All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Hanlon

Originally posted by RAY BROGDEN:

Hey Jeff,

glad to hear everyone is safe! what type of insurance coverage do you have and with which company? I wish you the best.

Ray, I don't have the exact policy name in front of me, but it's Philadelphia Contributorship. They happened to insure all three properties damaged in the fire. They have been great so far. Supposedly they are one of the oldest insurers and had the best prices for the coverage you get when I shopped around last year.
-Jeff

Josh....Blackberry my friend :-)
I can smile now, but you should have seen me when I got the FIRST call. It went like this:

Tenant: Jeff....
Me: Hey Gretta, how are you?
Tenant: OH MY GOD, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!
Me: Gasp, Uh, Um, Are you kidding me?
Tenant: OH MY GOD, MY HOUSE IS BURNING!!!

Then the whole story came out of how it started in the other house, etc. SCARY call!!!

Fire is out, talked to insurance company. Luckily I have a well covered policy in which they already sent out a "board up" crew and are sending an adjuster in the morning. I'm also covered for any lost rent up to one year. Damage is bad but could be much worse considering the other two properties attached (Row houses) are declared condemned termporarily. What happens when a neighboring landlord hires an unlicensed indigent to fix a roof and he uses a blowtorch, igniting the plywood underneath the roof material, causing major damage to three houses. I'm going to get to the bottom of the other landlord's insurance on tommorow! Thanks for the help....

I just got a call 5 minutes ago from my tenant telling me that my rental property is on fire. The fire started in the property adjacent to it from a roofer doing work. Now my property is currently on fire. I'm stuck an hour away and am besides myself. My quick question is....I'm assuming the property owner next to mine is responsible??? I'm assuming I need to close the roof up once its done and then work on the insurance companies?? Anyone else ever been in this situation? Thanks!
-Jeff

Why not contact your local PD and ask for the narcotics division. Tell them what's going on and allow them to place covert camera's where they would like. If they can observe traffic coming in and out of the house, they will make a larger quantity arrest and will build a great relationship with yourself and the PD. I had a dealer living next door to one of my rentals and contacted the PD, let them set up a covert camera on my soffit (the size of a nickel), and after two weeks, went in for the take down. The tenant was legally able to be evicted in NJ because of the city's "Clean Community" policy. Just food for thought. I have a LOT of experience in this area. Will tell more in detail if you would like but only through PM.

you should ALWAYS do thorough pre-rental screening
you should ALWAYS have a ROCK SOLID lease
you should ALWAYS take security deposit
you should ALWAYS have a good Accountant/Attorney team working for YOUR best interests on standby
Other than that, if they don't pay even the first time, stick to your guns and follow your lease! Don't make any "Exceptions" to the lease. If they are more t han 5 days late, charge the late fee. In NJ court, if you show that you have a "Prior Practice" of accepting late payment without penalty, etc. it will hurt you in court and the eviction process.

Who's responsible for mice in a house? Had a tenant call me from a house she moved into 2 months ago and said there's a few little mice in her bedroom. There were NO mice in there when she moved in. I don't mind taking care of them with traps, etc, but WHO is legally responsible for this? House is in NJ. Thanks!

Thanks Taz, answer received, moving on....

Mike, thanks for the reply. Sounds like it's a matter of a school of hard knocks life lesson. This is the first time I "held" a property until the first of the month for a tenant without a deposit, and in plain english it bit me in the @$$. Although you explained how it "Should" have been done, any suggestions on what "Should" be done from this point forward regarding this tenant? Just move on? Try to get month rent?

Signed a lease with an interested party two weeks ago for a SFH of mine. Agreed move-in date of 11/01/2008 was agreed upon and listed on lease agreement. Several days ago I called the tenant to see what time they would like to meet for move-in/exchange of security deposit/first month rent,etc. No answer. Next day I call, finally get an answer and she says "I read in the paper that there was a home invasion on that street, so I don't wan to move in". She stated that she understood she had to pay rent until I re-rented the house and was fine with that. Obviously now she doesn't answer her phone to collect that rent. I already re-listed the property for rent and am diligently screening prospective tenants as we speak. How would you handle the tenant who signed the lease? Are they technically speaking breaking a lease since they never actually moved in and never exchanged a security deposit? Do I have any recourse to collect rent until I re-rent the house? Should I just cut my losses? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!