Don't hate the landlord

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I am so sorry to hear about your experience!

My parents' friends used to own rental properties, and they had a similar experiences. One couple bought a new house and rented out their old one. The tenants were supposed to be "trustworthy" (local school teacher/coach and kids). They absolutely destroyed the house. I think the low point was when they shut off the heat in the winter while they were away and a bunch of stuff ended up freezing and bursting.

Another couple had rented out their deceased parents' house, and they too regretted it. Not only did they make unauthorized "modifications" to the house (like removing a bathroom and turning it into some other kind of room), they took the furnished appliances with them when they moved out.

It is truly awful how some people will behave.

 

[china mom]

Saw that many times, an unauthorized pet, or pets. It’s usually not long until they move someone in. Sometimes it’s a relative that just got out of prison, or a drug addict. Usually it’s someone down on their luck, at best.

Yep. I was on FB and saw a mention on our Local Sheriff's page about a drug arrest in another part of the county and it said that the arrestee lived on Dudley Ct. Nosey me wanted to see which neighbor got arrested and I looked up the case in the court system. I was shocked to see my address . I immediately sent my PM over to question the tenant and do a bed count. The tenant convinced the PM that the guy was an employee and used my address when booked because it was the only address he had memorized.

But, while there, the PM discovered that the authorized girlfriend had moved out and the unauthorized ex-wife had moved in. So, we had her fill out an application and approved her. I should have saw all of this as red flags but the guy was paying rent on time and the PM assured me that the house looked fine on the inside. Now the question is, was the house OK until near the end or does my PM suck? I like this PM but I am going to have to hold his feet to the fire from here on out.

 

[kdonnel]

I have never heard a positive landlord story. I'm not sure the exact reason why. Some is because people rarely take the time to talk about positive experiences and some is because being a landlord sucks. Just not sure the ratio between those. I'm thinking it might be 1% people not telling the positive stories and 99% being a landlord sucks.

I know in my neighborhood, which rents for $2500-$3000, it is expected that the carpet is replaced between every tenant. My neighborhood is child heavy and kids are tough on carpet.

Being a renter is not much better these days.

My daughter had a horrible experience with one of the many large companies that own the majority of rental properties in the Metro Atlanta area. Days after moving into the home the sewage started backing up. They ended up with several inches of sewage in the lowest finished part of the time.

It took close to 50 calls to the rental company over a multi day period before a plumber was dispatched. They only sent a plumber when I told them I had looked up Georgia law and was within my rights to call my own plumber and send them the bill.

In the end it was fixed and the sewage was cleaned up but my daughter and her roommates were unable to use any water for 7 days. They got $50 off their $2500 monthly rent for their trouble.

Good luck!

 

[barkley]

Yep. I was on FB and saw a mention on our Local Sheriff's page about a drug arrest in another part of the county and it said that the arrestee lived on Dudley Ct. Nosey me wanted to see which neighbor got arrested and I looked up the case in the court system. I was shocked to see my address . I immediately sent my PM over to question the tenant and do a bed count. The tenant convinced the PM that the guy was an employee and used my address when booked because it was the only address he had memorized.

But, while there, the PM discovered that the authorized girlfriend had moved out and the unauthorized ex-wife had moved in. So, we had her fill out an application and approved her. I should have saw all of this as red flags but the guy was paying rent on time and the PM assured me that the house looked fine on the inside. Now the question is, was the house OK until near the end or does my PM suck? I like this PM but I am going to have to hold his feet to the fire from here on out.

did the p.m. take photos? what does your contract require of them regarding inspections of the home (and documented proof)? you might want to check your contract-a friend got a 6 figure settlement from her property manager's insurance company b/c they were NOT doing inspections as the contract called for nor did they have the photographic proof of the home's status at each inspection (or emergency inspection) as the contract also called for. tenants had done over 100K in damages by the time friend found out via police being involved.

 

[china mom]

I have never heard a positive landlord story. I'm not sure the exact reason why. Some is because people rarely take the time to talk about positive experiences and some is because being a landlord sucks. Just not sure the ratio between those. I'm thinking it might be 1% people not telling the positive stories and 99% being a landlord sucks.

I know in my neighborhood, which rents for $2500-$3000, it is expected that the carpet is replaced between every tenant. My neighborhood is child heavy and kids are tough on carpet.

Being a renter is not much better these days.

My daughter had a horrible experience with one of the many large companies that own the majority of rental properties in the Metro Atlanta area. Days after moving into the home the sewage started backing up. They ended up with several inches of sewage in the lowest finished part of the time.

It took close to 50 calls to the rental company over a multi day period before a plumber was dispatched. They only sent a plumber when I told them I had looked up Georgia law and was within my rights to call my own plumber and send them the bill.

In the end it was fixed and the sewage was cleaned up but my daughter and her roommates were unable to use any water for 7 days. They got $50 off their $2500 monthly rent for their trouble.

Good luck!

I am so sorry to her your daughter's horrible landlord story.

You are right when you say that you never hear good stories. They just don't make good headlines. I have awesome tenants in one of my houses. The renter has converted the house (at her expense and must return it to the original condition) into an assisted living facility. I think she has about 6 residents and it is staffed 24/7. I had to go over and look at some storm damage and the house is spotless. We did have one issue with the washing machine being misused but we replaced it and notified that the next time was on them. No problems since.

Another tenant is in the "so far, so good" category as she has only been there a year. That's the house that I just spent $33K on. I replaced all of the carpets in that one with vinyl plank.

My problem house, OTOH, has had one or two amazing tenants and a couple of problem ones. Surprisingly, one of my better tenants was a bridge construction company who rented the house for two years to provide housing for workers. They kept the best care of the house out of all of the renters I have had.

What is interesting is that the two "good" houses are in a more tenant friendly county and known for higher crime. My rural house in a landlord friendly county with almost no crime had given me the most headaches. All three houses rent between $2400-$2750.

 

[china mom]

did the p.m. take photos? what does your contract require of them regarding inspections of the home (and documented proof)? you might want to check your contract-a friend got a 6 figure settlement from her property manager's insurance company b/c they were NOT doing inspections as the contract called for nor did they have the photographic proof of the home's status at each inspection (or emergency inspection) as the contract also called for. tenants had done over 100K in damages by the time friend found out via police being involved.

My PM did take photos during one of his visits/inspections during the lease but not of every room. Some things, like the damaged sliding door, would only be revealed if he had operated the door. I do believe that the tenant was keeping the house up pretty well up until maybe the last 6 months - and that is around when we approved the ex-wife moving in. I am thinking that he probably had some other unauthorized people there and that is when the damage happened.

My PM is very young and new to the business. I was one of his first three clients just a couple of years ago and he now has several employees and managed many properties. He is being mentored by his father - who owns tons of rentals. I decided to give the young guy a chance after my previous PM bungled it last time. He runs two of my houses and the other PM has one. I sent him a pretty scathing email earlier this week after I visited the house and discovered the air filter had not been changed in well over a year. That is the type of thing that I expect him to be checking on twice a year. No excuse for missing that. It is fundamental.

I will be holding his feet to the fire from here on out.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

$10K in repairs isn't just wear-and-tear from normal living for 18 months.

We've been in our current house for 14 months. In that time, they've had to replace the roof; fix a hole in the garage wall; fix a crack in the wall in the kitchen above the stove; deal with a leak in the wall between the house and garage; replace the refrigerator; and spray for ants...all of which needed to be done before we moved in, but had not been addressed by the management company or the owner prior to us moving in. The only damage we knew about prior to move in was the hole in the wall, and the crack in the wall. I should not be held accountable for those damage, or the cost of them. I also shouldn't be held liable for the damage left in the outside walls by the roofers when they removed the gutters and didn't replace them, or for the fence and gates, which were not in great shape before we moved in, and have yet to be repaired.


We were in another house for 7 years. That house needed to have new carpeting when we moved in (poorly laid, as in loose in the bedrooms, and thin in the walking areas in the living room and halls), but we weren't really worried about that, as we had a dog at the time, and I was ok with the old carpet, just in case. The house also had a bad fence (it blew down twice in hurricanes, and we were able to just put the pieces back into place, but they were damaged), and needed a full inside paint when we moved(I mean, 7 years....). That landlord tried to charge us for the painting, cleaning/damaged carpets; replacing the fence; and replacing the carpets with linoleum throughout the house. After 7 years, those things needed to be done regardless, and the costs were dismissed by the judge in small claims.


Those costs are part of doing business, and are on the landlord to cover. If they want to make rent a higher amount to recoup their costs, that's their choice. As a renter, I can rent from them, or go elsewhere; that's my choice. But I honestly don't want to hear complaints about having to repair things that aren't my fault.

 

[china mom]

We've been in our current house for 14 months. In that time, they've had to replace the roof; fix a hole in the garage wall; fix a crack in the wall in the kitchen above the stove; deal with a leak in the wall between the house and garage; replace the refrigerator; and spray for ants...all of which needed to be done before we moved in, but had not been addressed by the management company or the owner prior to us moving in. The only damage we knew about prior to move in was the hole in the wall, and the crack in the wall. I should not be held accountable for those damage, or the cost of them. I also shouldn't be held liable for the damage left in the outside walls by the roofers when they removed the gutters and didn't replace them, or for the fence and gates, which were not in great shape before we moved in, and have yet to be repaired.


We were in another house for 7 years. That house needed to have new carpeting when we moved in (poorly laid, as in loose in the bedrooms, and thin in the walking areas in the living room and halls), but we weren't really worried about that, as we had a dog at the time, and I was ok with the old carpet, just in case. The house also had a bad fence (it blew down twice in hurricanes, and we were able to just put the pieces back into place, but they were damaged), and needed a full inside paint when we moved(I mean, 7 years....). That landlord tried to charge us for the painting, cleaning/damaged carpets; replacing the fence; and replacing the carpets with linoleum throughout the house. After 7 years, those things needed to be done regardless, and the costs were dismissed by the judge in small claims.


Those costs are part of doing business, and are on the landlord to cover. If they want to make rent a higher amount to recoup their costs, that's their choice. As a renter, I can rent from them, or go elsewhere; that's my choice. But I honestly don't want to hear complaints about having to repair things that aren't my fault.

I 100 percent agree with you that that those are not your responsibility. I did not complain about the other house where I had to put $33K in because of deferred maintenance/updating. Nothing negative said about the previous tenant. I got the house in that condition and with that tenant in place and gave him his security deposit back .

But, in this case, the carpet was only a few years old and had no tears or stains and had to be replaced. The sliding door was just installed immediately prior to his moving in and had to be replaced again. I have no idea what he did to the pool but am strongly suspecting that he ripped the liner - probably the unauthorized dog was swimming in it. The 15 year liner was only five years old.

I turned over a freshly painted house and he left many "nail holes" that you could stick a pencil in so I had to pay for a lot of wall patching and painting.

Things I consider wear and tear and not his responsibility: bathroom fan doesn't work, one of the ceiling fans doesn't work, I would forgive one ripped screen but three plus another several missing all together. Damaged wood blinds are something that I could go either way on but to have ALL of them damaged is just rude.

The kitchen cabinets are functional but look dated so I had them painted a modern white and am replacing all of the dated countertops. Those are expenses that I am willing to pay to keep the house nice.

I take pride in turning over a good house. I probably do a little too much. Landlords like your bug me. A tenant should not have to constantly deal with issues like you had to.

 

[China Expat]

Our home was a rental from 1991-2014 while we lived on campus in boarding schools. In all of that time we had one bad tenant. They stopped paying rent the last two months, and failed to show for the final walk through upon vacating the house. They caused $20K worth of damage, mainly caused by an adult son fresh out of prison who moved in and trashed the place. For added fun, they left an abaondoned van on the driveway that stained the driveway with oil. I contacted one lawyer who said we won;t see one penny from her for the last two months rent and damages. UGH.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Renting/being a landlord is a tricky thing to navigate, and I'm sure there are dream matches and bad seeds on both sides.

I definitely sympathize with you in your case, and you can absolutely cry on our shoulders here! It sounds like the person broke a ton of rules, and didn't even try to work with you when they had financial problems.

But I understand the fear of getting a landlord who is not like you, too. - My DS had a landlady in college who kept their security deposit and asked for more - for outdoor storm damage! (I guess she thought "kids" wouldn't challenge her.)

I think people like her give landlords a bad name, just as tenants like yours do for renters. I don't think I would dare to take the risk myself, but I hope things go a lot better for you next time, and you get someone great!

 

[barkley]

I sent him a pretty scathing email earlier this week after I visited the house and discovered the air filter had not been changed in well over a year.

horrific personal flashback!!!!!

when we sold our prior home we moved into a rental while we sought out a new home (in another state) to rent or buy. about a month or so into the lease the a/c seemed not to be working well (very hot region, we were used to managing the a/c to maintain a temp/minimize utility bills). we called the landlord and reported the issue but she was less than responsive and didn't push the issue with an hvac company to come out for about a week or so. by the time the hvac company came out there was NO cold air coming out and really no air to speak of. long story short-prior tenant of 3 or so years apparently never replaced the air filter in the system and as a result it not only burned out the entire hvac unit-it collapsed all 2 stories of duct work. think of when you have thick milkshake and try to drink it through a straw which collapses into itself-that's what happened to the all the duct work in the home. sooooooooooooooo expensive for her to repair.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

horrific personal flashback!!!!!

when we sold our prior home we moved into a rental while we sought out a new home (in another state) to rent or buy. about a month or so into the lease the a/c seemed not to be working well (very hot region, we were used to managing the a/c to maintain a temp/minimize utility bills). we called the landlord and reported the issue but she was less than responsive and didn't push the issue with an hvac company to come out for about a week or so. by the time the hvac company came out there was NO cold air coming out and really no air to speak of. long story short-prior tenant of 3 or so years apparently never replaced the air filter in the system and as a result it not only burned out the entire hvac unit-it collapsed all 2 stories of duct work. think of when you have thick milkshake and try to drink it through a straw which collapses into itself-that's what happened to the all the duct work in the home. sooooooooooooooo expensive for her to repair.

Oiy.

Our landlord charges us $20 extra a month and sends out a filter (coded with a date) for a monthly change. I could buy a 3 pack of much better filters for less than that, and change it 3x a month if needed, but they were insistent on doing it this way. It's also written into the lease if they come in and find an old filter in the unit, we can be evicted.

Not that it matters, because I have yet to meet anyone from the management company. Not even for any of the damage; they just send out contractors. The guy they sent to do the first refrigerator repairs had no clue what he was doing and broke the water lines, which caused the water leak I talked about, but he didn't report that he did that, so when I saw water puddling in the garage from the wall, I assumed it was an in-wall leak from a pipe or from the roof. The other contractor took out sections of drywall (in the garage, behind the washer and dryer, and in the pantry) trying to find where the leak was, when all he had to do was move the fridge and look at the water lines attached to the wall...

We were in a house (prior to the one that we were in for 7 years) for 15 months, and they would come do a walkthrough every quarter, with photos. It was a bit of a pain, as someone needed to be there for it (since we had a a dog), but it was the best kept property we've ever been in, and that includes the fancy apartments and townhomes.

We were in an apartment (between the current house and the 7 year house) that needed the entire a/c unit replaced while we were there; they were the original units that had been put in when the apartments were built, and they were failing one by one. They had to replace the water heater in it too; and there was a leak from the upstairs neighbors laundry area.

In the house that we were in, that i mentioned in my last comment, needed to have an entire new a/c system put in as well. Again, it was the old, original system there; and it took 3 years for them to replace the entire thing. The first year, they just came and did some maintenance to nurse it along; the 2nd year, they replaced the outside unit; and the 3rd year, the inside stuff.

(Edit: and did I mention that this house needed to have the inside a/c unit worked on when we moved in? We moved in and discovered the heat and a/c weren't working. It was a brand new unit; whoever installed it didn't do it correctly, and left it half connected. It took three different work orders to get it connected correctly; and another two to get them to come charge and connect the outside unit....I really need to find better landlords, apparently...)