All Forum Posts by: Wesley W.

Hello All,

I'll start out with the situation to provide context and then follow up with my question.

I have a tenant who works two jobs and is seldom at home.  She is currently allowing her father to come over in her absence (to let the dog out, let's assume).  Problem is, I think he is dealing drugs out of the unit.  I have circumstantial evidence, which is enough for me to feel compelled to react.  Minimally, he is chain smoking marijuana every day, which permeates the entire building.

I have verbage in my lease about illegal activities, but I frankly don't want to get into it with them about trying to prove my case.  What I would like to do is add a provision to my lease that would address the "use" of the unit by those other than the tenants of record.  Does anyone have something they wouldn't mind posting that they use?

I have a paragraph that addresses "unauthorized occupants", but it only covers overnight guests.  This guy just comes during the day, does his thing, and leaves at night.  I'd like to tighten up my contract so this is not an issue in the future.

I think what I will do in this instance is send a notice to cure (citing "indoor smoking" and "illegal activities" in the lease), but I want to make sure that future contracts have items against the mere use of the unit (regardless of whether or not the activity is illegal).  She is on a MTM, so I can always terminate, but I just want to put something in writing for next time. 

It's a fine line between micro-managing guests that our tenants invite and the pseudo-subletting that is nearly the case at this point.

I welcome your feedback.  Thanks!

 They run a tight ship in Cohoes.  You don't want to get on wrong side of Code Enforcement.  The ROPs are tied into everything - police reports, school records, etc.  Unless your tenants don't exist on paper they are bound to find out.  If you try and circumvent their system, the fines for being out of compliance are levied on a per-day basis.

On a positive note, they've run all the slum lords out of town, and yes - they just passed a new resolution over the summer that raises the bar for long-distance owners.

 Please keep in mind it is not the frequency of incidents of biting that matters; it's the injuries sustained from those bites that do.  Actuarially, that's that the insurance companies are using to exclude specific large breeds.  It's a business model for them.  It should be for you, too.

 Unfortunately, not being liable after a judgement gets rendered does not protect you from being sued and having to defend that lawsuit.  Sure, your insurance company might provide the attorney fees (or not), but that won't help you sleep better at night during the long process.

You as the landlord have assets that your tenant doesn't.  The victim's attorney will look to hold you responsible after a cursory asset search.

Hello folks,

Okay, here's an issue I would love people to provide input on.  In our rental agreements we give a 5 day grace period before late fees and pay or quit notices are generated.  We only accept payment through a dedicated sweep account so tenants can either walk cash in to the branch, pay by check at the branch, or execute a BTB transfer.  We do not accept any form of payment made directly to us.

Our regional bank was just bought by a much larger bank, and our accounts were ported over to this new nationwide bank.  Previously, tenants who paid on the 5th at a local branch had their payment posted to our account immediately so that (a) we could see that they paid, and (b) we were given provisional credit on that money that we could use to pay for debt service, etc.

This new bank now processes payments much more slowly, and this has created the following concern illustrated in this example:

Tenant pays rent the morning of the 5th (a Saturday), but the money wasn't available to us until the 8th.  This is not as favorable as our previous bank, as we must wait this cooling off period which further extends the period where that rent money is not usable by us.

So, to those of you that have grace periods, when do you consider the rent "paid?"  The date their check is deposited (regardless of when those funds show up in your account), or when the funds are available (e.g. "if you are paying after the 3rd, payment must be in cash.")

I'm curious as how people handle this, as well as any unforeseen consequences of this new financial arrangement we have yet to experience.

Thank you in advance!

Being a slob is not a protected class. Not sure there is any state in the union that would see this as unlawful discrimination.

Run this by your attorney, but you might be able to add a clause to your lease with the prospective tenants to exercise a right of rescission in the event the closing doesn't take place.

Hi folks!

Here's the situation. We bought a building last year with this particular inherited tenant.  She was on a year lease and paying under market, so when her lease expired in the spring, we raised her rent $30 (she is still under market by about $20) and put her on a MTM (which is what we universally offer to all our tenants).  She's been living at the property for about 6 or 7 years or thereabouts.

She recently asked if we would paint her apartment as part of "upkeep."  I have not responded to her request as of yet.

I'm looking for feedback on what you would do in this situation.

Some factors to consider:

(1) I am not willing to offer a year lease to her (or any of my tenants) in order to lock in a higher rent in exchange for the paint job (which will probably be very costly - we're in NY and it's a large apartment - about 1000 sq ft).

(2) Raising the rent to market in exchange for painting increases my risk because it's a MTM tenancy.  There is no documentation about the move-in condition of the unit so I will most likely have to give all of her security deposit back unless there is something significantly damaged that I can document as occuring post-acquisition.

(3) I'm not keen on painting the apartment while occupied because if I am going to invest that cost, I will want paint prep done to improve the quality of that investment over time.  The job would be lengthy and difficult with the unit occupied.

(4) There is no guarantee that if she moves out 6 months after the painting I will not have to re-paint portions to make it look move-in ready again.  I also anticipate a moderate amount of updating upon turnover (whenever that may be).

(5)  She pays her rent on time, but as an inherited tenant, her relationship with us has not exactly been problem-free.  "I would not label her as a "problem tenant", but she is at least one standard deviation lower than the mean on that continuum.

What do you think?  Thanks in advance!

Hi All,

Do you require your lawn service to carry their own insurance?  Prudently, I'd think yes - but I am finding that the insured folks are priced ridiculously high (I just got a quote of $100 per service for a property with about 300 sq ft of lawn).

We carry a commercial umbrella policy.  Would this cover an independent contractor?

@Account Closed said most of what I was going to say.

Also, I'd recommend asking pre-screening questions in your ad.  Here's what mine says:

1.) Your name and contact information
2.) Total number of people that would occupy the apartment
3.) Proposed pets (size/breeds)
4.) Monthly pre-tax income for household
5.) Brief rental history
6.) Date you wish to move in

This way, prospects are compelled to play an active role in seeking housing with me.  You can pre-screen your email responses more efficiently this way, which will allow you to skim the cream off top more easily.  You may still get a high volume of responses from people swimming over their head or mentally ill, but at least you can move on from them and identify the good ones by using your "delete" key.

Good luck!