All Forum Posts by: Wesley Jensen

Hey all, thank you so much for the replies and advice! The mitigation company hired by my insurance came out yesterday and said there’s a lot of moisture and the floor, cabinets and walls need to be opened up and dried. They somehow convinced my tenant it would be livable during this and my insurance agent has said they can pay me half a month rent if he stays (which I will pass the savings along to him) and if he decides it’s not live able they will give me a full months rent so he doesn’t have to pay. If he decides to go to a hotel he will have to go through his renters insurance (which I require per the lease).

The pex fitting that failed is part of a class action lawsuit and even with that info insurance won’t pay to have them all replaced. As the walls are open I’m going to pay out of pocket for any that are accesible to be replaced and then look into the lawsuit or file my own (all dependent on how much it costs) to be reimbursed.

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice, I sincerely appreciate it and if you have any more please keep it coming!

Hey everyone! I have a strange situation and am curious what everyone’s thoughts are. I had a cold water line pex fitting fail in the wall at my duplex. Water came in through the cabinets for 10-15 minutes and it destroyed the microwave and the controller on the boiler. My tenant cleaned all the water up but it’s unclear any residual damage in the wall or under the floor etc. I have filed an insurance claim and they are sending a mitigation company out who says they will assess and may (if needed) pull up the floor, cabinets, drywall, whatever needs to be done. I told my tenant the plan and he said he thinks it’s dry enough and liveable and does not want the work done and himself potentially displaced. He said he will reach out to the state for his legal tenant rights in this situation. I asked the insurance company what happens to him if it’s unlivable and they said they will reimburse me for missed rent, but if he is displaced it’s on his renters insurance policy to pay for hotel or whatever he decides. If work needs to be done to mitigate long term damage, can he say no to it being done? He is on a month to month lease so potentially I could give him notice and wait until the end of March. Any/all thoughts are welcome. Thanks for the help!

So there has been a new development. I hsvs stopped by many times and have not seen the dog. Yesterday, my tenant texted me that he is planning on registering the dog as an emotional support animal, that he has issues since the military and thinks this is a good option. After reading the posts on here it appears I must request a letter from his mental health professional and verify it. And other than that my hands are tied. I spoke with my insurance broker about it and they are saying since the breed is not allowed by insurance they will have to find a new policy that allows this breed and it will be more expensive than my current policy. This doesn’t seem right, I am forced to allow the dog (and not charge any increases or fees/security deposit), but my insurance isn’t forced to allow it? Am I missing something? Any help would be great, thank you all so much for your advice and support!

Thank you everyone for the advice! I did think about switching insurance but since they have not been forethcoming about the situation I don’t feel like I should go out of my way for them. My plan is to stop by unannounced and try to verify that they do have the dog. Right now it’s conjecture, although all signs point to it, I have no proof. After that I’ll proceed with the notice to quit and potentially eviction.

Hey all, I live and have a few apartments in Connecticut and I have a situation with one of my units. The lease has 4 people on it, a couple and two of their friends. I got a text from the couple a month ago saying they were thinking about getting a dog and asked how it works with the lease and if there were any breeds rhat were not allowed. I told them I take a $200 non refundable fee, the pet would have to be added to lease and all pet specific terms (already in lease) would have to be complied with, and told him to google “non insurable dog breed list”, but if they had any questions on a breed specifically I would email my insurance company. I hadn’t heard anything else about the dog until I texted about a window issue asking if I could be there to look at it in a few days. They responded asking how to get me the 200$ and that the dog they were thinking about needed to be adopted by this weekend or would be put in a pound. I asked what kind of breed and they sent me a picture of the dog and said German Shepherd. I emailed my insurance company and they sent me a screen shot of the policy clearly stating no German shepherds. I forwarded this along and they have now gone silent. I was at the apartment today to talk to the other tenants of the same apartment (it’s one apartment but two different sections of it), I saw a dog bowl and leash and asked the other tenant if they had gotten the dog and he stuttered and said it was for his parents dog when they stop by every once and a while. I walked around to the other section of the apartment and knocked on the door 3 separate time and waited 3-4 minutes overall with no answer (both cars were there). Called their cell phone and it was off. I left a message saying I hope they didnt get the dog and would look into the legal process of handling the situation, and to please call me back. So I have no proof they have gotten the dog, although it seems pretty clear. Because my insurance I can’t allow them to have it even if I wanted to... what can I do? Theres one lease for all 4 but can I provide a notice to quit to only two people on the lease? Also thinking if I provide to all that could produce some helpful peer pressure. I plan to stop by unannounced within the next day or so but assume they will keep avoiding me. Thanks for the help! -Wes

Hey I am searching for some advice on how to handle my current situation. I bought a duplex a year ago and my girlfriend and I house hack and live in the upstairs unit. We have an extremely friendly 11 month old poodle mix. I had new tenants move in below a couple months ago, and she has a small Shih tzu. My lease clearly states “only pet living on the premise is: Shih tzu”, and “ any changes in pet occupancy will require written consent of landlord”. During the first week the tenant moved in I saw her with two dogs (Shih tzu and a dachshund) and asked what was going on. She states it’s a family dog and kinda bounces around staying with everyone, and that “it will be staying here occasionally”. I was kind of taken aback by the abruptness of the statement and just said “okay” and never pushed it any further. It appears to be in the apartment for weeks on end now, and recently had two separate incidents. She mentioned her fan wasn’t working and after setting a time with her I went in to fix it when nobody was home. The dog was extremely aggressive barking and showing it’s teeth and I had to use a broom that it was afraid of to keep it from getting too close. I’m a dog person and this was surprising to me that it didn’t warm up or I was even afraid to put my hand out for it to smell and calm down. The second incident was yesterday when my girlfriend was walking our dog. She came back to our house and found the shih tzu tied up to our dog run (if we aren’t using it I have no problem with her using it), but the dachshund was off the leash and aggressively ran at my dog nipping and barking at it. My tenant had her grandchild in her arms so couldn’t stop it, so my girlfriend quickly brought ours upstairs and sent me a very upset text about the aggressive dog and not being able to use our own yard because of a dog that isn’t even on the lease! How do I handle this situation? Should it be added to the lease? (If it was originally I wouldn’t have thought anything of it as it’s not a generally aggressive breed) If that dog bites someone do I have any liability? (there is wording in the lease that the tenant assumes full responsibility for personal injuries and damages due to pets). There is also wording that the dog should be leashed at all times on property, but this would be hard to enforce because we are training our pup and often times have him off leash to teach come and other skills. On a side note I have a statement in the lease saying “pets shall not urinate or defecate inside the premise, this includes “pee pads””, and when I was fixing the fan noticed pee pads in the laundry room. I took a $200 non refundable cleaning fee and 1.5x security deposit so if it smells like pee when she moves out I figure I will just have it professionally cleaned and deduct anything over 200 from he security deposit. Any and all advice and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for your time reading and I look forward to hearing from you all!

I bought my first residential property (duplex) a few months ago and have come across what appears to be a good deal in a commercial property. So far I have a showing scheduled for tomorrow with the sellers realtor and the seller requested a pre qualification letter from my lender (which I have). Do I need my own realtor to represent me? I have never done a commercial deal, is it that different? Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks!

Thanks for all the advice! Unfortunately I can't move the closing because my rate lock expires the day closing is scheduled for. I have the move in checklist with everything marked as new. The seller will be giving me the security deposit at closing. I think my plan is going to see how the rest of it looks. If everything else is in good shape I will probably eat the cost of the cabinet and floor repairs and if there's other issues and I have to itemize everything anyways, I will deduct for them. 

@Ryan Scott Isacksen that's a great idea to deduct for a flea treatment, especially because it says no pets. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for the advice @Rob Orazi. That was kind of my thought that if that's the worst I find I'll consider it a win. I will definitely see if there are any other issues when she moves out and I can fully inspect the unit. If there are more damages (more than normal wear and tear) I will do my research and see what I'm legally allowed to charge and how it needs to be reported. Thanks again for the advice!

Hey Everyone,

I am buying my first rental property soon (closing 1/30) and have a strange predicament. The property is an upstairs downstairs duplex with a tenant in the top unit. The top unit was rehabbed prior to the tenant moving in (end of 2015) and the move in checklist says "new" for everything. I am doing an FHA loan and will be house hacking for the first year. The downstairs unit was recently rehabbed and is vacant. The current tenant pays under market rent ($875/month) and my realtor has said he thinks the downstairs should produce $1100/month. During my inspection I asked if it was possible to finish the attic into a master suite, making the unit 3 bed 2 bath and hopefully producing $1200-$1300 a month when I move out in a year. So I plan to rent the bottom unit and finish the attic and do some other improvement while I live upstairs.

So there is a little background and here is my potential problems. When I saw the house for a second time I noticed a leak under the sink, bucket full of water, warped bottom of cabinet and flooring around the sink. We showed the sellers realtor and he called the owner and they fixed it right away. I had asked that I purchase the property vacant, because 1) I want to live upstairs 2) not only the leak and damage, but the tenant has a dog which goes directly against the lease 3) unit producing under market rent 4) I was worried about dealing with an eviction giving the tenant 30 days to vacate which would be the end of February (not ideal to move in February in Connecticut). The owners said no to having the property vacant (they said they did not want the deal to fall through and have no rental income). Apparently they discussed this with the tenant and own a property nearby that she will be moving into Feb 1. Now I close Jan 30, so they will have to give me her security deposit and I will handle moving out checks and all. I have asked if she reported the leaky sink, or any other maintenance issues, and they refuse to answer because she is moving into their other property and want to keep good relations. 

Is it worth me assuming she didn't tell the owner (when I found it and told the sellers realtor it was fixed promptly), and keeping whatever it costs to fix the damages from the security deposit? Or just eat the cost and being happy its (almost) vacant?

This is my first post and I am very grateful for any advice or input! Thanks!