What do you think is a reasonable time frame for these repairs ?
 

If you were a tenant ... I think we are pretty good at taking care of issues as they crop up. Of course, a lot of times, the tenant feels the issue is urgent, and we feel differently, and take care of it when we can.
Take into consideration that we are a 2 man operation, with no employees.
When I cannot personally get to something, it can sometimes take a few weeks to get our handy man guy to show up for non emergencies .
Here is her list this month ( she always has a list )
1) cracking plaster on the wall next to the stairway heading upstairs
2 ). 2 ceiling tiles are stained , we had a leaky bathtub drain last month , ( which I fixed johnny on the spot
3). dripping faucet in bathroom .
She says she told my partner 3 weeks ago. I first heard about it last Tuesday, I bought the supplies, and dropped them off last Thursday, and and we are repairing tomorrow .
She is withholding rent till we make repairs . She has pulled this stunt with my partner for 10 years.
This don't fly with me. Im not being strong armed by a tenant . I do as good as I can with repairs , and always keep the lines of communication open, I think Im good.
What says you fellows ? Are these wait times acceptable?

This works both ways. Its about respect. Many people think that if they pay money, any amount of money, they can demand or be jerks about it. The "I a m paying for it" attitude doesn't sit well with me. Is it rent control? maybe its time to raise rent just to get rid of her?

I am so lucky that tenants are hand picked these days. I was willing to leave the entire house vacant for more then 8 months until I found my new tenant. This is the home I own two houses up from my own home so I have to bring someone good in there. Been two years, only got one text from her about the clog in the bathroom sink. It was hair. Showed her how to remove it so she was grateful about it.

The issue I see is that you don't have a proper way of recording requests that have a date stamp. In this time and age, I would require email or text message communication - that way she couldn't say she "mentioned it" three weeks ago.

3 weeks on a dripping faucet seems long.
A stained ceiling from a leak I would fix quicker too, you don't want anyone claim there is mold in the house.
Plaster on a stairway? That's a 6 month repair.

Put yourself in her shoes. If she really spoke up 3 weeks ago and nothing is happening or she doesn't have the date it will be fixed, she may be getting antsy. The two more urgent repairs sound like a 2 hour job total.

Just my two cents - I have been on both sides.

G

Fred may be in a different market. In CA rental property is sparse and rents have gone up steeply, so people keep a very low profile if they are in a house they like. In PA (?) it may be very different.

G

Cracked plaster? What caused the cracks? Did she cause that moving in?
Stained ceiling tiles? Go in there and blast them with a rattle can. She can deal with the smell.
Dripping faucet, LMAO. Just replace it. Does she pay the water bill, or is it included in the rent?

Go in there, fix the issues, collect the rent check. My guess is, that she doesn't have the money to pay the rent.

Be nice, don't apologise. Be prepared to evict her. Find out what late fee's are allowed in your state. Inform her, that late fees per day will be added when she is late/ refuses to pay rent. If she doesn't like that, tell her you are prepared to have her removed.

I handle some single family rentals for my parents. She is a problem renter. I have never dealt with a renter that complained about cracks. They usually cause them. If they choose to paint, they are charged to repaint in the std white on the ceilings and walls. I require, first and last months rent, and 1 months security deposit, before a lease is signed. If they can't come up with it, not my problem. It weeds out a lot of tenants.

Each house has central A/C. It is disclosed before the lease is signed, the A/C does not work, and it will not be repaired. They all work. A good tenant will have A/C if they know how to use a T-stat.

You post about tenants now and again. I would suggest that you look at the way you handle the landlord aspect. The houses I deal with are in the middle/upper range, of home sale prices in their towns.

I have no problem with a house sitting vacant for a month or two. Future problems can be addressed, upgrades can be made. Rentals get beat up, eliminate weak issues, make it robust.

Don't be afraid to ask more rent than the house/area warrants. It brings a better renter.

i had a friend with rentals, in a sorta bad neighborhood.

they refused to leave, numerous warnings

on a Friday night , with the late rent, my buddy shows up around 9pm.


takes the front door OFF the hinges.


says it needs repainting. it'll be back in 24-48 hours.


they were gone by next morning.

it works


Takes the front door off the hinges

I have never had to go that route, but I will. ;) I also have no problem parking a 5th wheel trailer or trailers in the driveway. ;) They can come outside, and I will change the locks. Lets call the police, lets go to court.

It's easier not renting to scumbags, but if I am fooled, I will deal with them.

Maybe its time for me to invest in rentals in your state. Sounds like its too good to be true. If you do that here, their lawyers will crawl up your ass to reach your breakfast faster then you can move that trailer. But then again, rent here is about 3500- 4500 bucks for a single family in a middle of the road neighborhood near town

Depend s on my tenant, some of them I fix stuff right the way, within 24 hours because they are great people and are never late with rent so I will hold up my end of the deal and get to repairs in a timely manner. The not so nice ones (only one), I make them wait 48 hours unless its urgent. Just be nice and treat everyone like if you want to be treated and people will do stuff for ya.

Find me a law that states that I can't park on my property. These aren't HOA properties. I know the laws. I am not a slumlord. I don't rent to scumbags. I know the laws.

With that said, I have no problem losing a few months rent, and eliminating problems in the future.

It's a business, treat it as so.

I know some owners who count every penny. They **** themselves day in and day out.

Okay, Okay. You know the law, got it. So where's ORD?

Out here, if your park on the driveway or garage that is part of the rental, then you have no right to park on or it in. We don't rent to low end people. They suck. They can bite hard in this state so we wait. I have an empty house now that's been empty going on 9 months and I have no desire to rent it short term. I will jsut open up myself to all kind of trouble. Its about to get rebuild along with a new house on the same property as soon as they city stamps my building permits.

BTW, I really have no desire to go to another state unless it gets really bad around here. Texas, would be a maybe

Didn't read very far Fred...life is short ;)....

She would be given her 30 day notice to vacate...no schit.

And if all your agreements aren't month-to-month from the git-go....start with....

NEXT!

edited: I keep tennants a long time usually....win/win.

Some...good riddance....and I know how ;)

Prevention is easier than cure so my suggestion is to get references from their bank, friends etc etc. Eliminate the would be bad tenants. In ten years we have had three sets of good tenants and never had to evict anybody.

It goes both ways. Maintain your rental house well. Ensure it is clean when you rent it out. Take pics before and after renting out. Make sure everything works and if service is required do it asap.

Make sure you have a comprehensive rental agreement that covers when rent must be paid, rental term etc. Set the tone of firm and fair from the start. :)

I assume you don’t have a rental contract and don’t have written communication about the problems.
You’re pretty much screwed if you have a bad tenant and no contract to fall back on. Fix the tile and the faucet and tell her the plaster is going to be cracked until you get around to fixing it.

Those 3 items have nothing to do do with the livability or rent. Send her written notice rent is late. If lease allows late fees, include that in notice.

As a once long-term tenant (I rented the same place for 13 years), I would fix small issues like those myself. A new o-ring in the faucet, a little paint on the ceiling and some plaster work by the stairs. Wouldn't even tell the landlord about little maintenance things like that, I would just fix it. Maybe that's why my rent was never raised in those 13 years.

Now as a landlord, tenants like that are best to replace. All those little things seem to ruin their entire life and they will use anything against you to screw you over. Fix what she needs fixed enough to get her to shut up and when the lease is up inform her there is no renewal as you're going to remodel the apartment because she was always finding stuff wrong with it.

Fred, thinking about this I think you need to step back and not take this personally. It's a business. She pays rent, you need the rent to pay bills. She has gotten away with strong arming you guys for 10 years by withholding rent? No lease? Get one. All correspondence, complaints, etc must be in writing. No more verbal to your partner. In our lease cosmetics and minor repairs are done by tenant, or it can wait until move out. Repairs under $100 are tenant responsibility. Late fees are defined $xx dollars per day.

Don't ever allow a tenant to make repair and take it off the rent. Every time we've done that, we've been screwed.

I think you need a new tenant.

It sounds to me like (assuming she's not lying) your partner is the problem. And if she's been dealing with your partner for 10 years, and he doesn't fix stuff for 3+ weeks regularly, she could have a reason to be testy. That all sounds like pretty basic, simple, non-emergency stuff, but if she's had this problem with your partner for 10 years, possible with more important fixes, maybe she's tired of it.

And possibly a new business partner.