All Forum Posts by: Pria H.

Thanks, @Jeff B. and @Rich N.! I'm definitely not inclined to add her, just wanted to see if anyone saw any reasons for why she'd be entitled somehow. But I think, as you agreed, it's simple enough if she's not living there. Not to mention that she shouldn't want to be added to a lease (and be liable) for a place she won't live in - but I won't get into that.

Thanks, @Account Closed for your responses. In California, you're actually not allowed to ask about marital status, so it's not on our application forms. 

Hi all,

I rent out an apartment with 4 roommates who've been there over a year. Yesterday, we got an email from one of the guys asking if his ex wife that he is separated from, but "doesn't plan to divorce any time soon" can be added to the lease. The purpose is to have a shared legal address "for taxes and other paperwork". I didn't even know he had been married or separated. She won't be living there. 

Ordinarily the answer would be an easy "no", since the lease is limited to residents of the apartment, but I'm starting to wonder if their married status makes a difference.

I'm hoping that many of you experienced landlords out there have faced issues around married/separated tenants, and could share some insights.

Thanks so much!

Pria

Reading these responses is so helpful... Thanks!

@Bruce L. Wow, really similar situations! The unit isn't any more noisy than any other duplex. The upstairs tenant says she can hear things too, but to her it's background noise. We are definitely keeping good track of things. Thanks for the advice and good luck to you.

@Richard C. I agree completely. Today tipped the scales. 

@Chris K. The frustrating part is that this happened the night before the carpet was going in, so they didn't even try to be patient and wait for the next night. We have no idea whether it's helping. At this point it's any noise at all that seems to be a trigger for rage.

@Andrew Syrios  I was hoping to see what the beginning of the month would bring... maybe they are looking to move voluntarily and will give us notice, and maybe we'll be advised that we can still wait and see. They still have 10.5 months on a lease. I'm guessing we'll have to issue a notice telling them to stop the harassment.  I fear the rules in Oakland make it pretty tough for us to do much, but I'm not sure. Definitely going to have to beef up the lease for next time. Thanks for the suggestion.

@Aly W.  I shudder to think what that would look like here in the bay area. 

@Bill S. Interesting idea! the tricky part is that they aren't really complaining to us anymore, so much as they are terrorizing the upstairs tenant.

Hi everyone,

We need help on a dicey situation that is only seeming to get worse. We have a duplex in Oakland, Ca. Bought it empty, carefully screened tenants, and they moved in. Upstairs is a woman who lives alone, and downstairs is a couple.

From the first morning that the upstairs tenant moved in (5 weeks ago), she started getting texts about noise from downstairs. Then emails, then stops to talk in the driveway.  This was almost daily. We got complaints about downstairs could hear everything and can't sleep. Every footstep, middle of the night trip to the bathroom, her alarm sounding in the morning, etc. were all becoming a problem. One of the downstairs tenants works from home and complains about footsteps that occur at noon (not just a middle of the night issue).  In an effort to mitigate the drama, we offered to put carpeting in the upstairs bedroom, but not the rest of the apartment.  

The morning that the carpeting was about to go in, we got emails from the downstairs tenant about 10 minutes of a repetitive squeaking noise the night before from the upstairs bedroom. They had texted her about it as it occurred, and when she didn't stop, they recorded and sent the recording to us in an email.  They also cc'ed the upstairs tenant on the initial email (not including the sound file). They made it clear that they knew what the sound was. The upstairs tenant was mortified and angry, hours later she was approached at her car by an angry downstairs tenant demanding that she not wear shoes in her apartment. The upstairs tenant refused to talk to her, and said to direct all complaints at us.  She is also convinced that their recording and sending of the files was illegal.  We've gotten mixed opinions. 

We conveyed the message to the downstairs tenants, and offered to let them out of their lease. It's clear to us that they are not suited for apartment living (though we didn't say that). We have gotten no response.  Today, about 10 days later, the upstairs tenant has informed us that they have been creating a hostile environment for her. Repetitively slamming doors when she comes home, banging the walls when she walks around, parking closer and closer to her car. She informed us that she will be filing a police report because while she was walking to her car this morning, the downstairs tenant lunged out of her window and screamed at her to "just take off your f*#$ing shoes!"  She is feeling unsafe.

We have an appt with a lawyer tomorrow morning - our first one as we are only 6 weeks into having this property rented! I would appreciate any and all advice and experience. I have no idea what to expect, other than I imagine it's extremely hard to get tenants out. It seems so obvious that any tenant who lives above them will be a problem for them, so they ought to go find a SFH to rent, but I think the "reasonable train" has left the station.

Thanks so much, and sorry for the long post!

Pria

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the welcomes and references.

Hello BP Community,

I just wanted to make the official introduction, and say how excited I am to have discovered this website. I've read lots of the guides, and blog posts, and forums, and I can't seem to get enough.

I currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland, specifically). My husband and I are getting more serious about starting on our goal of buy and hold investing, specifically, acquiring a handful of income properties over the next 5 years.

We've been landlords before when we rented out our old house in Los Angeles for 2 years, after moving back up here. We recently sold that house and are looking to reinvest in a multi-unit property. Our focus is in the Sacramento area, which is much more affordable than the Bay Area, yet only an hour and a half away. We've also had our eyes on other nearby cities, e.g. Modesto, Stockton, etc. but seem most comfortable with Sacramento and its surroundings.

We have tons of questions and potential scenarios that we'd love advice on, and hope to get some clarity through this site.

Thanks!
Pria