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Old 01-22-2008, 07:33 AM
 
Location: North Texas
382 posts, read 951,234 times
Reputation: 262

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Quote:
Originally Posted by RoaminRed View Post
Not so. If someone calls me for a reference and the person was a bad tenant, I merely say "Yes, they rented from me during X time period, and I cannot give them any recommendation." You cannot be sued for not giving a recommendation. You can't be successfully sued for giving a BAD recommendation either, because the truth is always a defense against charges of slander.
You can be sued for anything by anyone. You still stand the expense of a suit whether you win or not or whether you even get to court or not.
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Old 01-23-2008, 12:45 PM
 
Location: Oz
2,238 posts, read 9,730,349 times
Reputation: 1398
Quote:
Originally Posted by expgc View Post
You can be sued for anything by anyone. You still stand the expense of a suit whether you win or not or whether you even get to court or not.
In small claims court, sure you could be sued for anything. And the judge would laugh it out of court for being frivolous, which means the person that brought the suit bears the costs.

If anyone went to an attorney and said they wanted to sue because they weren't given a recommendation, that attorney isn't going to take the case either because he/she isn't going to win it. You cannot be forced to give anyone a recommendation, whether good or bad. And in fact you are a lot more vulnerable legally if you give someone a GOOD recommendation.
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Old 01-24-2008, 01:23 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
1,368 posts, read 6,488,137 times
Reputation: 542
Quote:
Originally Posted by expgc View Post
You can be sued for anything by anyone. You still stand the expense of a suit whether you win or not or whether you even get to court or not.
If needed, you could and should counter-sue for your costs. Judge Judy For The Win!


Okay, on to MY wonderful horror story.

My father owns 2 duplexes in Everett, WA, when we bought the place, the previous landlord was a jerk, and needless to say, what was 4 occupied units quickly became 1 occupied apartment, with at least 1 tenant stating that they would have stayed had they known he was selling.

Anyway, One of the apartments has dog food, etc left behind the refrigerator, its a mess. Its not terrible, but its a mess. And the others needed fresh paint, wallpaper inside the kitchen cabinets, etc. For landlords, this is pretty normal and minor stuff. No big deal.

Fast forward to June of 2006. We have a family living in one of the units, and they have now defaulted on the rent.
I believe we give them a month to catch up and be current before starting the process, and they didn't even attempt.

3 day notice goes up. No action.
10 day notice. No action.
Summons and Complaint filed. 7 Days later. No action.
Default hearing scheduled. No action.
Writ of Restitution filed and served. No action.
Sheriff's office joins myself, my father, my father's friend (and tenant), and my friend to perform the physical eviction.
This is now mid August.


Now, before I start this, you folks that have had to deal with the physical damage of a unit, I really cannot comprehend the shock, disappointment and loss you suffered. Sheer physical destruction is an entirely different realm than what we've dealt with here. Sure people have made holes in walls, destroyed appliances and what not... but, some of the things described here make me reconsider my investment choices.


We walked into a place that, the only proof we had that people lived there in the last month, was that other tenants had seen them do so.

There was garbage, EVERYWHERE. Of course, sorting between the garbage and the stuff that was valuable was... a challenge. So, we get to work, we move furniture out, we bag up clothes, we get everything. I found at least one meth pipe, and possibly two. The Sheriff just told me to throw it.

But, the worst... was the fridge. Power had been off for a month or so at this point. (independent to each unit) and so... the items that had been in the fridge and freezer were no longer items. They were soggy bags of crumbly mush. And oh my god was it nasty. The entire fridge was a wall of black maggots, and flies, and the smell, and yeah... I couldn't deal with it. I had to wait outside for half an hour as my friend pulls meat that should be frozen, and crumbles in his (gloved) hand.

Simply atrocious.

After all of this occurs, the woman tries to take us to small claims for not properly storing her 'valuable' items, like Jewelry, etc. We didn't find any jewelry. Bad people need to stop this crap.


My father ended up replacing a floor joist, but we had to replace carpet all around, re-paint, and buy a new fridge. In addition to sucking up all the other costs associated with evictions.
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Old 01-24-2008, 01:25 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
1,368 posts, read 6,488,137 times
Reputation: 542
Oh, bad people continue to get places because many landlords do not do the full history reports. They tend to go for credit history, and then talk to a previous landlord or two.
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Old 01-24-2008, 06:04 AM
 
5,047 posts, read 5,751,450 times
Reputation: 3120
[
After all of this occurs, the woman tries to take us to small claims for not properly storing her 'valuable' items, like Jewelry, etc. We didn't find any jewelry. Bad people need to stop this crap.


My father ended up replacing a floor joist, but we had to replace carpet all around, re-paint, and buy a new fridge. In addition to sucking up all the other costs associated with evictions.[/quote]

Made me also remember that our wonderful tenant who trashed the house, took me to small claims court for the return of her security. Luckily the judge saw thru this person and actually wrote down on the court answer ; plaintiff caused much more damage than she is seeking.

Defendant (me) got the award.

Now I see her giong into the food pantry behind my childrens school.

Oh well, guess daddy isnt taking care of her anymore.

dorothy
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Old 01-27-2008, 01:55 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
185 posts, read 564,156 times
Reputation: 58
Everything that you guys are saying makes me so sad!

My fiance and I are current tenants. We have been living in our apartment for a year now and will probably be here until this fall. I just can't believe the way tenants treat other people's property. Now, I'll admit that sometimes (when things get really hectic) we let the messes around the apartment get a little out of control (but I'm talking about leaving clothes laying around, or papers, such as mail, tends to overtake every surface ) but we could never destroy anything, we would feel too bad. For example, the carpet seems to have taken a real beating, even though we don't wear our shoes through the apartment (although it does look a lot better after we steam clean) and we stress about it all the time.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think the way people treat property that does not belong to them is just disgusting! The real shame is that the rest of us, who are "good" tenants, have to suffer because landlords have to make stricter rules in order to protect their investment.
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Old 01-27-2008, 06:31 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
1,368 posts, read 6,488,137 times
Reputation: 542
Quote:
Originally Posted by ampetry View Post
Everything that you guys are saying makes me so sad!

My fiance and I are current tenants. We have been living in our apartment for a year now and will probably be here until this fall. I just can't believe the way tenants treat other people's property. Now, I'll admit that sometimes (when things get really hectic) we let the messes around the apartment get a little out of control (but I'm talking about leaving clothes laying around, or papers, such as mail, tends to overtake every surface ) but we could never destroy anything, we would feel too bad. For example, the carpet seems to have taken a real beating, even though we don't wear our shoes through the apartment (although it does look a lot better after we steam clean) and we stress about it all the time.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think the way people treat property that does not belong to them is just disgusting! The real shame is that the rest of us, who are "good" tenants, have to suffer because landlords have to make stricter rules in order to protect their investment.
Its definitely true. I was renting a place with a few of my roommates, and one day we noticed the carpet looked absolutely nasty. So, we rented a rug doctor, moved the furniture and cleaned everything up.
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Old 01-28-2008, 06:01 AM
 
5,047 posts, read 5,751,450 times
Reputation: 3120
Its called taking responsibility for ones self.

A lot of people have a problem doing that.

When we rented ; and we did for 7 years, we always cleaned the house/apt. When we left, I ahd a house cleaner come in and also had a carpet cleaner come in so that the hosue was spotless.

I still had to take the landlord to small claims court to refund me my two months security. I think it was that they jsut didnt have the moeny and took the time. They had a check for us at the courthouse. Meanwhile during the time it took for the case, they went to Florida for vacation!!!
dorothy
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Old 01-28-2008, 06:35 AM
 
Location: where I dont want to be
240 posts, read 1,062,877 times
Reputation: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by Radek View Post
Oh, bad people continue to get places because many landlords do not do the full history reports. They tend to go for credit history, and then talk to a previous landlord or two.
Most individual landlords I have found stop at the credit report and go no further which in my mind is ridiculous. You can have shotty credit, but be an excellent tenant. If they would go the next step to call other references instead of going by a FICO score they would see this. If I were a landlord, I would go by personal references first, than maybe pull the credit. Thats just me I give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to finances because we have all been thru it with financial burdens. If you say you haven't you are lying.
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Old 01-28-2008, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
1,368 posts, read 6,488,137 times
Reputation: 542
Quote:
Originally Posted by mom2boys37 View Post
Most individual landlords I have found stop at the credit report and go no further which in my mind is ridiculous. You can have shotty credit, but be an excellent tenant. If they would go the next step to call other references instead of going by a FICO score they would see this. If I were a landlord, I would go by personal references first, than maybe pull the credit. Thats just me I give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to finances because we have all been thru it with financial burdens. If you say you haven't you are lying.
It can be expensive to get all those reports. I don't think most landlords require a perfect credit history, and thats where the last landlord comes in handy. Say someone has a 600 credit score, which puts them as 'risky'. But the last landlord has information on that, or affirms that rent was always on time, etc.
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