I hate my ex renters...

cincycat13

Just venting because I can't sleep. Finally got the keys from my sqautters through the eviction process and got in the house.

Long story short...my wife and I decided to rent her old house after we fixed it up to sell last year. Late pay, to no pay, to eviction. Well, the lady has been "cleaning" for 2 weeks so that all of her deposit can be put towards rent due according to her. Even had her lawyer document condition according to her. So I am thinking OK...this will at least be easy to market.

The toilets and refrigerator pretty much match the oven picture.

I love the dog food left in the cabinet because the lease forbid dogs due to the brand new carpet.

I like the way they drilled a hole right through the new carpet to route cable to the basement...and then oh...four feet over drilled a new hole up through the floor and carpet for a new cable location.

And yes, that last picture is what the cable junction box now looks like outside.

She turned over the keys...left windows open, all windows unlocked, and the back door wasn't even locked when I went over.

So I have an AC unit that did not appear to work yesterday, broken windows, and wall repairs.

At least I have a clear space to set up some 2 channel testing while I work.:o

punk-roc

I keep telling myself that i'm never going to sell the house i've nearly paid off (and just rent it out if i ever move), but i keep hearing this types of stories from landlords.. terrifies me..

really sorry to hear about your lousy tenants =( It floors me what people think they can do to a rented property..

Jason

cstmar01

my girlfriend has the problem the other way around. after I cleaned her place they claim they had to install new carpet into the place because she had a cat. No other reason. Took the full security deposit of 435 plus 250 deposit for a cat and now claim she still owes 286 that's a 971.00 carpet. After looking at what they put in the other day. its the crap you can pick up at lowes ect seeing I found the same stuff there. small claims here we come.....

dkg999

If you're the landlord always ask for permission to run a credit report and references. Always have a friend who has first option to rent the place and you're still looking for a renter in case that falls through. Change the lease agreement so that you provide the lawn care and snow removal (and charge a premium for that), that way you have access to and a view of the property once a week in the summer and frequently in the winter. Since you're always at the property for those reasons renters tend to be a bit more considerate. Always document everything with pictures and a witness that was there when you took the pictures, and document prior to move-in, and after move-out.

ohskigod

I was a landlord for 2 years....NEVER again man, NEVER again.

definitly do credit checks, dont do the low price to rent fast plan, it will bite you in the ****.....ask me how I know.

punk-roc

just seems like more trouble that its worth.. gotta be something better to invest money in =P

Jstas

Dude, I would call the cable company and have them come out and check that. It appears that they broke in to the cable box and were stealing cable. You don't want that coming back on you.

Overall, that sucks.

Then again, I have horror stories about landlords too. Like the one who wouldn't replace a clothes washer that kept busting a leak and flooding my apartment. They finally did replace it and said they were going to leave the ruined carpet in place. (Thanks! Whatta pal!). Then when I moved out, I get a call a week after telling me I was responsible for the destroyed carpet. Had a shouting match and ended up telling them to take me to court 'cause I ain't paying for it when it's their fault. They said "We'll just take it out of your security deposit!" I said "Good luck with that!" and hung up the phone. I never paid a security deposit because I got the apartment through the housing assistance people at work. They had the security deposit waved.

cstmar01

honestly there can be terrible renters but also terrible landlords.

Such as I knew guys that because the police came one night to a party they decided to trash the place. When I mean trash I mean trashed probably about 8K in repairs had to be done, all new windows, doors, ridge, stove, toliets, sinks, everything.

but then like I noted above there are places that try and get away with everything they can while being a landlord.

IMO always do a credit check on the people. Also always verfiy employement, job time. Call past places they rented from and see what kind of history they had, late pays, messy, complaints, ect. Also I would say just put into the lease that you would do a check on the property every few months and give notice before a check would happen. You could just walk through the place and make sure nothing is out of wack ect.

You can make some nice money doing it, but also lose a lot if your not careful.

hearingimpared

That's awful CC! Is there any cheap legal way to get your ex tenents to pay for the damages and slobbery?

cincycat13

I wake up every morning and thank the lord for giving me another day to enjoy my loving family and blessing me with a great life.

Did get some shut eye and feel better. We did catch them in the residence to serve them during the eviction process so I have a stage 2 court date to get a damages judgement. Both tenants work local (and I know where) with local family so it will just take time.

So I call the HVAC contractor who serviced the AC unit in July of '09 with a 365 day guarentee. I think kewl, because I paid for the motor replacement last year, and this is what the problem is in my troublshooting opinion, or the compressor is locked up. The tenant paid the contractor, I re-embursed the tenant with reciept...guess whos check bounced to the contractor last year???

It's just a property problem and no one's health is at risk so this problem is really just a nuisance in the big picture. It just upset my wife, so I took it harder than I should have. And you guys are cheaper than a professional thearapist and I can't hit the bar late at night with a 7 month old.

j allen

That's interesting. I've never signed a lease that didn't have some sort of 'I can come check out my property whenever I want as long as I give you notice.' clause. Ended up basically at war with my last landlord, however; he would just break into the house whenever he wanted a look around, or some of our stuff. Needless to say, we didn't clean to well upon leaving that place.

However, my current landlord has been nothing but great, and as such, we are trying to return the favor.

It's a two way street.

Edit: Sorry if it seems like I'm making light of your situation cincycat. I didn't intend to come off that way. Some people are just awful tenants, and will continue to be awful tenants until they end up sleeping at the homeless shelter. (I imagine they'll be awful tenants there too.)

John30_30

cincycat13 wrote: »

I wake up every morning and thank the lord for giving me another day to enjoy my loving family and blessing me with a great life.

Did get some shut eye and feel better. We did catch them in the residence to serve them during the eviction process so I have a stage 2 court date to get a damages judgement. Both tenants work local (and I know where) with local family so it will just take time.

So I call the HVAC contractor who serviced the AC unit in July of '09 with a 365 day guarentee. I think kewl, because I paid for the motor replacement last year, and this is what the problem is in my troublshooting opinion, or the compressor is locked up. The tenant paid the contractor, I re-embursed the tenant with reciept...guess whos check bounced to the contractor last year???

It's just a property problem and no one's health is at risk so this problem is really just a nuisance in the big picture. It just upset my wife, so I took it harder than I should have. And you guys are cheaper than a professional thearapist and I can't hit the bar late at night with a 7 month old.

Bill's in the mail, friendo.

j.k.

Nice bounceback, and good onya. What you say is true and excellent, dude.

Demiurge

The problem with being a landlord is that your tenants have way more rights than you do and you own the damn property! Its so skewed to the point you'll want to puke. As long as you get good tenants you should be OK, but that's a hard rabbit to pull out of a hat sometimes, even with credit checks and everything else.

Sorry to hear of your woes with this. It really sucks. Its hard to find people that respect other people's property like it was their own.

Willow

Jstas wrote: »

Dude, I would call the cable company and have them come out and check that. It appears that they broke in to the cable box and were stealing cable. You don't want that coming back on you.

Overall, that sucks.

Then again, I have horror stories about landlords too. Like the one who wouldn't replace a clothes washer that kept busting a leak and flooding my apartment. They finally did replace it and said they were going to leave the ruined carpet in place. (Thanks! Whatta pal!). Then when I moved out, I get a call a week after telling me I was responsible for the destroyed carpet. Had a shouting match and ended up telling them to take me to court 'cause I ain't paying for it when it's their fault. They said "We'll just take it out of your security deposit!" I said "Good luck with that!" and hung up the phone. I never paid a security deposit because I got the apartment through the housing assistance people at work. They had the security deposit waved.

Guess you like to shout? I just saw your other thread about the scooter...just an observation. carry-on :cool:

cstmar01

never mind...

Face

I've seen much worse in similar situations.

dpowell

hearingimpared wrote: »

Is there any cheap legal way to get your ex tenents to pay for the damages and slobbery?

Not much you can do for cheap. Here in CA, once you get a judgement against the tenants, you can file an abstract of judgement with the county recorder which puts it on their record that they owe you money and interest accrues. If you ever find out where they are working, you can try to garnish their wages. I have an ex tenant who owes me $3,000 and is accruing interest at 10% annually. If he ever sells his vacant lot.......

Thank God I've had good experiences otherwise.

Willow

To the OP, that really sucks what they have done to your property. As others have said, a credit check (if you had not planned) would be a great idea, along with the grass and snow. Heck even make a trip in the late fall and spring to turn on and off the water (depending on where you live) or order a cheap magazine and have it delivered to your old place and go pick it up once a month then you can see what's going on.

dpowell

Demiurge wrote: »

The problem with being a landlord is that your tenants have way more rights than you do and you own the damn property! Its so skewed to the point you'll want to puke.

True, the only ways you can really protect yourself are to do the credit/background check (not as easy with so many peoples' credit getting screwed up these days from foreclosure) and make sure you have an iron-clad lease agreement and a good attorney.

exalted512

That sucks.

I think rental properties are great investments though and I plan on getting some someday.

But from what I've heard, it can usually be detrimental to buy cheap properties...as you also get equally cheap, if not more so tenants.

On the flip side of things, I've never had good experiences with land lords either, they always try and rip you off! (not saying you are!)
-Cody

agfrost

That stinks, cincycat. We just watched a similar story unfold across the street from us--the house there has been rented to this sketchy family, who were evicted finally. They'd had the water shut off, and five kids using a toilet that won't flush wasn't pretty! The guy there attempted to chase out a family of raccoons that had taken residence by cutting random holes in the walls and ceiling; I guess you could see the sky thru the kitchen ceiling.

Property manager was estimating $30-$40K to get the place inhabitable again, we watched as 5 or 6 20-yard dumpsters of crap were tossed out of the house and garage...

I guess there is that possibility when you rent out property. Hope you can get your place back in action and that your next tenants are better!

cstmar01

you shoul see some of the houses we get back from foreclosures......dead bodies, animals living there, so much garbage you can't see a window or door to the other room. great times...

Willow

cstmar01 wrote: »

you shoul see some of the houses we get back from foreclosures......dead bodies, animals living there, so much garbage you can't see a window or door to the other room. great times...

Dead bodies? for real?

cstmar01

yeah when people die in their homes and has no family around to check on them and the loans don't get paid we have to check out the properties and winterize them ect. (normal foreclosure process) Dead bodies will sometimes pop up when an inspector will walk in and find them, not really a job I would want but it does happen.

often older people who don't have much family or any family left. Neighbors don't check on them ect so the property will get reported as vacant as we had no contact. Inspectors go to do rekeys so we can take care of the property if need be ect or in the winter it would have to be winterized so the pipes don't freeze ect. thats when you will find them.

Willow

Right, I never thought of the older or sick people. Man as you said not a job I would want!

Jstas

Yeah, foreclosures in the winter when the heat was turned off by the power or gas company for unpaid bills months before when the heat wasn't necessary are a drag. I was running on the ambulance squad and we got called to a house for an obviously dead person. The inspector said that if he called us and had us take the person away, he had less paperwork to fill out. What a jerk.

Anyhow, he got his just desserts because I went to the back of the house to find the bathroom and get medication bottles so we knew what we were dealing with. The house was probably right around freezing and when I walked through the kitchen, apparently the pipes under the sink burst. There was this frozen fountain of ice coming out of the sink and the cabinet underneath. It look beautiful and incredible but we typically did not have cameras with us when responding to calls, too much of a liability, so no pictures.

It had a small little squirt of water still coming out and it had built this ice tube too. Well I found the bottles I needed, walked back around front and the inspector was inside. I asked him if he looked at the rest of the house yet and he said no because dead people creep him out. I was like waitaminute, you said she wasn't dead? He gave me a dirty look and I said "Well, anyway, don't go lookin' back there!" and slapped him on the back. We put the body on the gurney and made our way out the door just in time to hear "Oh my &#^$&$# God!" I giggled and it made for a fun trip to the hospital telling everybody what happened in the kitchen!

tonyb

agfrost wrote: »

That stinks, cincycat. We just watched a similar story unfold across the street from us--the house there has been rented to this sketchy family, who were evicted finally. They'd had the water shut off, and five kids using a toilet that won't flush wasn't pretty! The guy there attempted to chase out a family of raccoons that had taken residence by cutting random holes in the walls and ceiling; I guess you could see the sky thru the kitchen ceiling.

Property manager was estimating $30-$40K to get the place inhabitable again, we watched as 5 or 6 20-yard dumpsters of crap were tossed out of the house and garage...

I guess there is that possibility when you rent out property. Hope you can get your place back in action and that your next tenants are better!

Yep,here in Illinois, they make it almost impossible to get rid of dead beat renters. Florida has a problem with squaters because of all the vacant properties and the fact that they still have squater rights on the books. I believe they are working to change that now. I guess the moral of the story is to be more selective to who you rent to.

Danny Tse

In the 20+ years that I've been helping my parents out on managing properties (both their own and some of our relatives'), I've seen much worse. How about shampoo bottle flushed into the toilet bowl? Or molds all over the interior walls? We even have to call in the sheriff to kick some of these idiot tenants out. As bad as that sound, those are the exceptions and we also had some excellent tenants.

Rental properties are excellent investments....assuming the property is located in a sensibly-regulated area.

cincycat13

Interesting experiences for sure, and there are always good and bad on both sides.

So I have the HVAC tech over and someone had wired the fan end of the capacitor to the compressor side and vice versa. Needless to say the compressor is grounded (ruined). This is a part you have to remove a panel to get access to including screw removal. And there is no way the unit could have functioned ever in this mode so all I know is it worked July of '09 and was tampered with before today.

Yes, my house is much better than it could have been, but I had court yesterday for eviction and I forgot to buy the Rotel RR-927 remote on ebay until last night...someone else got it "buy it now"...and then when I get home I had missed fedex delivering my "new to me" rotel 995 pre...so now I am irritated:rolleyes: it's all good like I started...just needed to vent...have a great day!

renowilliams

cincycat13 wrote: »

Just venting because I can't sleep. Finally got the keys from my sqautters through the eviction process and got in the house.

Long story short...my wife and I decided to rent her old house after we fixed it up to sell last year. Late pay, to no pay, to eviction. Well, the lady has been "cleaning" for 2 weeks so that all of her deposit can be put towards rent due according to her. Even had her lawyer document condition according to her. So I am thinking OK...this will at least be easy to market.

The toilets and refrigerator pretty much match the oven picture.

I love the dog food left in the cabinet because the lease forbid dogs due to the brand new carpet.

I like the way they drilled a hole right through the new carpet to route cable to the basement...and then oh...four feet over drilled a new hole up through the floor and carpet for a new cable location.

And yes, that last picture is what the cable junction box now looks like outside.

She turned over the keys...left windows open, all windows unlocked, and the back door wasn't even locked when I went over.

So I have an AC unit that did not appear to work yesterday, broken windows, and wall repairs.

At least I have a clear space to set up some 2 channel testing while I work.:o

I certainly can understand your frustration. I rent where I live now but have owned several houses in the past. People like your ex renter make it difficult for people like my wife and myself, who actually do small things to improve where we live. There are several planters in the back of my place and my wife has planted flowers in them as well as put some hanging baskets up.
Our place is victorian and has hardwood in the kitchen that needs refinishing. I spoke with my landlord and I will be paying to get it refinished as his fix would be to carpet it.

Anyway, hope things work out for you



Tim

BeRad

Renting can suck. I rent my main floor and live in the basement (trust me, basement=awesome!)

By law I am not allowed to dis-allow pets and am NOT allowed to ask for security deposit. So I did the smart thing and found somebody I know who is too dumb to sign a lease or ask for receipts and only pay in cash! If I need him gone, I'll give him a week and move his stuff out for him. If he is too loud i'll just do "maintenance" on the electrical and water! for a week or so

Renting can suck, but it can be rewarding if you find the right people. Sadly, to find the right people you need to discriminate badly!