All Forum Posts by: Wesley W.

 I have a different take.  This real estate agent should be savvy enough to read an ad and determine that her client is unqualified and move on to another listing.  I think it's unprofessional of HER to be inquiring to the OP, which is a waste of everyone's time.  Ironically, it could be a fair housing violation for the OP to place her client in light of the posted minimum qualifying criteria, which they do not meet.

Just tell her it's already been rented.  Without any additional information, it does sounds she was trying to bully you into taking her unqualified client with the fair housing stuff.  It's not her job to ensure you comply; it's YOUR job, and it's kind of condescending of her to send you that material as part of a cold approach.  After you've informed her that the unit has been rented, you don't owe her any additional explanation or justification (and I wouldn't give her one - it could only lead to headaches for you).

That's my take as a self-managing landlord.

 He has prepaid for the service.

Just ignore her.  It's a troll.  Account was made today.

As a fellow class-C investor in Upstate NY, if there was no prior tenant contact informing you of the upcoming late payment, I would tack on the late fee and begin eviction proceedings immediately.  Service of process is very convoluted in NY nowadays (concurrent 5 day/14 day notice), so I would get on it ASAP.  You can always cancel the petition if they pay, but you can never get that time back if you have not taken action.

Even if the tenant contacted me ahead of time and this was their first issue with late rent, I would still really only provide a stay on the eviction action of a week or so, and certainly would not entertain another delay beyond the original anticipated date of late payment.  When I was new, I quickly learned to act on what a tenant does (or does not do), rather than what they say they will do.

You're the owner and it's your rule.  They can gaslight you, but that is just a distraction.

They actually sell wipes to detect pot residue on walls, but I am not sure if they work and I would not spend the time or energy in engaging in establishing "proof" - you'll put up walls and they'll just dig more tunnels.

Instead, I would:

Contact their case worker ASAP, cite the behavior as a lease violation with her, and state that in addition to it being a breach of lease, it is creating health concerns for your family.  If your inital contact with the HA is on the phone, I would follow up with an email or letter, memorializing the conversation in writing.

Next, the very next time it occurs, formally issue the tenant a lease violation (i.e. notice to cure) as per your local/state statute and CC the case worker.  Make sure you serve the notice properly.  Consult an attorney if necessary.

After the initial notice, EACH time there is an additional incident of smoking, send another violation.  Build a case to file for eviction for lease violations.  It is often difficult to evict for lease violations in places like MA.  Consult your attorney.

Minimally, you should not renew this person's lease.  I don't care of they stop this tomorrow.  They've already shown you who they are.  Listen to them.

Meantime, tighten up your lease so it's very clear they cannot smoke anywhere on the premises (inside or out), and I STRONGLY consider only offering MTM leases in left-leaning jurisdictions, as a term lease only emboldens a bad tenant and obligates you.  I've written extensively about this topic here on BP.

Good luck!

I love that since writing his new landlording book, @Nathan Gesner has become aware of the ridiculous and draconian laws that we are subject to here in the Socialist Republic of New York.  ;)

what @Nathan Gesner said.

Being a guest and "visiting" are just looking for trouble.  If you allow him to live there without being financially responsible, you will tacitly yield tenants' rights to him, but without any obligation on his part.  And let's be honest - he's going to be living there.  Do you think he'll have an apartment of his own at this point in his life?

He would probably not pass my background check (you don't mention his crime), so I don't care if he is moving in with Mother Teresa.  I think your liability exposure is absolutely not worth it.  There are tons of qualified applicants out there looking for housing these days.

The tenants' goals were aligned with yours when they mitigated the leak; they were not "doing you a favor."  It sounds like regular maintenance issues, some of which were tenant-caused.  Did you charge them for those?  It doesn't sound like it.  Life happens.  Every unfortunate thing that happens to us in life is not someone else's fault or responsibility.  Are they claiming your gross negligence caused the roof to leak?  No credit.  If you give a mouse a cookie...

Good suggestions above.

I would research the labor cost of a total resanding and recoating. 

Unfortunately, since you are in NYS, you only have 15 days to return the security deposit, and getting a contractor out there for a quote (much less, three), is not going to happen.  So, I would be very conservative (for your standpoint) on the researched estimate.

I would do what I suggested above, then if the tenant takes you to small claims court you explain to the judge the legislative time restrictions you were under in order to come up with an accurate repair expense.

This is yet another example of how "tenant protection" laws, in practice, end up hurting the tenant in the end.