Landlord Newsletter - Renewal Option And Increase

The Landlord Protection Agency® presents John Reno, Esq., a highly experienced Landlord - Tenant attorney based on Long Island, NY.

John Reno also does Mortgage Loan Modifications (Nationwide).
(Mention The LPA for a 10% discount!)

Dear Mr. Reno:
Hi, I'm Charlie from Honolulu, Hawaii.
I have a rental manager who takes care of my apartment. Our rental agreement is $1700/month plus utilities on a 1 year lease. The rental unit has an association, and the utilities can't be billed directly to the renter because it's bundled with the maintenance fee. So I pay the utilites for the month, and the renter reimburses me the following month through the rental manager. My understanding is that utilties is part of rent.

The rental manager brought in a tenant on Novemeber 1st, 2012, who is self employed. Problem was the tenant paid the $1700/month, but didn't pay the utilities. This happened for the first 5 months, all the while I was asking why wasn't the tenant paying electricity and why wasn't the tenant given notice to vacate. The rental manager said his lawyer advised we couldn't give notice to evict until there's a late payment. I was confused and angered. The tenant eventually defaulted on the monthly payment in May and thereafter only paid sporadically and partially. We started a Summary of Possession in June and were finally able to execute the writ on February 2014.

My questions are:

1) Isn't utilities considered part of rent if it's stated on the lease, and thus we could've started eviction earlier?
2) Can I sue the rental manager for the loss of rent, utilities, lawyer fees and the extensive damage the tenant caused, because of not responding quicker?

A: 1. Yes, (but I have heard stories. Some judges wont evict for utilities, no matter how you word it & THAT'S WRONG.

2. No, you'll never be able to prove you would have gotten paid no matter what he did. It may seem obvious to you, but in court, its only speculation.

If you have a landlord tenant problem you'd like to ask a question about, please feel free to e-mail me your question.
Submit a landlord / tenant question for Mr. Reno
Please try to keep your questions as short and to the point as possible.

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Have you ever been beaten by a tenant on the rent?
Most of us have and unfortunately, it is one of the costs of doing business as a landlord.
On the bright side, remedies are available. If you have documented your tenancy with the proper paperwork including a rental application, lease agreement, late notices, etc., you may have a chance of collecting.

Credit bureau reporting is an option in which many modern landlords are beginning to participate....

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