All Forum Posts by: Carol Venolia

@Account Closed, you're awesome. There may be info about fines in the Nolo book; I just didn't find it yet. And I really appreciate your link! Since reading your reply last night, I'd been wondering how this info relates to fees for late rent. Yikes! I guess I'll calculate my actual cost in case that's ever needed.

Have a great beer and a great 4th!  :-)

Thank you so much, @Account Closed! I do have that Nolo book, but I wasn't successful in finding information about fines in it, so I really appreciate the input that a fine must represent actual out-of-pocket expenses. I suppose I could hire a poop-scooper and add that expense to the rent, but, yeah, these folks find ways to make trouble no matter what.

My lease is a six-month lease that automatically rolls over into a month-to-month lease when the six months are up--and they've been there for a year and a half. So that's not a problem.

Thanks again for the info and the encouragement!

@Thomas S., yeah, I typically try to reason with tenants who seem not to grasp the terms of their lease. And often that works. But as I look over the list of ways in which these particular tenants have shown no regard for keeping their agreements, I'm afraid I have to agree with you.

Thanks for the tough love, @Grant Patmon! "Tell them you feel bad" sounds like a good way to keep it human.

One of my mentors says it's better to somehow induce the tenant to give me 30-day notice, rather than me give them notice, because then it feels like their choice and they're less likely to do retaliatory damage. I wonder if, instead of overtly threatening eviction, I could say something like, "You are welcome to stay and not have a dog. Otherwise, you are welcome to find a rental with a more liberal pet policy." :-)

Thank you, @James Mc Ree! Good ideas. I'm looking at adding some language to my current lease form, for use with the next tenants who come along. So in this case, there wouldn't be existing lease terminology to get around.

I do have an existing tenant who wants to get a dog. They had a dog before and did a bad job of picking up the dog's waste. I could just turn down their request for another dog, but in case I do want to keep them happy, I'm looking at how I can "incentivize" them to pick up after a dog.

I know, that Subject question sounds kind of nasty, but I'm really a pretty nice landlord. However, I have some ongoing issues with some tenants, and I'm wondering if I can add a fine to their lease. (I'm in California.)

I know it's legal to charge a fine for late rent, but can I charge a fine for other lease infractions that I don't deem serious enough (yet) to kick the tenants out? In particular, given that my Pet Agreement states that the tenant will quickly and safely dispose of all pet waste, may I legally add a $25 fine for each time I catch them leaving pet waste on the ground?

(This is, by the way, a multifamily property with no private yards, so any pet waste becomes everyone's problem--and these folks really like to write their own rules on the matter.)

Thanks for any enlightenment you can offer--and happy holiday!

Thank you, @Kyle J.! That's a great idea. And, of course, if they don't pay the bill, then I have even more grounds for giving them notice. :-)

Thank you, @Matt Faix and @Darwin Crawford! It's nice to have reinforcement.  :-)

Hi all,

I have a three-unit property where I allow approved pets. Tenants in two of the units have dogs. There are no private yards on this property. 

My Pet Agreement says, "Tenant agrees to clean up after the pet and to dispose of pet’s waste properly and quickly. This means pet waste shall be picked up while fresh and that no pet waste shall remain on the ground at any time on any part of the property."

Nevertheless, there's pet waste on the ground. (The tenants seem to think that it's okay to keep the poop close to their dwelling; I've told them otherwise.) People step in it. Yuck.

Yes, I could just kick these tenants out, but that's its own kind of pain. I'm thinking of revising the Pet Agreement to add a penalty for leaving pet waste on the ground. Have you ever done something like this? If so, what language did you use (and how do you enforce it)?

Thank you!

Thank you, @Account Closed! I feel confirmed. Another thought I've had is: Even if both the tenant and the co-signer are very fine people, if the tenant can't afford the rent and "something happens to" the co-signer, things could get unpleasant for all.