As a precursor, please excuse the extremely verbose post that follows.As my bio states, I am a wild dreamer with a big heart.

I appreciate your letting us know about this man . perhaps you could have protected yourself better with a collateralised loan , but that is not the point . it does not excuse his corrupt behaviour and thank you for telling us. 

So, please excuse my rash demanding behavior thinking that demanding a little more effort out of new types will motivate them, I'm probably wrong. :) 

Excuse me if it seems like a dumb question just seemed a good chance to get an answer from somon with actual experience. 

For some tenants it could make them feel uneasy if they feel their landlord is using grass mowing as an excuse to check up on them (even if that’s not your intent). 

Electric wire , plumbing pipe all have date codes on them , the excuse of telling the inspector " it was like that" doesnt fly as well . as far as a deck , with the satelite photos , its hard to hide .

Let the prospective tenant know that the neighbor/realtor/friend may be dropping by "some papers" or something and you may have to excuse yourself for few minutes.3.

That way the "I forgot" excuse is not longer an issue.

Greetings all,My first investment property has become a victim of Superstorm Sandy.The one family house is now without electric, heat, or hot water.It will likely be months until essential services are restored.My tenant believes that this excuses her from any further rent payments until the house is repaired.How do I calculate what percentage of the monthly rent is owed?

There is more trouble figuring your ratios after any adjustments if you have adjustable rate loans, and computing equities to determine the down payment required, maybe an hour, hour and a half more in work.It is human nature to put off what takes longer to get something else done quickly that makes money and close deals, but ten weeks is negligence.If you go in yelling, they'll just deny the loan on an excuse, you won't win doing that, like their loan concentration to one customer.Go in and ask to actually see your loan file.