COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE - Landlord Forum thread

COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE by NFL_LL (Florida) on November 3, 2009 @13:50

Anonymous is right. This is not a big issue and should have been taken care of quickly.

Yes, you guys ARE making this more difficult than it is.

“The last super hired this guy to help him around here on his own dime.”

Unless the owner gave the old super the authority to lease the properties, the guy moving in has absolutely no right to be in the apartment. Who received the partial “security deposit?” The old super?

As suggested, change the locks and tell the guy the old super has scammed him (a felony in most states) and to file a complaint with the police.

Regarding the police: If officers who come to your problem do not do what YOU as an INFORMED citizen thinks they should do, ask the officer for their sargeant’s name and number and call the sergeant to come to the problem with the reason being you’re not comfortable with the current officer’s assessment of the situation. If the sergeant refuses, then politely inform them that you must excuse yourself to call a lawyer and then DO IT (even if it’s legal aid).

However, you MUST do your duty to make sure you get all the facts straight (and physical evidence is best) on who did what and said what or you’re going to look like an idiot and possibly violate the law.

By the way, I might be getting ahead of myself. The owner hired you to "clean the place up." Does that give you the authority to lease the properties (be a property manager)? If not, the OWNER should be doing all this and you need to step back and stay out of it. Get your job duties and responsibilities in writing before you do anything else. If he refuses or threatens your job, run away. Which is better: breaking the law and going to jail, being sued, and fined, etc. or finding another job?

This "landlord" might be a snake using you to break the law for him.

Jack

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Re: COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE by Bryan (Ny) on November 3, 2009 @14:48	[ Reply ]
My job duties are pretty much all but collect rent. I do lease the apartments but the last super didnt keep good records and we recently proved he was stealing peoples rent which led to his termination. Also an eviction has already been started now but would like to make this a little faster.

Re: COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE by NFL_LL (Florida) on November 3, 2009 @16:28

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Get your duties in writing or this owner can say he never authorized anything you've done.

Why do you do everything except collect rent? Sounds like the owner doesn't trust you. Why would you want to work for someone like that? Besides, rent should be paid by a traceable instrument and not cash. Too many opportunities for bad consequences when you deal in cash.

When someone ask me to manage their property, I let them know up front that I do everything and report it to the owner or I'm not in it. Why? If you're only doing some things and the owner is doing the other things, things can slip through the cracks easily and end up costing you.

I also make it clear to the tenants that they deal with me and leave the owner alone. One of my property owners was stressed to the point of anxiety attacks and palpatations each time a tenant called him because he could NOT be firm and believed their sob stories of why they didn't have the rent.

Have you actually read a copy of the owner's lease? If so, does it look like he's protected more, the tenant is protected more, or is it equal? Are there things in the complex that constantly occur that aren't addressed in the lease?

Most problems by tenants can be dealt with legally and without much effort if you HAVE A GOOD LEASE. Currently, mine has 21 paragraphs, each paragraph covering a separate issue, and it's 7 pages long, single spaced. When I see a landlord using a 1 or 2 page lease that they inevitably downloaded from the internet, my first thought is that they are already in trouble.

You obviously have the ability to go online. Download a copy of the chapter on landlord/tenant law from your state statutes and read it over and over.

You don't need to be a lawyer to get through the legal speak, just read it slowly, stop after every 4 or 5 words (phrase) and think about what it said, then go on. Use an online dictionary to look up words you don't know or use often, such as: severability, subordination, or indemnify. Soon you'll be reading entire sentences and understanding them immediately, then paragraphs, then chapters.

PROTECT YOURSELF (use common sense)

Jack

Re: COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE by Anonymous on November 3, 2009 @22:04

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The owner of the building is not protected and it is proven many times over. Everything is Month - Month. A people are behind 4+ in rent and the last super would not talk to the owner and had no idea what shape the building was actually in. He lives a few hours away and really does not care about this building anymore. I don't collect rent because another guy who runs one of his other buildings in town collects rent has done it for some time for him and also works for one of his hotels. To be honest the job was spur of the moment he has never met me in person. I just knew the old super was being fired (Kinda had something to do with it) I called him out of no where offered myself for the position and he accepted. I speak with the owner on a daily basis and the same with the other buildings super. Anyways, he is vulnerable to tenants but most of the tenants need this place to live as the students in this city has cause rent to go over 500 a bedroom and they pay less than that for a whole apartment. The owner is in no way a slum lord in anyway and has no problem improving and fixing anything i bring to him. It's just the last super not telling him anything stealing rents (no receipts were given out from him) nothing was cleaned fixed and he never answered his door or phone. more of a story of a careless owner getting taken advantage of. because he set it up that way.

Sorry I notice most of my post seem like big long smashed together nothings. Just alot to say and feel I have to get it out now or i never will.. Hopefully you guys felt the same when you first came here ;)