All Forum Posts by: Nick D.

@Jerryll Noorden

I just messaged you. I wanted to ask you about the steps you did once you took over your carrot site. I am getting one right as we speak.

Thank you Greg,

Yes that’s the rock in the hard place decision I’m weighing in the event the tenant does not actually get this wheelchair ramp up to code& permitted.  

Send a certified letter stating I’m Removing the ramp if the proper steps getting this up to code and permitted. ( I don’t think any landlord would hold their breathe on a tenant doing that). Then he’s got no ramp,

or go to the inspector and basically get instructed the same thing with possible fines associated which I would certainly bill towards the tenant.   

Also a tricky situation being in CT with no evictions right now and even too  I’m not sure of the legality of even trying to orchestrate a cash for keys deal with a tenant that is involved we me on a slip and fall case.  

Lease says parking is a Courtesy in Bold Letters. It also says parking 1 vehicle only in the parking lot so it’s not like I’m not bending some accommodations for him for ADA.

Thank you J. 
Yes I sent that letter to a legal representative as well before I certified mailed it.  
It’s in CT. And it’s a nice 29 page lease that very detailed.  

Do you think it would be wise to even put up a notice to this tenant to have a written paper trail stating I will be removing it. Does that matter/irrelevant in this situation. I didn’t not draw up a hold harmless agreement either  

I have no problem if there is a wheelchair ramp installed. Everything I read and I could be mistaken, but the cost for a reasonable modification would go on the tenant, Since I’m not government funded building.  Also I’m fairly confident this would be the tenants duty to remove back to its original existence before modifications were made.  In the letter I wrote him that permits and code and the construction of the ramp would be. 

I do follow the rules to my lease to a T, and I do keep a good paper trail when it comes to communication.  

Here's the rundown

One of my inherited tenants sent me a letter in March regarding a slip and fall at a multifamily property that states happened in January.  I never received a notice or heard any word that the tenant fell which certainly raised red flags that him nor his wife ever mentioned falling on the property.. 

The tenant obtained a wheelchair and months later I saw a wheelchair ramp built on my property entrance way. I never received a request for this modification and I know there was no permit pull nor is it up to ADA Code.

I recently put up a sign limiting parking to 1 car in our parking lot since this tenant usually had 2 cars parked there (which I allowed temporarily since some tenants did not have cars) and he started accusing me of discrimination, and harassment etc, over his parking situation.. (This is a 6 family with about room to park 6 maybe 7 vehicles safely) I explained some tenants were now buying vehicles that previously did not have one, and I wanted everyone to have fair access to 1 space.. This made the tenant furious with a nice 5-6 page emails threatening a lawsuit with ADA/HUD allegations, retaliation etc....Ridiculous..I did make reasonable accommodations to allow this tenant to have right to closet entrance in the parking lot and even allowed his wife 2nd closest parking spot since he states she is his "caregiver" after that request was sent in.

My main concern is the wheelchair ramp and the liability with this . I addressed this in a letter to the tenant concerning this unauthorized repair, not made by a licensed contractor, not up to code and worst off not a repair requests because it clears states in my lease like most, all repair requests need to be sent in writing..

Im worried about the liability and what to do with this "self made" wheel chair ramp that was put up unauthorized and being held liable from the Town/Zoning, My Insurance company, and also the safety of my tenants..  Also the tenant is requesting that I now pay for these unauthorized repairs that he made for this ramp, which there is 0 chance I will do.  

If I tear down the wheelchair ramp it could be viewed as denying the threatening retaliation and also denying him entrance into the building, but I certainly do not want to risk the liability of having an unauthorized /non-permitted especially with this "slip and fall victim" already on my hands..   I asked the tenant to send me over the permits they were supposed to get for this wheelchair ramp, ( which I know they didnt get) and the tenant requested reasonable accommodations for handicap parking, handicap ramps (even though this ramp they already had someone build)

In the letter I wrote them, I did grant them Permission as apart of ADA guidelines permission to build a wheelchair ramp,  but the cost would be the tenants only and that the work need to be down up to town code, with ADA guidelines and that I'm not going to be held responsible for this ramp that they put up, and I believe should be the tenants responsibly to remove when they leave.

   I did inform my insurance company of this unauthorized wheelchair ramp..Even my real estate mentor said ADA is tricky and this is quite the scenario and to speak with my insurance company with. The tenant does collect disability even before this "phantom" slip and fall, and I'm afraid of the liability at hands, and the longer this guy is on the property, he's going draw up a lawsuit any which way he can.


Any help and suggestions would be great..

I got a call from a tenant 2 days ago that there were several cops/agents at the apartment that I own and manage. It was the DEA, and they broke down the front door looking for a new tenant that just moved in recently and broke down his apartment door as well and raided the apartment.

My leasing agent ran the tenant search on the tenant and I read over the background report he sent me, and did not mention the drug trafficking history that this has turned into. After digging further into the situation the tenant was just arrested in Dec and released for distributing over 5000 bags of fentanyl and released on bond. How that didn’t show up in the background check, is beyond me.

Anyways, I went to stop by the apartment to see what happened, door lock was broken, and I looked in to see if anyone was there (since he lived with his girlfriend/wife and 1kid)

and the place looked trashed and abandoned. Hardly any furniture remaining, no beds and I saw the Warrant on the counter with what the police confiscated (guns,ammo,drugs the whole 9 yards).

So the apartment looks abandoned, I called the tenant with the warrant and his phone was off. I never have spoken or seen his girlfriend since they moved in. Since his phone was off and recently he was texting/emailed me about possibility moving out because He didn’t feel safe there, I assumed he moved out.

Turns out I was wrong and I had someone do a simple cleaning of the apartment the day after since it looked like they left. I had my cleaner leave like the table and folding chairs there, he basically cleaned out the garbage and food in the fridge so it wouldn’t rot.

Last night I got a call from the wife about her food missing and I tried to explain that it looked like you moved out. The door was open since the lock was busted in. I explained I tried calling her husband but his phone was completely off and now she’s heated over the situation. She’s hangs up the phone and one of my tenants called me and said she began dumping out the trash cans all over her parking lot and this has become a very messy situation.

I didn’t change the locks. I understand tenants had the right to privacy, that was not my intention. It looked like they moved out. I even left the bigger items there since I heard returned there for a trip back to the apartment to grab items. Apparently she didn’t grab everything. I have no idea if she even plans to live there still and I could use some help how to hopefully resolve this situation in the best manner.

It was a bad joke played at a bad time to get attention. He’s not bankrupt. We are all in tough times as landlords right now, and I don’t see the need to make bankruptcy jokes during these times.

Just purchased and took over a property last week and I noticed at the closing for the rent rolls, that one of the tenants missed this month's rent payment. The tenant could of course be lying, but when we went through the property to introduce ourselves as the new property managers, they stated that they sent in their notice to the previous Landlord/Property Management team a few weeks ago that they would be moving out.  My question is, if the tenant did in fact send this notice to the previous Landlord, should that paperwork/paper trail of notice been given to me before closing ? I did want this tenant out soon right after taking over the property anyways since  for some odd reason this tenant did not even have a security deposit on file with the previous Landlord, (even thought the tenant swears they do) which of course is concerning for obvious reasons.

@Lydia S.

Sorry for the confusion. So originally it was just a sewer clogged in the basement. When we came back to inspect the sellers repairs. The sewer is still clogged and above the sewer (1st floor unit) there is a leak making this sewer back up even worse than originally.

What my worry was is the due diligence of the work. I will walk through the property tomorrow before closing but what should I do to ensure the work was done properly besides just having the seller send me a copy of the invoice from the work

Thanks

So I have a 6 family under contract in New Britain, CT that I am expected to close on in 2 days and I have scenario at hand with the sewer/basement. After going through the inspection stage I asked for some repairs to be made, some mold to be removed and the sewer in the basement to be unclogged since it was a bit backed up. The owner agreed to fix everything and did send me invoices but when I did a re-inspection after the repairs, me and the realtor noticed the sewer leak was now even worse than before.  We are expected to close in 2 days and I'm a bit worried not only about the owner having to fix this issue, but in the event of future damage now that about 1/4 of the basement is now flooded and the leak is now coming from what looks like one of the units on the first floor. Basically what I wanted everyone opinion on is, say the seller fixes this issue, what can I do to assure this issue is fixed properly. My concern is the seller said this leak was fixed from the sewer, and now there is a leak coming from one of the first floor units, re clogging the sewer in the basement. I will go walk through the building on the day of closing, but say in the event the seller does a quick/cheap repair and the leak reoccurs just days later, I don't want to be stuck with a sewer/plumbing bill right out of the gates with my first deal.

How can I make sure these repairs are handled properly and do i need to add in additonal language to the Purchase Agreement to better protect myself in the event this sewer clog/leak happens again shortly after closing on the property.

Thanks