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Wow, this is awfully harsh. I had to rent out a home I had when I relocated. You can have the best lease, wording in the world but that doesn't mean that the person renting abides to it. From experience it is very hard to find people to pay on time and have respect for the property.
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Originally Posted by Sherifftruman
At the very least, you need to send them a certified letter explaining that it has come to your attention that _______ unauthorized modifications have been made and that you expect full restoration per the lease. That should stop his claims of tacit approval.
HARSH? If by harsh you mean honest, direct and to the point, nope. If by harsh you mean not feeling pity, yup. Good grief! This LL entrusted a property to this person without taking any precautions such as looking into a property manager. It's all well and good that neighbors/friends report what they see, but who is doing any inspections? Who is on-call to handle any emergencies? Who is on-call to deal with the legal issues or rent-collection? The friends?
I agree with Sherifftruman - send a letter and include cease/desist from any/all alterations. Include returning property to condition it was in when they took possession. Also include cease/desist using the basement as a bedroom. I would also ask for clarification as to how many people are resident.
I have no idea what property management companies any of you deal with. The ones we interviewed did next to nothing. They drive by the house once a month and report back. They don't go in the house except to do an inspection before move in and after move-out. If there is a call from the tenant regarding maintenance, they call the landlord and ask how they want to set it up.
Even while renting myself I never ever encountered any situation where anyone was performing inspections or anything else.
So, how would a PM company have changed this for me? I would have found out about the exterior painting at approximately the same time I did. Same with the interior. No one would have been inside, so there would have been nothing to report. And I would have had to pay someone for that.
Are there a bunch of PM employees and owners on here that are feeling slighted or something?
Your lease probably states no altercations without landlord's permission first. If that's the case hire an attorney or a process server to evict him now. Just because he pays on time does not make him a good tenant. There are plenty of people who will pay on time AND follow the rules.
After he's out go after him for the money. Since it is unlikely he'll pay, have the county courthouse line up a small claims court date and get a judgement on him. You'll have to hire an attorney (give him your lease and PLENTY of pictures of the damage and some estimates from contractors) to represent you on the court date since you live so far away. But if we are talking $1000s in damages and you think he has the money it might be worth it.
Notice to Quit goes out Monday.
Yes, our lease does clearly state that.
I think we will go after him for damages. Even if he can't pay, a judgement against him makes me feel a bit better.
The Realtor gave me all his pics. Dozens, so we should be set. We've got before pics as well.
I have no idea what property management companies any of you deal with. The ones we interviewed did next to nothing. They drive by the house once a month and report back. They don't go in the house except to do an inspection before move in and after move-out. If there is a call from the tenant regarding maintenance, they call the landlord and ask how they want to set it up.
Even while renting myself I never ever encountered any situation where anyone was performing inspections or anything else.
So, how would a PM company have changed this for me? I would have found out about the exterior painting at approximately the same time I did. Same with the interior. No one would have been inside, so there would have been nothing to report. And I would have had to pay someone for that.
Are there a bunch of PM employees and owners on here that are feeling slighted or something?
This was my experience as well. I interviewed 4 companies. Some wanted me to add them to my insurance so they would not be sued if (an example they gave) someone should trip on the sidewalk and look to sue. I got a quote and it would have made my rates skyrocket. Some wanted complete control over the property like if something broke they would make the decision, send in a contractor and then send me a the bill later. No inspections were ever mentioned. No monitoring was ever mentioned. In fact, one guy kept pushing me to do the rent to own route.
I guess I;m lucky, my PMC offers different services for different fees. You can get the basic which they deal with calls but you make all decisions all the way up to them activly managing all aspects and you just get a check each month.
My level is they handle renting, rent collection, legal issues, taxes, maintainance (I still have to O.K. major and capital expenses), they do the walk throughs, annual inspections, and tenant relations.
To the OP, one last thing before you proceed legally, check you state law to see what it says about absentee or distance owners. Some states or local areas require that you have a property manager (company or individual) who is local to deal with issues. You will be surprised how many times judges go very easy on tenant just because you didn;t follow that part of the law.
I am a LL with a property managed by a PMC. The company does an every 3 month walk-through inspection, has general maintenance people on contract and I get billed for the actual costs - UP TO a set dollar amount. Anything beyond either general handyman/maintenance issues or the agreed upon dollar amount and I get a phone call. They handle prospective tenant selection, the lease, collection of late fees (if any), and will handle an eviction should that become necessary. Other than approving expenditures above a certain amount NOT of an emergency nature, they send me a check each month minus their fees.
I imagine he painted the exterior an ugly Salmon color to discourage potential buyers. Sounds like he wants to maintain his rental, with a far away landlord. He removed the sign, chose a garish exterior color and painted? Do we even know if it looks like a professional paint job? Or if it is horrible? This guy is trying to block your ability to sell the house out from under him. Evict his rear AND all the kids. If he has kids living in a windowless basement, that is a liability.
I am a LL with a property managed by a PMC. The company does an every 3 month walk-through inspection, has general maintenance people on contract and I get billed for the actual costs - UP TO a set dollar amount. Anything beyond either general handyman/maintenance issues or the agreed upon dollar amount and I get a phone call. They handle prospective tenant selection, the lease, collection of late fees (if any), and will handle an eviction should that become necessary. Other than approving expenditures above a certain amount NOT of an emergency nature, they send me a check each month minus their fees.
If you have a good PM, they may be easier to find than in FL. My dad had an awful experience with a property manger in FL that ripped him off and rented the property to scum. Also, the rental market in FL isn't as good, so the cost of a good PM may not be worth it to some LLs...and it is obvious that there are a lot of bad ones down there.
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