All Forum Posts by: Richard Justin

 I completely agree with Michelle La's response. There's always the way things "should" go - if everything was within our power - and then there's the way things do go. And also, the majority of people are not that organized. I would say the majority of people cobble together some half-assed moving plan either due to circumstance or being poor organizers/time managers. They even in their heart of hearts really want to, and really try, to leave a place "move-in ready" for the next person. But amid coordinating a move which is like a top 3 stressor in life , your best interests may not be in the front of their mind, or they may subconsciously have re-calibrated what "move-in ready" looks like in their own mind. These are peoples' homes that some of them lived in for years/decades, it can be challenging to move in a timely fashion.  I think a week is a solid buffer. But on the other side of this coin I have no sympathy for people who move in to units that aren't glowing in radiant splendor perfect, and complain about it. I've had to move in to so many places in the course of my life , during college years in particular when I moved every year if not  semester sometimes, that were "as-is" or you know, less than perfect. I bought some pine sol and took care of it myself. I hate when people have an attitude like it's supposed to  be turn down service like it's some hotel room or new construction that nobody has ever lived in yet. Champagne on a beer budget. There are shades of clean. There is a "modestly priced hotel room" clean, and there is "The Peninsula." I am not responsible for peoples' neuroses. Well, I have probably caused a few people's neuroses but that's another story.  

Phantosmia. Recommend a neurologist

Okay just to keep things in perspective, I think Pacific Heights - fictional Hollywood thriller not based on a true story - is a great example of  "1990 in cinema" or "Films featuring Melanie Griffith," but maybe  not a great example of what happens when you wait a day or two to figure out a best course of action to deal with people. 

We aggressively educate tenants about the rental assistance program. I'm not sure what your states are like but Indiana's seems to have a fair amount of money. We recoup quite a bit of money and to qualify for it, they are not very strict, it's pretty liberal. Proving some medical reason affects ability to pay is like a clincher. I urge you to look up your state's rental assistance programs. It helps them clear their past due balance and often times they pay several months into the future too. The tenant must apply but the part the landlord has to fill out takes all of like 10 minutes. Look up your state's info! 

 We do the same thing, blame a "board".

Apply for Rental assistance. I don't know what TN is like but in Indiana we are getting 5, 10k payouts sometimes. They pay what's past due as well as several months into the future. 

 I have 45 S8 tenants :( Trade places with me. It's the nightmare you described ad infinitum. 

Yes, it is frustrating sometimes dealing with them, they're not always the most transparent or forthcoming to the voucher holders how the vouchers actually work either. I can't tell you how many people call saying they have a 2 bedroom voucher but they really just have a 1, or they conflate the contract rent with the payment standard. Another big problem we encounter more often than not is when they're swearing on Jesus Mary Joseph and everyone else they are deposit ready, then having some reason why they can't pay the deposit;  or trying to do half of it now and of course the other half never materializes. The best is when they move in and immediately begin making maintenance demands for things they broke themselves, or because some man they lied about not being on the lease is living there and broke it, or one of their endless supply of children broke it  and it's like you still owe like a grand from your deposit maybe don't take such a tone when you fuss over maintenance issues you created in the first place - but God forbid you withhold whatever pithy deposit they did manage to cough up for damages because they go full throttle Jerry Springer guest in 2.2 seconds. 

What struck me most about this question, and  it may have been framed this way subconsciously and not on purpose, was how quickly it went to "othering." I am not dualistic enough,I guess, to look at the world in terms of landlords and "other," which includes both renters and their patsies in government apparently.  I certainly don't think of it as something I'd identify with when asked about myself. However, that you touched upon it at all, shows what a sensitive and delicate matter it all is. Since it's dealing with shelter, which is like, a basic human need, vs something more esoteric like  the stock market, emotions will tend to run deep. On the one hand there's this belief in God-given right to own property, and on the other hand, there is real palpable angst and anxiety that we are heading backward into a feudal system. And when so many of the people holding the property in the first place did so through inheriting it either through the deed.  or the money they used to buy it, I don't know if I'd chalk up someone else's "failure" to own real estate as their failure to plan ahead or being nefarious. And I think  it does fall on the government to make sure they're protected since many of them are preyed upon, exploited, or taken advantage of. Besides it's like , one errant news story about situations like this every 6 months or so, it's hardly the norm and certainly not enough to imply a coordinated effort.

Good day all. We are trying to just get a tighter lid on operations, for background we are a family-owned group with about 115 properties. I'm the owner's nephew and de facto "computer wiz" because I am relatively savvy,  but I have never used any property management software before. I guess what we'd like is a program that is user-friendly/ intuitive, can keep easy track of payments, maintenance work orders, and if it can possibly communicate with Quickbooks or tax software or can at least compile things in a format which is easy to integrate into tax accounting that would be great. I dont think they want to spend  a lot, but,  it's also probably not avoidable, and in ranking order of what's important it's not as important as ease of use/integration. any feedback is great and thanks for your time. I go by "R.J." a 'nice-to-meet-you' to everyone.