We have a portfolio of over 1,000 rentals in a wide range of neighborhoods in Cleveland.Tenants got into a fight over a nominal sum of money.

Plan for the worst and fight for the best.  

The previous tenant apparently ran a "dog fighting ring" in the garage and there was blood and hair and excrement everywhere in the garage.

A friend who was a landlord with problematic tenants in the past tells me that if they do fight us legally, in her experience, things are always in favor of the tenants, and she suggests just dropping it and returning their whole deposit.

The tenant was kicked off of section 8 months later and tried to fight me when I served her eviction. 

THEN he had to fight to get one or the other back.

@Michael BaumNot surprised by nyc doing this/ dc did something similar of course ny is 100x larger than dc but larger cities are fighting rental price increases and by adding more long term rentals into the market they will view it as a win (that is their opinion not mine)Thus this is why many preach to make sure your numbers work as a LTR in case issues like this occur

Either they have a big secret or thier labor is dirt cheap because when the numbers really don't make sence you have investors at these deals fighting over eachother for them.

When something goes wrong, you can find the best contractor for the job, who can make the repairs right away, and now your tenants are happy, and you have minimized the time you would have spent speaking to your tenants about the delay or fighting a warranty company.

I'm willing to pay for that sort of expertise, but just couldn't fight the feeling that it was more than others who are equally qualified might cost.