All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

You can post anything you want on craigslist. It doesn't even need to be legal. Do you think craig is going to check?

I consider any landlord that doesn't separately meter utilities whenever possible to be unprofessional. It's always bad for whoever pays the bill. Unmetered utilities is another way to say "waste this, I don't care how much you use". Tenants will open the window when they get warm, instead of turning down the heat. And I can't blame them, I would too. 

If you split the bill between tenants, they will always complain about their share. And if you add the cost of heat to your rent, now your unit looks more expensive compared to others when you advertise.

This is a lose-lose situation.

With that said, it is possible to meter hydronic heating and cooling with a central boiler/chiller. It's what they do in every big city building. It's called a BTU meter, measures the temperature and flow of incoming and outgoing water to determine how many BTUs the tenant has used.

It should basically be considered the tenants belongings. The friend has no rights with you, you have no obligations to them.

Sounds like they were also in violation of their lease by letting the friend live with them, though, that doesn't really matter at this point.

Every lease I've ever seen includes wording that allows a landlord to list, show, and sell a building while occupied. Commercial and residential...even really bad leases.

It also probably goes with their right to inspect the unit if proper notice is given. They are allowing a prospective buyer to inspect their building.

 I call BS on these "lower costs". Does anybody here agree it is lower cost to find a new tenant than to keep an existing one after 1 year? You can get higher rent from the same tenant. Yearly rent increases are not uncommon. You do not have to find a new tenant to do that. (unless the tenant already hates you)

You're going to lose at least a month of rent in kicking people out. No way you're saving that much in doing so. You are the only one who thinks this is a good technique, there must be a reason for that.

 It's not that easy to hide from a judgement. It's easy to not collect your judgement if you are lazy. Every state is different of course, but, when you have a judgement, and somebody moves, you basically sue them again in that state to enforce the judgement there. Moving out of state or changing jobs does not prevent your wages and bank account from getting garnished, the best the tenant could hope for is to physically hide from you. It's hard to hide in this day when everybody posts everything to facebook and google knows everything about you. Just pay a couple bucks to one of the internet background search companies, you will likely find their new address.

Additionally, judgements earn interest, and last for 10 years or more. Again, every state is different, but I have a judgement against somebody that owes me $1800. Right now it is not being paid and I'm not bothering to collect because it is earning 9% interest. I'll get my money when I get around to it.

I have another ex tenant who technically owes me about $25,000 in rent due to a broken lease. I know he does not have that much money, I could never collect that even if I got every possession he owns. I'm still going to sue him, because he is only 31 years old, and in my state, judgements can be renewed every 10 years. That means 50 years from now, I will still be earning 9% interest, and I can still collect from this idiot if he ever gains any assets at any time in his entire life! If he dies before I do, then I can collect anything left in his estate.

You could also sell the judgement to a collection company, they often pay something like 50% before actually collecting, and then do all the work for you.

One more thing - I feel it is important to sue even if you do not plan on getting paid. This way the person has an unpaid judgement on their record, this acts as a warning to anybody who ever might do business with them in the future. (and a good motivator to pay you!)

The only true way to hide from a judgement is to file for bankruptcy. Nothing else will make it go away if the debtor is persistent enough.

An electrician, or the homeowner, if capable, can easily hook a clamp on amp meter to each circuit and tell you exactly which one is drawing so much power. This would answer your question with 100% certainty.

On the other hand, most consumers are too ignorant to understand electric bills. If this person is in a new house or the weather has been unusually cold, they may just not have any idea how much it cost to run that house and nothing is actually wrong. Some people think they can predict their electric bill even though they don't know what a watt is!

Just a few minutes on google will get you the prescription. No joke. You could keep it in any rental and the landlord cannot discriminate. Now, as to where you actually find that raccoon, that's another matter...I think you're going to need a trap.

That's the thing - the raccoon doesn't even need to be prescription grade! Any old thing will do.

It really disgusts me how many places there are out there selling "prescriptions" for these bogus support animals. Apparently you always qualify if you simply say the animal supports you in any way what so ever. You don't need a verifiable condition. And the pet does not have to be trained or certified in any way.

Landlords need to start demanding changes to these laws. It's also use as a loophole for flying with your pet, next time you see an idiot with an uncaged animal on a plane, this is why. Can't bring a bottle of water on a plane, but you can have a loose racoon on your lap if you have a "prescription".

 Right, I guess that was an opinion.

A FACT is that you have the highest turnover of anybody in this thread. You are the only one here who thinks that is a good thing. Most people strive for the opposite, regardless of the market.