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Most recent items from this feed:
Cost to Fix Damaged Rentals or Eviction Process
I would like to do a survey of how much it has cost landlords to fix property damage caused by bad tenants and the average cost of going through the eviction process. I would like to hear about individual cases, but if you have had to go through these processes more than once how much money has been spent over the years to take corrective action. Thanks.
03/20/2010 02:44 PM
questions about small claims in Pennsy
Make a long story short, my former nightmare tenant vacated the property on March 5th. She backed me into a corner in February, using the security deposit as rent. I was lucky to an extent that I was able to get her to leave without an eviction. She left behind a ton of garbage and personal belongings, there was a significant amount of marks all over the walls and in the end she owed me $100 for back rent. Total cleanup costs and the back rent come to about $385. The night they were leaving, her moron girlfriend let it slip the address they were moving too.
So, my question is this, can I pursue a small claims case against her? I have to move quickly, as my understanding is they will only be at this address for a short period of time
03/20/2010 11:41 AM
Landlord problem
I'm actually a TENANT with a LANDLORD problem. Perhaps you can be of some assistance? My girlfriend, her daughter and I signed a two year lease last April. Immediately after moving in we find problem after problem with the house and decided to move out after giving the landlord notice several times. These problems ranged from an over flowing cesspool flooding the basement, a severe cockroach infestation, our property being subject to an oil spill a couple of years back and still containing an active test well, 2 out of 4 burners working on the stove, a leaky toilet, no doorbell, and an outdated oil burner/heating system putting fumes into the house, as well as circulating rust through out the entire water system of the home whenever laundry was being ran. At times he was hostile with us and pushed things off saying things such as "I'll replace the burner 6 months from now when you "really" need it".
After leaving the premises, the landlord (a real estate attorney) continued to be extremely hostile with me, even with a professional attorney trying to mediate and resolve the issue. With no resolve, I have since filed a claim in small claims court. He threatened me with a $50,000 law suit for the 2 years of the lease. After several months of threats, things have seemed to died down. He even had the initial small claims court postponed due to a prior legal engagement. Now the rescheduled date is coming up. My dilemma is should I continue with my small claims hearing and risk having him serve me with a law suit or do I drop my claim and hope that he lets it go. I do have photos of the roach problem and oil burner. I also have a video of the rust in the toilet as well as a record of exterminator visits and a diagnoses from an oil burner technician. I don't expect him to be any less hostile but I'd like to resolve this matter as fairly and peacefully as possible. Thank you for your time.
03/20/2010 11:24 AM
fixing sewer drain problem
All I need to know is this: What are the disadvantages of putting in a backflow valve on my sewer drain in my basement? (My plumber said that when the valve is "on" or "in use" the tenants won't be able to use any of the water in the rest of the house.)
03/19/2010 08:27 PM
our rights
our electric bill for dec., Jan., and Feb. was $900. We told the landlord and he said everyone's was due to the cold. we told him that the unit had ice all around it and that it was not warming the house. we have twins so we had to buy space heaters and keep them downstairs to keep warm. Finally in Feb. he sent someone to check it. without our knowledge he was coming, he was let in the house. Then, come to find out that the unit needed some things replaced. And that if was serviced yearly as it is suppose to be, this wouldn't have happened. Now, he wants the full 850 for dec. jan. and feb. Oh and the stove is burning up. it's a fire waiting to happen. Is he partially responsible at all???
03/19/2010 05:51 PM
House Repairs
I live in a group house with 3 other people and back in October our back door broke. We couldn't open it at all. One housemate tried to fix it, but we needed a locksmith. Another housemate contacted the landlord who told us to get it fixed (as he was out of town) and that he'd reimburse us when he got back. He gave us a locksmith's number to call, but no one ever answered. My housemate gave me another number to call and urged me to please get the door fixed ASAP. I was asked to call and set up an appointment since I was unemployed and had recently twisted my ankle and was going to be home during the day anyway. I did as she asked and called. The locksmith came over right away, I showed him the door, and he was done within 20 minutes. He charged me $782 for the job. He had basically replaced and re-keyed the lock. No one had left me with any money and all I had was $60 so I gave him my credit card. I'm not a contractor and I have no idea what things cost, especially emergency services like locksmiths. It turns out my landlord doesn't want to reimburse me for that amount and wanted me to fix the price problem. I called the locksmith company and they offered to take $200 off the price, but my landlord wants more so he asked me to continue negotiating with them. My credit card company won't do anything. I decided to withhold a few hundred dollars in rent each month until it's paid for, but the landlord finds that unacceptable. He wants me to fight the locksmith company (which, it turns out, goes around overcharging people) and get estimates from other area locksmiths so we can challenge the locksmith's $782 price and get a reimbursement. I feel like this shouldn't be put on my shoulders. I was nice enough to call the locksmith, wait for him, PAY the cost (and credit card interest) and do some of the dirty work to get some of the money back. It's not even my property! Now my landlord's getting annoyed with me for not getting estimates, but I'm tired of fighting this. Am I obligated to pay him full rent and fitht the locksmirth on my own? Is he responsible for any of this? I want to stay on good terms with my landlord, but feel I'm being taken advantage of in this case.
03/19/2010 04:21 PM
Contacted by a "Judge Joe" producer
I am not going on, but I can't believe the way they troll for "cases." While I like the idea of going on an all expense paid trip to LA for a few days, I think I have a better chance in front of a real judge. Besides, the appearance fee and per diem are not worth my pride. Just thought I'd share that with you all.
03/19/2010 02:02 PM
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