Sounds to me like you need an agreed service time.

Emergencies, like no hot water, no fridge, etc, on site and fixed in one day.

Minor irritants like the dripping tap, within five working days.

Non critical issues addressed in two weeks.

You acknowledge the receipt by email or text immediately.

Or something similar. In return, they agree not to withhold rent unless the time frame above is exceeded.

One of my "most happy" days was when I quit being a landlord...

Even good, long term tennants really suck imo. So if ya have to be a LL, then you get anybody out ya don't like...30 day notice...so you can move on to reasonable tennants who just really suck ;).

I've never done, nor had to do this btw...

And that partner....Fred?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1560448908.jpg

Serve the papers today.
That will either shut her up or get rid of her, either way you are better off.
Withholding rent my ass.

Told my partner last nite ,that he may have operated like this, but I will not live this way. This is MY house, and I will not have a tenant strong arm me, and with hold payments .
I just sent her a text that laid it all out. I was polite, and to the point, but basically said, that rents not paid on the 1st are late rents, and will be treated as such.
Thank you for your help . Life is too short. I actually do not care if she moves out. We can rent for 250 more a month, and will never have to put up with this again .
I reminded her that we have taken care of every single request she has ever had, and never once raised the rents in 10 years .
I like coming on strong. I've thrown 2 dead beats out in the last 6 months, and am not afraid to keep going .
Just looked and we put her on month to month a few years back. Bye Felicia !

^^^ (Sammy) Mebbe I should've read a bit more too :(.

Don't look a gift hors....

GTFO my lawn and outta my house....30 daze.

Ten years...LOL..:(

edited: Fred....you rock man....typing as I was.

You got this Fred....

Damned straight I do. Rent was in the mailbox next door ( we own that one too) 25 minutes after I texted her .
I'm getting good at this, and really feel in control, because I know the laws, and what is required of me . I have also, dealt with most of the situations that crop up , and usually have a decent game plan formulated. Repairs are being made today, but moving forward, rents not paid on the first are late . She threatened me with the magistrate. I informed her that I would be happy to meet her there.
I have learned quite a lot about people doing this .

Call my bluff, go ahead, I dare you.

People suck for the most part.

OK, I'm not actually THAT grumpy, old and cynical. Most folks are OK, but there are enough crappy ones out there that make me not want to deal with any of them.

More than enough of them to ruin a guys day. Having been self employed, and having rental houses for the last 20 years, I've got a sour taste in my mouth for people and their petty bullshart.
I've been pushed around my whole life, but at 49 years old, I've had enough and I am doing the pushing now. It is either my way , or the highway. I do not have a lot of money, but I have structured my life, as to where I have to answer to no one I am my own , self made man, and just want to ride out the next 20 years with as little drama as possible.
Again, thanks for the advice. My partner just texted me , and said they are all done with the repairs. 8 days from my finding out to fixed . No need to withhold the rent check . That is more than reasonable in my mind. I am 100% sure that most landlords in my sector of the market, are not this quick at making repairs. I hear stories all the time of landlords who fix nothing.

Wow, 10 years and no rent increase? Are you in an odd area where property values haven't gone up?
Has your partner really been sitting on her request to fix this stuff for 3 weeks?

You got on it quick, but what about your partner?

Yeah, that is a whole other story . Partnerships never work . I've been trying really hard. I've got too much invested. I love him like a brother. Hate him as a biz partner . It all started out fun, and innocent , now, there is a lot at stake .

I was a landlord for years, the day I sold that property was one of the best days of my entire life. Just thinking of it brings a great big smile.

There's good money to be made in real estate but I'd have to be starving to do it again.

FIRST, you need to find out what laws limit you - PA, city, maybe county

you might be able to get that info from NoLo (book or website), or from a local landlord assn.

then, you can do anything you think best w/out getting sued

I've been on all 3 sides of this thing (tenant, landlord, & manager as a student) - it is an intrinsically difficult relationship 9so buy a REIT)

a tenant can do more damage to your property than any deposit by an order of magnitude or two (this happened to me - $10k worth of damages)

OTOH, some tenants are great - I had two instances like that in 2 different states, and felt like I had to advise them they should buy a place themselves (eventually, they did & next tenants were worse)

and, no they are renting the place, so you cannot park on the part they are renting

There are some tenants where recovery is not even possible.

You've rented them a nice fixed-up place at or below market value and are only asking them to pay their contract on time, not do damage, and be relatively courteous.

Somewhere along the lines they decide that you are making too much money or they are owed something and then the rot happens. It starts out small and only gets worse. One woman apparently decided I was a creep or something because I asked blunt normal questions about the apartment and looked her straight back in the eyes when she pulled weird mind tricks. I basically conveyed that I wasn't having that b.s. and who was in charge and that there would be no exceptions to the lease. For the rest of the term she would almost literally hiss at me. It was freakin hilarious. Her roommate was perfectly normal but probably not after that year.

Cost me the equivalent of a 964 cup car in legal fees to get rid of a partner(brother-in-law). And that was with a partnership agreement. Worth every penny, got rid of my sister too.

Don't delay the inevitable.

Had a pos lady tenant that moaned about everything. On one occasion she complained about the abundance of flies in her unit. I went to her place and asked her why did you take the screens off the windows? She actually said because she was letting them out.
Screen went back on and fly problem went away.

That actually works. Dark room + Open window. Works with birds too.
Wave a towel around to get them flying.

What attracted them inside? uh nevermind. mental bleach.

Go Fred!

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/2a/2aa6...09c5f619db.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/vuur.gif