Wanna know where your tax dollars are going? (apartment, lease)

[Cida]

What I'd be curious about is your vetting process - exactly how you managed to get yourself this sub-par tenant. I'm guessing that a more thorough preliminary check, with some conversation, could have warned you away.

[SobroGuy]

In general, Landlords are as much to blame for lousy tenants as lousy tenants themselves. When all you want is the first one who shows up with cash, or do not check credit, bank statements, pay stubs, etc...you are setting yourself up for a disaster.

And money aside, what is just as important is the type of person you are brining into your building. Are you comfortable with them? Do they speak well, present themselves well? Are they educated and professional? Friendly? Having the right fit for the building is just as important as someone who can pay. For example, someone can have excellent credit and making $300K per year, but if they are in a band and will be practicing at home, this is a huge problem for other tenants.

[Kefir King]

Alas, in an economy where 1 in 5 cannot find a job, if

they force her to take an unskilled job? Even one that requires no physical exertion (although she's physically capable)???
Supermarket cashier? Flipping burgers? Waitress?

"they" will have to fire someone holding the job to make room for her.

In order to demand people get jobs a good first requirement is that there are jobs to get. There are none today.

[SobroGuy]

Not true...they can hire someone in addition to the current staff...which means the company is growing. And yes, there are jobs to be had today..it just so happens people would prefer sitting home collecting a check, or living off mom/grandma, than working a full-time, no benefit, no time-off job for peanuts. And I can understand that mentality...I don't necessarily agree with it but I understand.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by blue dome

I have a low-life, chronically rent-delinquent tenant who has just successfully gotten herself on "public assistance". Food stamps, Medicaid, partial rent payment, Obamaphone....

The crazy thing is that this person, single, no dependents, about 40 years old, is able-bodied, is not mentally ill, and, at least to my knowledge, has never even been hospitalized. She lives on the fifth floor of a walk-up. So she climbs up and down four flights of steps. That is, of course, when she's not sitting on her sofa watching her cable TV or enjoying her internet service. Which she seems to do most of the day, every day.

How many thousands of $ is just this one person costing us? Why don't they force her to take an unskilled job? Even one that requires no physical exertion (although she's physically capable)???
Supermarket cashier? Flipping burgers? Waitress?

I'm sick and tired of the welfare mentality that this city, state, and federal government encourages. And sucks the tax payers dry!

You have no idea what's wrong with that tenant, especially if she really is single with no dependents getting all this aid.

If you really want her out start making moves to evict. You have legal grounds. She's always chronically late. In many cities, a landlord can evict on this alone. I know in LA, I was told that if a tenant is late more than three times, then the landlord can evict.

Have you tried getting rid of them?

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by SobroGuy

If you really care about where your tax $$s are going, you shouldn't waste your time on the crumbs handed to the destitute, and instead focus on the tens of billions shoveled to corporations...corporations that already make billions on profits! Nevermind they don't pay taxes by keeping profits overseas. But that's not all, those same companies pay their employees peanuts and since they earn so little, the employees get tax payer funded insurance (medicaid), food stamps, and government rent vouchers (like section 8). These companies offload the entire cost of employee to the tax payer, AND pay them nothing.

If you want to talk about a monumental fleecing of taxpayers...THAT is it. Don't waste your time complaining about the guy who just stole $10 bucks from your wallet...you should be complaining about the banker who stripped the equity out of your home, stole your retirement funds, and created the entire global economic collapse through sheer and unabashed fraud.

If you followed the money trail...it does NOT lead you to the housing projects!!

The tears cannot stop dripping down my face.

Yes!

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Cida

What I'd be curious about is your vetting process - exactly how you managed to get yourself this sub-par tenant. I'm guessing that a more thorough preliminary check, with some conversation, could have warned you away.

To be fair, a landlord could vet til the cows come home, but MENTAL ILLNESS and PHYSICAL DISABILITIES (either seen or unseen) can hit ANYONE OF US.

The OP says the person 'appears' to be a "healthy, able-bodied" adult with no dependents to be held back from working. Obviously not, if she's receiving all this aid.

[skinnayyy]

Originally Posted by Kefir King

Alas, in an economy where 1 in 5 cannot find a job, if

"they" will have to fire someone holding the job to make room for her.

In order to demand people get jobs a good first requirement is that there are jobs to get. There are none today.

What should happen, is that a "New Deal" type of program should happen again. If the the government is going to be handing out money because there are no jobs, why not create jobs, and then pay them. They're spending that money regardless, so why not get something out of it?

Instead of paying for peoples rent and the obamaphone and all the other subsidies, they could create a job for them and then pay them a 30k a year salary, and then let them live on their own. they don't like it, they don't get paid.

[11KAP]

If your taxes keep going up just to support the poor and the rich, that's crazy. It's like the system wants you to be one or the other. Otherwise, you're the dummy, right?

[bill83]

Originally Posted by SobroGuy

In general, Landlords are as much to blame for lousy tenants as lousy tenants themselves. When all you want is the first one who shows up with cash, or do not check credit, bank statements, pay stubs, etc...you are setting yourself up for a disaster.

And money aside, what is just as important is the type of person you are brining into your building. Are you comfortable with them? Do they speak well, present themselves well? Are they educated and professional? Friendly? Having the right fit for the building is just as important as someone who can pay. For example, someone can have excellent credit and making $300K per year, but if they are in a band and will be practicing at home, this is a huge problem for other tenants.

You have a mindset of the coop board chairman.