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I rented my home near Anchorage to a lovely couple for 2 years. Rent was mostly on time. They found a home and I let them out of the lease 3 months early. I came to find out then in 2011 that he had touched up all the paint with the wrong color and it required repainting which he refused to pay for. Things did not end well.
The home was re rented immediately and has been for the past 2 years. We visited the current tenants two weeks ago. They have taken very good care of the place. He mentioned that the outdoor electric box was sparking and my property manager arranged for an electrician to go by.
She found that the ground fault receptacle had been removed and a conduit wire placed with the incorrect contact. She capped the wires and removed the conduit/and will next place a new ground fault switch with a lock on it.
I know people are untruthful esp when it comes to money. But this was a nice family. He an engineer. What would have caused this level of dishonesty? I wonder.
In any case I now have a stellar prop manager with >$2000.00 deposit. Just mystifies me. I had thought that I was the exception to the renter experience. After learning about the gerry rigging electric work I now know I guess that simply no body in the renter game can be trusted. Shucks.
If the first tenant was an engineer, there is the answer to your question. Engineers think out mechanical things differently than you or I. He probably had a perfectly good reason for doing what he did, whether it was correct or not. It's not dishonesty that he didn't tell you. He most likely never thought that he did something wrong.
My nephew is an engineer. The stuff he comes up with is mind boggling. He takes joy in making the simplest task as difficult as possible
In the next lease, underscore and put in caps and have the tenant sign additionally beside it that no changes/fixes/improvements whatsoever will be made without signed approval by the owner.
If the first tenant was an engineer, there is the answer to your question. Engineers think out mechanical things differently than you or I. He probably had a perfectly good reason for doing what he did, whether it was correct or not. It's not dishonesty that he didn't tell you. He most likely never thought that he did something wrong.
My nephew is an engineer. The stuff he comes up with is mind boggling. He takes joy in making the simplest task as difficult as possible
That is just as stupid as some of the stupid comments I've read about Realtors.
You want to make a simple task as difficult as possible??? Just look at all the forms you require before closing a deal, and you tell me who is making things as complicated as possible.
Board of Realtor forms are that complicated so that they are almost impossible to complete without a Realtor. And anyway, they are copyrighted and only Realtors can use them.
Your only alternative is to hire a lawyer. Or get really stupid and let the other party's Realtor represent you.
I know people are untruthful esp when it comes to money. But this was a nice family. He an engineer. What would have caused this level of dishonesty? I wonder.
It is just human nature. You get enough humans and some of them will act that way. Doesn't matter what their occupation is. Engineers are humans. Realtors are humans. Some humans are dishonest, so it stands to reason that some engineers are dishonest and some Realtors are dishonest.
What you learned -- if you indeed learned anything -- is that you should have your Move In Move Out form completed by the tenant within X days of occupancy -- 7 days is a good number -- and then you should have been present and completed YOUR side of the Move In Move Out form and noted any differences that cannot be accounted for by normal wear and tear. If you weren't there for the completion of the Move In Move Out form then you didn't learn to be there and complete it.
Had you done so, and had you been observant, you could have withheld the deposit until paint was corrected. I would have repainted the house or apartment and deducted it from the deposit -- after documenting it sufficiently to stand up in court.
As far as the GFI I'll admit your average or even above average landlord would probably not spot that. Bad luck. As a landlord you got to write off a certain amount to what retail stores call "shrinkage."
We rented a townhome in Anchorage through a property management firm to a German petroleum engineer who was single.
Nearly every appliance in the place had to be replaced during that year's lease. From the garbage disposal to the microwave and washer. I think the only thing original left at the end of the year was the refrigerator and the furnace.
Come to find out he had moved his daughter, her boyfriend and their combined kids in. In violation of the lease agreement. Nobody cleaned. They drilled holes in the walls to string wires around.
At the end of the lease, we had to refinish the hardwood floors, patch and repaint the entire place, and have the carpets cleaned not once but twice to get them looking decent.
The property management firm gave him back his deposit. Told us we had to expect some "wear and tear" on a place.
Turns out they were more interested in keeping the oil company as their clients than they were concerned about us or our townhome.
Oh wow did you learn a lesson! I don't know if you are anywhere your rental -- probably not -- but your management company has a conflict of interest. If this is recent I think you should contact a lawyer and explore filing a lawsuit against the management company.
Did you have a home warranty? Or did you have to pay for the appliances yourself?
I'm my own management company on my 4 rental homes. They're out of state and 7 hours drive each way, but I have my cousin living nearby, I have a good team, and I have a home warranty on each property.
Furthermore I plan to inspect each property a minimum of once a year, maybe twice if I get bad vibes.
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