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So I guess by the majority of responses in the thread, prison does not rehabilitate.
Seventh, my main concern is for the OPs financial and above all else physical health. From reading his posts it is clear that he is a novice landlord and is making some very questionable decisions. The one about hiring his prospective tenant who is a convicted felon to guard his building is a real doozy. It's one thing if the OP wanted to lend the guy 10 bucks and got burned, however that is not the case. At the very least he could be out thousands of dollars in lost rent. At the very most he could be facing civil litigation if his prospective tenant victimizes one of his other tenants or God forbid kills again.
I do believe that people can be rehabilitated. But why should the OP with all his other concerns, like making sure his copper pipes stay put, add to his troubles when they can easily be avoided by putting someone into that apartment with a clean record and credit report?
If I were a NYC landlord faced with a potential tenant who just got out of 30 years in jail for a murder, it's not up to me to ruminate on whether prison rehabilitates. For me, the risk factors that go along with being an ex-con with no credit history and no employment for 30 years are way too high to offer a lease to a tenant in NYC.
Let's not get the issues mixed up.
OP, does the person have a job now?
Henna, the only difference between the ex-con and a person graduating out of college is that he has a felony on his record. The college graduate often has no employment history, save a few internships, and no credit history as well. Matter of fact, they might even have a bad credit history because these corporations are notorious for pushing credit cards on these kids when they're in college and those textbooks are expensive. So you're right - let's not get the issues mixed up.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
Seventh, my main concern is for the OPs financial and above all else physical health. From reading his posts it is clear that he is a novice landlord and is making some very questionable decisions. The one about hiring his prospective tenant who is a convicted felon to guard his building is a real doozy. It's one thing if the OP wanted to lend the guy 10 bucks and got burned, however that is not the case. At the very least he could be out thousands of dollars in lost rent. At the very most he could be facing civil litigation if his prospective tenant victimizes one of his other tenants or God forbid kills again.
I do believe that people can be rehabilitated. But why should the OP with all his other concerns, like making sure his copper pipes stay put, add to his troubles when they can easily be avoided by putting someone into that apartment with a clean record and credit report?
Damn. IMO You pay your debt to society, come home, and nobody wants to give you a chance. Might as well stay in prison. what's the point of being released.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
The recidivism rate for people who have committed first or second degree murder is actually very low. That said, I would feel uncomfortable renting to someone who spent that amount of time in prison because they will have a hard time finding a job. I'd check the guarantor very thoroughly because it is very likely that person will be paying the rent.
Damn. IMO You pay your debt to society, come home, and nobody wants to give you a chance. Might as well stay in prison. what's the point of being released.
Good point, Seventh. I also don't know how people on this thread except the OP to find this perfectly wonderful tenant with a good job and good credit history to rent an apartment in an area that's considered the worst neighborhood in the city!
At a certain point, ex cons have to rejoin society. He has been living in a halfway house. If he has been well behaved there, why shouldn't the OP take that into account and give this man a chance? And if he's done 30 years in jail I doubt he's going to be hanging out with street thugs (he's too old, for starters).
Good point, Seventh. I also don't know how people on this thread except the OP to find this perfectly wonderful tenant with a good job and good credit history to rent an apartment in an area that's considered the worst neighborhood in the city!
At a certain point, ex cons have to rejoin society. He has been living in a halfway house. If he has been well behaved there, why shouldn't the OP take that into account and give this man a chance? And if he's done 30 years in jail I doubt he's going to be hanging out with street thugs (he's too old, for starters).
Shows how people really think man.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
If you're worrying about it this much even before you rent the place to him, imagine how much more this worrying will increase when he moves in. Just be professional, let him know based on his application you will not be able to give him the apartment.
You have other tenants to look out for and it is your responsibility to provide them with a safe dwelling in exchange of the rent they're paying you. Not to mention your own safety.
Henna, the only difference between the ex-con and a person graduating out of college is that he has a felony on his record. The college graduate often has no employment history, save a few internships, and no credit history as well. Matter of fact, they might even have a bad credit history because these corporations are notorious for pushing credit cards on these kids when they're in college and those textbooks are expensive. So you're right - let's not get the issues mixed up.
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Originally Posted by Beejay24/7
Originally Posted by Beejay24/7 The guy is working two jobs, he's in a halfway house but he has to move because they need to lodge other people.The apartment is in Brownsville, as my contractor pointed out, he'll fit right in with the neighborhood, what was I thinking when I invested my life savings into buying this property ?,I thought well it's just down the road from Atlantic Ave,which is undergoing gentrification, there'll be a lot of foot traffic, I know, I know, if only I had known about the info I'm getting from the boards here BEFORE I bought, I had no idea about the crime rate and problems, but now I'm stuck, I am trying to take all the precautions I can, I got security cameras and alarms, after some crackheads stripped the copper pipes from the building, I intend to employ a security guard to hang around a couple of nights a week, heck, I might even get my prospective tenant to do it, he's already proven he can do hard time ;-). I haven't advertised either unit but people who see the renovations have been dropping by, and are being turned away - I already decided I didn't want section 8, or single young parent with child- my contractor's an old Irish guy who's been a landlord, he pointed out that you take a young woman and you have to deal with boyfriends moving in and babydaddy drama, and these are studios, not set up for a bunch of people, they've been nicely renovated , I want to keep them that way, and hopefully with this guy producing some income I can afford to hold out for a tenant with a solid employment history and decent credit in the second unit, if things work out and business does ok, I might just switch to air bnb and just rent out to students from abroad coming in for the summer. I do appreciate the advice and comments, some of them crack me up,as to why I feel compelled to help this potential trainwreck, well I had an old teacher that used to say, we are all just one bad decision away from disaster, and I'm keenly aware that if it weren't for an old school dad that put a foot up my behind when I needed it, my life could have gone in a completely different direction.
If you're worrying about it this much even before you rent the place to him, imagine how much more this worrying will increase when he moves in. Just be professional, let him know based on his application you will not be able to give him the apartment.
You have other tenants to look out for and it is your responsibility to provide them with a safe dwelling in exchange of the rent they're paying you. Not to mention your own safety.
Read that the OP has not been able to get "good tenants" because of the neighborhood he owns the building in? It amazes me how people can 100% give out advice without any consideration of the people in it. Should the OP go broke and not have any money to pay his mortgage? The OP is going to have to rent out to people this forum considers bad. Either he rents out to Section 8 people, or he gives people like this man a chance.
I also don't see how people can be so callous to the OP. Due to the neighborhood, either the OP is going to have to rent out to Section 8 people or give less than ideal people like this ex convict a second chance. Yet because of their own fears, they'd rather the OP go broke and not rent out to anyone. Are people telling the OP not to rent out to this man going to pay the mortgage on his property or pay for the rent?
I do think the OP may want to think about renting out at least some of his apartments to people on government programs, given the neighborhood and location. Screw the old Irish guy and his complaint about baby daddy issues. You'd want at least some of your apartments to have guaranteed income.
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