'm going to need to take this wall out to open the place up."
You're going to need to live elsewhere.

When asked if previous landlord would be good reference:
"We didn't get along because I had a constant stream of people coming and going at all hours of the day and night because I was going through rehab and all my friends would come to make sure I was ok."

When told that we didn't rent to people who had been evicted, even if they ended up staying in the apartment:
"But I was such a great tenant they filed an eviction on me without telling me so I couldn't find a new place."

Another person with evictions calling on $400 apartment:
"I guess you only rent to rich people!"

Calling from Craigslist ad which has address, map, photos, prices, policies, etc:
"Where is your apartment and how much is it?" (repeat 1,000,000 times)

I'm also sick of hearing "can you work with me on the deposit?"

There was one woman who had her blog linked in her email, so I looked at it and she was a practicing witch who was putting a curse on her current landlord because he wanted them to leave.

I've been paid to take photos and video of properties for out of town investors, and to give opinions on what the rents might be there.

Section 8 is a federal program but administered on a local level. Procedures and attitudes can vastly differ by what local area you are in. Can you find someone in your same city who rents to sect 8 tenants? Find out if there's a local investor's club and see if you can meet some people there.

In my area single family homes are in demand. I get several calls a week from people wanting a house, not an apartment. I very rarely have vacancies in houses because tenants stay a long time.

In addition to attracting people who pay and stay, the lawn care and snow removal can be the tenant's responsibility. I like not having to deal with squabbles between tenants about parking, noise, whatever.

"I need to move within the next 72 hours" - means they just got a 72 hour notice to vacate after losing in eviction court. I can't believe how many people say that to me.

I check eviction court records before making an appointment with anyone. About half of the people who call are screened out right away.

I worked for a large property management company before I had my own business and I have many horror stories. Here are two:

I got a call from a hysterical tenant. She said the upstairs neighbor was throwing magnets on her steps. I went out to investigate and almost lost my lunch. It turned out she meant to say maggots!

The upstairs neighbor had not taken out her garbage all winter, but had thrown it out the window onto the porch roof. When the spring thaw came, it became infested with thousands of maggots and they rolled down the slanted roof onto the porch steps below.

There was a family who didn't pay rent and called codes. There was a lengthy list of violations, some of which he had caused himself (holes in walls, excessive trash, etc). Still, it is the landlord's legal responsibility. They would make appointments with maintenance and not let them in. Since they changed the locks and had dogs there was nothing they could do.

After they were evicted, I got a call from a social worker. She was looking for a home for a large family who had to leave their house because there was terrible codes violations the landlord refused to fix. I bet you can guess who it was!

It's because of experiences like this I now screen tenants really, really well.

I think December should be like any other month as far as business. If you don't pay the rent, you have to leave.

However I've noticed that courts tend to be more lenient before Christmas and I think in a lot of cases it's more practical get a court date after the holiday.

Since the eviction has already been granted and scheduled for the 24th, there is probably not much you can do here. They will probably be gone before then. If you try to delay the physical eviction you might have to start the whole process over again.