My Landlord is allergic to cats - but will never live in my apartment (Chicago: renter, eviction)

[Parnassia]

If any of you outraged SJWs would go back and read the OP you'd notice that the LL agreed to a hypoallergenic cat breed (NOT a shorthair). She's not evil, she offered a reasonable accommodation; quite reasonable because even a hypoallergenic cat will produce allergens. The OP is finding that inconvenient. It's not impossible. She'll need to look farther. Nothing dictates that her "supposed" ESA (which her therapist hasn't even suggested it needs to be) must be a cat. I could also be another type of small pet. Ball's in the OP's court IMHO.

[Robert9]

Originally Posted by wase4711

let me know when you are in court, trying to convince the judge that your cat is a "service animal"..I want to film THAT one and submit it to "Worlds funniest videos"

Still not reading what I said I see. Hmmm I wonder why

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Sigh. And THIS is why more and more small landlords will stop doing residential rentals, especially in cities like Chicago. I myself would not purchase a residential rental unit on a bet, I'd much rather put money into a commercial unit, where you still have the right to evict renters who decide one day that all landlords are greedy bloodsuckers, and decide to stop paying rent. In a commercial unit, you simply put a padlock on the door until they are caught up with rent. Can't do that with residential, and that's why I would never own it, simply too many headaches for the return on investment. My sister and BIL owned an apartment building and a house they rented decades ago, until renters taught them this lesson - never again. A friend owns a small trailer park in central Illinois, and he wants to unload it, no more playing landlord for him either.

A decade ago, "storage units" were the smart place for those wishing to purchase real estate to put their money; with brick-and-mortar giving away market share to online sales, seems hard to believe that commercial retail buildings would make sense today - especially since it appears that the cops won't be stopping disgruntled folks from burning it down on you going forward, which means your insurance costs would be huge (or unavailable). So, going forward, I would expect higher costs for renters. Which almost seems counter-intuitive - mortgage rates are now in the 2-3% range, so you would think that more renters would become buyers, creating an oversupply of rental units. When I came of age in the late 70's / early 80's, mortgage rates were like 14%. Do the math, and you'd think that single family homes would be in great demand today.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by Curly Q. Bobalink

Sigh. And THIS is why more and more small landlords will stop doing residential rentals, especially in cities like Chicago. I myself would not purchase a residential rental unit on a bet, I'd much rather put money into a commercial unit, where you still have the right to evict renters who decide one day that all landlords are greedy bloodsuckers, and decide to stop paying rent. In a commercial unit, you simply put a padlock on the door until they are caught up with rent. Can't do that with residential, and that's why I would never own it, simply too many headaches for the return on investment. My sister and BIL owned an apartment building and a house they rented decades ago, until renters taught them this lesson - never again. A friend owns a small trailer park in central Illinois, and he wants to unload it, no more playing landlord for him either.

A decade ago, "storage units" were the smart place for those wishing to purchase real estate to put their money; with brick-and-mortar giving away market share to online sales, seems hard to believe that commercial retail buildings would make sense today - especially since it appears that the cops won't be stopping disgruntled folks from burning it down on you going forward, which means your insurance costs would be huge (or unavailable). So, going forward, I would expect higher costs for renters. Which almost seems counter-intuitive - mortgage rates are now in the 2-3% range, so you would think that more renters would become buyers, creating an oversupply of rental units. When I came of age in the late 70's / early 80's, mortgage rates were like 14%. Do the math, and you'd think that single family homes would be in great demand today.

too bad this happened to you as you seem to be a great landlord one would love to have. unfortunately the bad experience soured you and made you more cautious. another one bites the dust thanks to lousy crappy entitled jerkoffs

[ChiGuy2.5]

As a landlord myself who is actively in contact with other groups of landlords... we all agree that cats are bad for the investment. I am a huge fan of cats but I would never allow them in my rental unit because they can ruin carpeting and smell up the unit. The litter box alone creates a smell that is AT BEST difficult to remove.

Suggesting that this makes someone evil or greedy is absurd. If you feel such a desire to have a pet then move into a unit that allows one OR buy your own place to live in. Your desire for an animal should not be a burden to the person who provides you with a home to live in. Being a landlord is not something that makes me a ton of money, I was sort of thrusted into it. Why should the property I worked so hard to own and the money I invested into the carpet and paint be ruined by your own selfish desire?

[Robert9]

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

As a landlord myself who is actively in contact with other groups of landlords... we all agree that cats are bad for the investment. I am a huge fan of cats but I would never allow them in my rental unit because they can ruin carpeting and smell up the unit. The litter box alone creates a smell that is AT BEST difficult to remove.

Suggesting that this makes someone evil or greedy is absurd. If you feel such a desire to have a pet then move into a unit that allows one OR buy your own place to live in. Your desire for an animal should not be a burden to the person who provides you with a home to live in. Being a landlord is not something that makes me a ton of money, I was sort of thrusted into it. Why should the property I worked so hard to own and the money I invested into the carpet and paint be ruined by your own selfish desire?

Human animals do far more damage than non-human animals so do not let humans in if it concerns you so much. And yes it is evil to not let a person have a pet that they need for thearapy. Beyond cruel and evil

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by Robert9

Human animals do far more damage than non-human animals so do not let humans in if it concerns you so much. And yes it is evil to not let a person have a pet that they need for thearapy. Beyond cruel and evil

Robert, I wish you health, and happiness, and wealth. And I wish you to take that wealth, buy a residential building, and become a landlord. And then after a couple of years, get back to ChiGuy. I usually keep microwave popcorn in the house, and will gladly nuke a bag for THAT particular thread.

[Robert9]

Originally Posted by Curly Q. Bobalink

Robert, I wish you health, and happiness, and wealth. And I wish you to take that wealth, buy a residential building, and become a landlord. And then after a couple of years, get back to ChiGuy. I usually keep microwave popcorn in the house, and will gladly nuke a bag for THAT particular thread.

I know a few landlords and have always been friends with the ones I have had including the one I have now. They are not as powerful or special as certain people here seem to think.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by Robert9

I know a few landlords and have always been friends with the ones I have had including the one I have now. They are not as powerful or special as certain people here seem to think.

Oh, yeah - my friend inherited his trailer park from his folks - when his Dad bought it, he thought he was going to be "King" of his new community. He found out that he had far less rights (especially in Illinois) than he thought he did. In Illinois, you have to give the residents a full year's notice before you can close the park, it is very complicated to increase rents due to the notice involved, etc., people can move in, pay a month or two's rent on a rental unit, then quit paying you and trash your trailer during the three months it takes to get an eviction, etc.. I would rather eat a dead horse tail-first than own a trailer park, especially with the margins involved in rural Illinois, If I had my Buddy's place, I'd close it, plow everything under and plant raspberries or something.

One problem you will have when you get your own six flat, is that one resident will want a therapy-cat, another will want a therapy-Rottweiler, another will claim allergies and sue you for allowing therapy-cats and therapy-Rottweilers, another will have PTSD and sue you for the noise when the therapy-Rottweiler gets hold of the therapy-cat's tail when it swings under the tenant's door, the Section-8 lady with the six kids will insist on playing baseball in your parking area, and they will no doubt tangle with the Michael Jackson impersonator who wants to moon-walk across his 3rd floor hardwood floors every night while playing Billie Jean on his tuba. Read the C-D forum on renters, it's an absolute brain-buster what renters expect because "after all, they are paying the bills". And all of them will have months when "They shouldn't have to pay rent because....(sad story), even though the bank will giggle at you, the landlord, if you ask them to let you slide on the mortgage.

Question: How do you get the last twenty percent of the kernels to pop in a bag of microwave popcorn without burning the first-popped corn?

[ChiGuy2.5]

Originally Posted by Robert9

I know a few landlords and have always been friends with the ones I have had including the one I have now. They are not as powerful or special as certain people here seem to think.

I'm just a regular guy with a regular job who happens to own two homes. I rent out the other in order to help pay the bills on the property. I saw a paper loss of around $800 last year on it. Obviously I am earning equity in the property which is what keeps me in the business. Soon it will turn positive in cash flow but that will be another year or more.

I'm certainly not powerful, rather powerless. I am not special, but neither are renters. The only power I have is to have control over what goes on inside the properties I own, within legal bounds obviously.

I don't know why that's a hard concept to grasp. If I say no cats, then no cats, period. I don't need excuses and I certainly shouldn't have to justify that to my renter. If the OP really needs a therapy cat that bad they can move forward with getting the ESA to certify one. Even then, I think it's a ****ty situation for any renter to do that to their landlord because at the end of the day it's their property and they should have control over what goes on with it.

You act like us landlords are rich, out of touch, and heartless. None of that is true. We are people just the same as you and our financial situations aren't always hunky dory. I know many landlords struggling to afford mortgages because of the eviction ban. Many are paying two or more mortgages out of pocket. That's not possible to sustain for MANY!