All Forum Posts by: Sarah Young

Thanks everyone! My friend handed them the Three Day Notice to Quit yesterday. I was considering waiting until the 14th to see if they pay before I submit it through the courts and have the sherriff go out there, but after reading all these comments, I’m thinking I need to have the sheriff go so I am crossing my I’s and dotting my T’s. 

Tenants moved in 11/1/18. Property is out of state. I manage, but have a friend locally whom I pay to handle things I cannot do from afar.

Tenants have done a few things that have caused me to question their honesty. I have no hard proof, but I’m suspicious of their stories.

Make tenant called me three weeks ago and told me he’d just got out of the hospital, and wanted to give me a heads up that rent would probably be late. I told him that I was sorry he was in the hospital, but that rent is due on the 1st, and that he has the 5 day grace period until late fees are incurred. I also told him that to protect myself, I would need to start the eviction process on the 6th (today). His wife texted me about a week ago with an update, letting me know rent would be paid in full, with the late fee on the 14th. I thanked her for the update, but told her I would need to begin the eviction process on the 6th to protect myself. She said she has “never had a landlord do that to her before”, and she didn’t understand why I would be doing that. I didn’t respond. I also thought it interesting that this has apparently happened before. Not good news.

So, I’ve created the pay or quit notice and will have my friend deliver it today. It gives them 3 days to pay or move out, then I need to get the sherif involved. I don’t mind waiting until the 14th to see if they make good on their promise, but if they don’t, I want to be poised to evict them on the 15th. But that timeline doesn’t work with the timeline for the state of ND.

What would you do? Wait until the 11th to send them the notice? Send the notice now and then wait until the 14th to follow through with the Sherrie (I’m worried if I don’t follow the process to a tee, my abilities to evict might be jeopardized.).

This is my first situation like this as a landlord. I want to be firm, kind, and hold my ground, and not mess up my chances to get them out ASAP if they don’t pay.

@Joe Splitrock

You don’t have all the information, and jumped to a few conclusions. 

The basement did flood. AND the water bill was 3x her normal average winter usage (this is her second winter). I do suspect something other than “snow melt coming in through the foundation” as she claims, when the basement has been dry for the last two weeks and we have never had one drop in there before. Somehow the water miraculously stopped coming in. Additionally, the wall where the water came in has a spigot on the outside of it. I suspect (because of the extremely high water bill) that someone turned on the spigot and it flooded the basement. But at some point, someone turned it off, and she is claiming no knowledge of that. There is something else going on. 

The smell was not mold in the basement. It was sewer-ish smelling. We dealt with it when we lived in the house the year before, but thought we had fixed it properly. Apparently not. It has been fixed for over a year now, and is no longer an issue. Yes, it was a legitimate concern, but it wasn’t an emergency as nobody lives in the basement, and it could not be smelled in other parts of the house. It was a venting issue. She herself had not been able to find anyone to come deal with it for the two months she tried. To become demanding with me after I tried finding someone for two weeks, then telling me in needed to be fixed “immediately” and that she was “not interested in excuses, she just wants results” was disrespectful and ignoring the fact that getting a plumber to call back in that town isn’t almost impossible. I had it addressed in a much more timely manner than she was able to. 

The wiring was not a fire hazard.

Of course I do not want mold in my basement. I took the flooded basement very seriously. I just spent $1,000 replacing the carpet that she told me must be replaced (because it would mold), only to find out after the fact that the carpet completely dried out within a couple days.

Please ask questions before jumping to conclusions. 

@Timothy W.

She does do cloaked threats/intimidation. Lots of mention of health hazards and safety hazards whenever she wants something changed that doesn’t necessarily need to be fixed. She hasn’t directly threatened me, but intimidated me into doing things where I was afraid of a lawsuit if I didn’t. I felt trapped. Definitely have learned a lot through my dealings with her! 

@Dave Finigan

That’s exactly what I did, and she responded beautifully. I was respectful and tactful, but I set the boundary that I was not willing to sign anything at this time, but would be waiting out the remainder of her lease to see if her communication improvises before I sign anything. I’m hopeful she will stop. 

@Account Closed She is the most type A person I’ve ever met! I’m pretty type A myself, but she is way beyond me! Lol

@James Mackey

Lol. Her husband works in oil, a volatile industry, and he sometimes gets transferred to different locations around the country. I believe they don’t want to buy a house because they don’t want to be tied down in case of a transfer/job loss. (She is now a SAHM). 

@John Semanchuk I think I answered most of your questions above, but I’m not sure how much I need her. A lot of it depends on the price of oil when I have turnovers. Right now, oil is down, and it may be more difficult to replace her. She pays very high rent for a medium-high end home in an oil boomtown. There weren’t a lot of applicants when I rented to her originally (2 or 3). 

@Jose Torres to answer your question: some examples of her disrespect: telling me “that is unacceptable” when I told her I would be figuring out *why* the basement flooded before installing new carpet (only to have it happen again). The old carpet has been removed, and the basement is dry, and I just need to wait for a plumber to get out there and figure out why this happened (or if she flooded it and isn’t telling me). 

Another example: after she spent 2 months trying to find someone to help fix an odor in the basement (she offered to find someone and I’m out of state, so I said that’d be fine) to no avail, she passed the task back to me, and I spent 2 weeks trying to find someone, to no avail (this home is in an oil boomtown, and most men work in oil, so finding service professionals is very difficult.). I got a nasty text from her demanding that it get fixed immediately. I responded with an explanation that after two months of her trying to get a call back, I’ve only been working on it for two weeks, but I was hopeful I’d have someone there soon. Her response was, “I’m not interested in excuses, I just want results”. 

Her “high maintenance” is not in regards to how often she calls me. I meant that more than she likes things high end and perfect. For example: She was really distraught when she realized there was no garbage disposal. She requested to instal one on her dime, which I originally ok’d, but after she went to install a light fixture I’d ok’d, and discovered “old, unsafe wiring that is a fire hazard”, I ended up footing the bill for the electrician to come out and update the wiring (that we hadn’t no issues with until she discovered it was unsafe). Something that was supposed to be on her dime ended up being on mine. Lesson learned. I halted all things I’d told her she could do on her dime, and told her no more imporovments could be made. My bad for allowing it in the first place, and I took that as one of those “school of hard knocks” things i learned. 

The hard part for me is when she starts telling me “this is a safety hazard, a health hazard, etc”. I hear “lawsuit coming”, so I feel intimidated into doing things that I later realize weren’t necessary. Part of this is on me, but part of it is her aggressive lawyerness. 

I am out of state, and I have a friend locally who I pay to help me on occasion (mainlynfor turnovers), but finding a good PM was very difficult when I researched. It’s a small town, and I could not find one PM I hadn’t heard bad reviews about, so I decided to do it myself, with my friend’s assistance. 

Thanks everyone for your replies! 

I sent her a text basically telling her I am uncomfortable with the disrespectful tone in much of her communication, and I am going  to wait the last six months of our current lease to see if the communication can become more respectful before I sign anything. She got it, and sent an apologetic, kind-toned text back. We will see how the next six months go! I definitely feel like I have the upper hand now.