All Forum Posts by: S Harper

I am hoping to find recommendations on electric coin operated washer/dryer for a 5 plex in Pasco County. Open to recommendations on brand to purchase, or a company to lease with or purchase from.  Would also be interested to know if anyone has had a good experience with a coin free payment method for their machines. 

I have been looking into some brands (Whirlpool seems to have really poor performance and service reviews so far) and the lease company I have been able to speak with won't consider working with fewer than 10 unit properties. 

Thank you

Both the city and the plumber checked to see if the meter was running to check for leaks. In 2 hours there was zero movement on the meter. The meter is between the city line in the street and where the main line goes towards the house, so would have checked for water leaking from the main as well as anywhere else on the property.

Additionally, the read after 30 days indicated normal usage.

I appreciate the brainstorming in case something was missed.

Do you have any suggestions for what else I could try to use as leverage?    

I have spoken to several people in the billing department, the manager of the meter department, someone who deals with the leak detection software, and the manager of the billing department. After discussing at length with the manager in billing, I sent in a letter detailing our efforts to find any issue on the property, the overall usage history of the property, and the lack of their data due to the failure of their transponder. The tenant also sent in a letter, but I don't know what theirs said. 

So far this re-pricing is all that I have been able to get (prior to the manager getting involved, all they wanted to do was set up a payment plan).  Seems like everyone's default statement is that "a toilet flap stuck open could cause this much water loss in a day or two". 

Thanks

This is a quiet residential side street with the faucet hidden by large evergreen shrubs, and a tenant working from home full time in the front room right next to the faucet.

I actually provided faucet locks at move in because one of the retired neighbors told me he was "watering the lawn for 6-8 hours" when the previous tenants were at work. That was likely the 20,000 gallon bill from last summer. I don't know if they currently have them on.  There are several retirees beside and across from the house who like to call me when they see or hear of anything out of the ordinary. 

Providing lots of detail below, but the TL:DR - water usage 15 times the usual bill. No leaks found anywhere (including running toilets) and unsure how they would go through this much water accidently. How would you split the bill with good tenants?

I have 2 tenants in a house with no pool, no sprinkler system, and have lived there 9 months. Water is billed every two months. Their first 3 bi-monthly usage bills were for 6,000, 6,000, and 7,000 gallons. Their usage for Feb & March was 105,000 gallons. Tenant called me extremely worried when he got his bill.  Usually $80, it was $678.58. My question is - how would you share the cost with the tenant?

They are good tenants, one person works from home and said he never heard anything running, and we have done everything possible to rule out any leaks. 

City said it had been a physical read because the meter transponder was non-responsive and thought it was probably an error by the meter reader. They sent someone out to re-read the meter and confirmed the read at 105,000 gallons.

City walked tenant through basic leak check. I also hired a plumber out to do a leak detection visit and nothing was found. The water main, toilet flappers, faucets, water heater and dishwasher have all been replaced within the past couple of years. 

City and plumber both verified there was no meter movement when the water main was turned off inside as well as when it was open and everything was turned off inside. A follow up read at 1 month indicated water usage at 3,000 gallons (same as a regular non-summer month.)

I pulled usage records for the past 2.5 years and different tenancies - in the summers there were 2 bi-monthly bills at 20,000 gallons, almost all the others ranged 4,000-10,000 and a couple at 12,000.

The city said their leak detection software doesn't show any alerts for the house (24+ hours of continuous water running) but won't discuss if that was affected by the transponder being inoperable or how long it was not working before it was noticed. Can't provide any detailed water usage (days, times of peak usage) info again because of the transponder.

I sent an appeal letter to the city and the only thing that they will do is re-invoice the 105,000 gallons at 1st tier pricing, which lowered the bill from $678.58 to $511.35. Previous bill for tenants was around $80, so difference of around $431.  There is difference of opinion with the partners as to how much to ask the tenant to pay (one says 50/50, one says tenant bears most of the responsiblity).

Look forward to your input. Thx.

Here is an odd one that I would love feedback on.

Bought a multifamily with a shared laundry room which included a coin operated w&d.

Seller (let's call him Steve) disclosure had a line asking if there were any leased appliances. Seller Steve said no.

Forward 5 months after closing. I need to service the washer, repairman asks for the key to open it and my local partner wasn't given one. Called Seller Steve to ask for the key and he said "We didn't own those. They are leased."

Found out who Seller Steve leased with. I will call him Laundry Larry. Larry said that Laundry Company don't do commission on such small multifamily units, it would be a lease to rent and owner would have the key to empty the coinbox.

I asked who has been paying the lease these past 5+ months since I haven't heard from Seller Steve or Laundry Company at all. Laundry Larry said his company has just been collecting the coins every month and not getting paid a lease rent. So this is odd because he said they don't do the commission service agreement for properties this small. Just rental leases.

Laundry Larry told me the lease was assignignable and transferred to the new owner at sale. 

Seller Steve did not communicate this at any point. There is nothing in the paperwork. In the disclosures it says no leased appliances. 

Laundry company has not communicated with the buyers at any time over the past 6 months.

Laundry Larry said a washer and dryer are leased to that property, but only a washer is there. 

Laundry Larry said that is between buyer and seller to sort out. I am thinking that it is between the two parties who are on the lease to sort out (Laundry company and Seller Steve). Not the buyer.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Karen - I am working with 5+. I have no idea why I suddenly thought I needed to give the account number (I am rolling my eyes at myself) since I never had before. There is currently a non interest bearing account for this and documentation to the tenants have just provided the bank name. I would have deleted the post if it was allowed. 

You said you made it clear that you don't want fees taken out - how did you get them to accommodate that other than by meeting minimum balance or combined minimum balances? 

Thanks!

The small business banker who initially set up the zero interest bank account for me said that he put restrictions on the account that won't allow for withdrawals on the funds sitting there. He has since left the company. When confirming some information with another small business rep, they said that anyone with the account number can access the money. So far the bank reps have no suggestions - I am dealing with the 1-800 small business center and a rep in my home state, people not in FL.

I'm from out of state and haven't dealt with a situation like FL, where the landlord is required to provide the account number and name of the bank holding the security deposit. 

Looking for how other people are handling this. Thanks

I am managing a property in FL that was purchased with a tenant mid lease (no sale of property clause). 1st month - tenant paid after 3 day notice was posted. 2nd month - tenant still hasn't paid, but anticipating she will pay before 3 day notice is finished or within a day or two, so before an eviction can get processed. 

Question is this - has anyone terminated a lease for repeatedly violating terms the lease (rent due date) within a 12 month period? 

There is a state statute that discusses a tenant receiving written notice of a curable lease violation, then violating that same curable lease violation within a 12 month period being cause for a landlord to terminate the lease.  The examples provided do not include late rent notices, but I didn't see anything excluding it. 

Thanks

There was one vacant unit, when the offered to fill it we declined. This is a current tenant whose lease had expired 08/30, so we were anticipating giving him notice so as to rehab the unit and raise to market rents. Instead the morning of the closing current owner had tenant sign a lease renewal dated last January through 05/31/21, and sent it over literally an hour before closing. Evidently the owner has 20+ multi family properties, and Zero record keeping. Another learning experience.