All Forum Posts by: Tom C

Here is my problem. I own a duplex and it shares a driveway with the house next door. That’s not a problem, but the duplex behind mine, seems to think they can use my drive too. They use the back entrance of their apartments. They have their own drive, which is on a main highway, and less convenient, so the tenants and their friends use my drive.

The first complaint I received from my tenants was because the other tenant’s friends were speeding through the drive and causing a safety concern with the kids in the area.

So, I contact the landlord of the other duplex and he claims that it is a “community drive†and when he owned my duplex, he was told that there was nothing he could do to stop other tenants from using it. He also made clear that he was not his tenants “father†but he would “express my concern†to her.

So I went over and asked them to stop using my drive, they claim their landlord said it was OK. I told them that they are trespassing and I needed it to stop. They agreed and everything has been ok for the past few weeks.

I get a call last night from my tenant and apparently they are using the drive again and their friends are even parking in my tenants’ area. Before you say to put up a fence, there is no way to do this, because the house next to me still has to use the driveway.

I don’t want to have to put out the money for a survey and a bunch of legal work to get this Slumlord to comply. What is the best course of action to take here? I need some out of the box ideas.

I don’t understand how this drive could be considered a “community driveway†when they have their own drive, but how do, I prove this? I usually settle issues like this with a 2x4, but in this case, the landlord is a local business owner and I am sure he has better lawyers then I do.

Welcome Joe. I am about 30 mins Northeast of you. My wife grew up in Hartville. Have you lived there all your life?

I have a pretty amazing story. So I am over at the duplex and the one tenant told me she'd really like to do some landscaping and was wondering if I could buy a few plants for her to put in.. I said sure. So I go and get 8 plants, 2 of each kind for each side of the front steps.

So, we will call her Chris, is very excited and starts to plant her side right away. Then she tells me that she's not planting the other tenants side. I told her that if she's not doing it and the other tenant isn't doing it, then someone better tell me, so I can do it. So Chris says she will get the other tenant to do it. OK..

So I go back a few days later to lay down some mulch and when I checked the other tenants flower bed, I noticed that they planted the plants, still in the freaking black plastic pots!! I was amazed. I pulled the tenant out along with her boyfriend and asked her just what they were thinking.

They really did not have a clue. They did not know that you were suppose to pull the plants out of the plastic pot, before planting it. Now granted, they are kids, mid 20's, but even if you have never help your parents, grandparents or watched Gardening by the Yard..

Wouldn't common sense simply tell you that you had to take it out of the pot before planting, but then again, this is the same tenant, that just had her 4 kids taken away and is now pregnant with twins.

Sure, I would too, just to protect your own investment. It just rubbed me wrong when a tenant thinks that you are going to be responsible for protecting their stuff during a natural disaster.

B/C area? Most likely you will not get bank statements. If it's anything like most of my rentals, they always pay in cash. You can ask to see receipts though. My tenants even the ones on the bottom of the food chain, always asks for a receipt, in most cases just to take it back to welfare. You need to find out the duration of the current leases. Hopefully he was smart enough to put them on month to month. Also, don't forget he will owe you security deposits. You need their personal info so you can run your own background checks. Making sure you don't have a sex offender or a major felon. As far as the figures, all you can do is calculated your cost based off what the leases say they pay in rent and then figure in your cost. It's either going to be a winner or loser. Hopefully there are no common areas and you are not responsible for any utilities. If you inherit a bad tenant and find out about it later, all you can do is get rid of them very quickly after closing. The scary part is waiting to get them off his lease and on to yours.

Hmm. If they are worried about their belongings getting damaged, they need to buy rental insurance. Protection of your property is your business, not theirs.

Not sure if I would ever buy without seeing the inside. I have been in many vacant homes and have seen some really nice ones from the outside, only to open the door and see mold growing in every part of the house. Minor things like missing copper, broken pipes, hot water heaters are one thing, mold and termite infestation can bankrupt you fast.

I bought a duplex last summer that came with tenants. The first thing I asked for were current rent rolls, apps and lease agreements. Luckily, all of their lease agreements had expired. After I purchased the place, the tenants had to fill out my application, go through my background check and then sign my month to month lease agreements.

It took several months to retrain these tenants and I am still working on it. They were used to having a nonexistent landlord and a neighbor lady next door who was supposedly managing the property, but actually caused more problems and drama then anything else. After many discussions with the tenants and neighbors, I got the place in order, but it took a lot of work and a lot of time.

Every time I got a complaint from a neighbor, I pulled the tenant out in the front yard, in front of the whole neighborhood and chewed their ***. They learned that I wasn't going to put up with any crap or drama. I made it clear that it was my house and they would abide by my rules or they would be leaving.

One other thing they learned was that if they had a problem, they could actually call or text me at any time and I would solve the problem right away. Not days or weeks later like the previous landlord. I wasn't happy about taking on someone's else tenants, but they pay on time and with a lot of patience, a big stick and a lot of shock an awe, things finally have turned around. For now!

You could always put an RV on it and rent it out as a brothel. That will at least cover your taxes and insurance.