Renter's demands

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Well not the renter’s, but their mothers! We are the owners of a home in a small city about 2.5 hours away from our home. Our son lived in this house while attending medical school, and now we are renting to 3 medical students.</p>

<p>Last week we received an email from one of the mothers outlining a few problems with the home, one of which is supposed mold in the basement, the other is she wants us to have our duct cleaned as 2 of the boys have allergies. According to this letter, she noticed the mold back in July when the boys moved in, but this is the first I am hearing about it. If there is dampness in the unfinished basement, I of course want to find the source and correct it to the best of my ability. The duct cleaning is not something I do at my own home, and really don’t want to do it there. I have never been convinced that duct cleaning really helps a home, but that is my opinion. Of course, any company that comes out will tell use the duct need cleaning because they want the business.</p>

<p>A few other repairs she wants done are a window frame that has about an inch long area of rot, that is just on the surface; I have been keeping an eye on it as the last repair person said it didn’t need attention at the moment. She wants the gutters cleaned which is not a problem; we had them cleaned in July and the yard guy will do them this month.</p>

<p>So after her email last week, we responded that of course we wanted to keep the house in good repair and we would start looking for people to come take a look at the issues. Today we get another email asking what was going on and that they would help make the calls and deduct the charges from the rent! I will admit I didn’t start making calls until Monday as I had family in town, but her first email came just 7 days ago.</p>

<p>The lease is signed by the boys, not the mothers. One of the boys emails me all the time as he seems to be the one in charge; the mother that contacted me is not his mother, not that it matters. These are 22 and 23 year old boys that one would hope could handle this with me and not have mommy get involved. If this had been something they had been trying to get resolved and we were not responding, I could understand a parent trying to help, but this is the first I am hearing about mold and allergies.</p>

<p>As this is our first time as landlords, do we have to be bullied into doing what she requested? If indeed there was mold in July on move in, then technically, I am keeping the house in the condition they received it in :wink: Again, if there is mold in the basement, I plan to have that taking care of; the duct cleaning I am not interested in doing. My son and his roommates never seemed to have a problem, although they kept the house clean and the filters changed. The area did have way above average rain this summer, so I am not surprised that there may be some dampness around the home and gutters that need cleaning. The house sits in a wooded area and the entire back sits under trees.</p>

<p>The post is part venting as well as looking for suggestions. I am going to call this mother back in the morning as I want to talk to her instead of emailing.</p>

2

<p>I am wondering whether you might refuse to deal with anyone other than the adults who signed the lease. If they have issues with the house, then they should be the ones contacting you. I wonder whether they are even concerned about the mold and dust!</p>

3

<p>Before you call her , look into the local ordinances and laws. A basic lease covers things such as asbestos and lead paint , Maybe she thinks there is mold , but unless you know for a fact ( such as seeing it yourself and or calling in a professional to assess ) Duct cleaning isn’t standard , but perhaps routine filers for the heater and air conditioner would be , but I am willing to guess that there were not specified in the lease…sounds like a whiny kid with a lawyer in the family who has nothing better to do that to try to intimidate you rather than having the lessee simply call you with a concern…we have a rental property and have dealt with two bad tenants and two good ones. Communication is key but we prefer reasonable verbal dialogue if there is an issue rather than this type of nonsense</p>

4

<p>I would forward your response to the boy in charge and cc each of the boys and the mother. Begin by saying that you are addressing your course of action with the boys because you are contractually obligated to them and therefore any communication in regard to the home will be discussed with them. I suspect the boys will quiet the mother down.</p>

5

<p>The mother that sent the letter is an architect and work on property management, so she claims to want to help me address the problems.</p>

<p>We talked to the boys about changing the two filters each month and have the filters there for them to changed. I also put in the lease for the filters to be changed. The mother said the AC returns needed to be cleaned, not just changing the filters. </p>

<p>The lease is one I got from a friend that rents in a college town. She made it by picking and choosing from a few she had found. All 3 boys received a copy of the lease prior to signing and it was my understanding that all the parents looked it over.</p>

<p>The boys have been good about contacting me when needed. They all know they can text, call or email and I always answer the same day, except when one texted me while I was out of the country! We have addressed each concern in the past, although none were big deals. They saw some bugs after weeks of rain and the exterminator was due at the house the next day. Kitchen sink had a leak and we decided to change the faucet. Again, we have responded to each request from the boys.</p>

6

<p>I would make sure that I referred to your tenants as men rather than boys in all correspondence, which should help make the point. I would not deal with the mother at all.</p>

7

<p>Tiger mom!</p>

<p>The mommy needs to step back and out. You shouldn’t be dealing with her and you don’t even need to answer her emails. For that matter, how do you know she’s even who she says she is?</p>

<p>I think you should only directly deal with the people on the lease. You can tell the mother that any correspondence with you needs to be from the people on the lease.</p>

<p>They also don’t get to arbitrarily do repairs and deduct it from their rent.</p>

8

<p>Oh, I meant to add one of the other “demands;” we had a yard service that was fired back in January. According to the yard service, we owe them about $70 and it seems the owner has come by the rental house looking to collect. The mother said they would appreciate that all bill collectors and creditors refrain from knocking on the door and disturbing the boys and they should direct payment to our home address. Not that it matters, but I have been trying for months to get the owner to send me copies of the invoices; he has my home address, as well as my home and cell phone number; not really sure what else I am suppose to do!</p>

9

<p>If you have a family attorney, you might consult. This mom sounds like she could be real problems down the road and probably would consult with her attorney. Keep your bases covered.</p>

10

<p>It sounds like you’re a responsive landlord, snowball. I wouldn’t get too upset with the mom emailing you. It’s possible that the mold issue was noted in the summer and the mom has just discovered that the son never mentioned it to you. In any case, mold is not something that you want to ignore and it’s best to get it resolved ASAP. I would not necessarily agree to the duct cleaning, unless you know that the house is an old one and has not had it done for a long time. If that’s the case, then you should probably have it done. As a mom of two asthmatics, I know that this is important to keep on top of in order to avoid attacks. </p>

<p>Do you have a property manager in the same town? If so, it might be worth having him/her get someone out to check the basement. The other issue about mold and moisture in the basement is that it could be affecting the structural integrity of the home, which is something you obviously don’t want. If you don’t have a property manager, it might be worth looking for one, or at least a contact close by who can look after things like this for you.</p>

11

<p>alwaysmom- I can appreciate someone with allergies needing a different level of cleanliness; that said, shouldn’t that have been addressed before signing the lease if it was important? My family doesn’t have allergies or asthma, so I truly don’t know how this should have been handled.</p>

<p>I have no intention of letting a mold issue continue, so I am looking into finding someone to come evaluate the situation. We do not have a property manager as we felt we should be able to handle the home ourselves. We did say if it got overwhelming we would hire one; not there yet!! I am friendly with an attorney and his wife as well as a real estate agent in the area and usually get my repair people names from them. I though I had an almost complete list, but the basement is not something my current people can handle.</p>

12

<p>This is a perfect illustration of why it is a royal pain in the ass to be a landlord. </p>

<p>I agree with lje62: first, check your local ordinances.</p>

<p>Second, I would contact the people who signed the lease and deal only with them.</p>

<p>I was a renter several times during my student days and would NEVER have considered harassing any of my landlords about stuff like this. </p>

<p>Ideally, I would get rid of these tenants and find someone without a helicopter mom who thinks that her degree entitles her to drive you crazy.</p>

<p>Just send the lawn guy the $70, already. So what if you don’t have a receipt. Not worth the hassle.</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>As I read your post I was wondering if the parents had co-signed the lease. If not, I would not deal with her at all.</p>

<p>Are these “boys” college graduates? Now med students? It is laughable that mommy is doing this.</p>

14

<p>Consolation- You just made my husband very happy; he has wanted to send the check to the yard guy, but my son insisted he pay them and didn’t owe the money. Turns out he check his checking account and woops, maybe he didn’t pay them after all!! This has just been discovered and they will get paid. That said, I have no control of who comes to the door of the house. It wasn’t until one of the renters gave them my phone number a couple of weeks ago that we were even aware we had an outstanding balance. That is when I asked to see an invoice to know what we owed; I never received it and we inquired again last week. </p>

<p>The yard people were fired by our subdivision, and I now see why!</p>

<p>The parents are not on the lease, only the 3 students; but, the parents did ask to see the lease before the students signed so I emailed copies to all 3.</p>

15

<p>Older friends who are landlords have recounted that the landlord is only contractually bound to deal with the tenants who signed the lease or otherwise made the tenancy agreement in question. </p>

<p>You’re not legally obligated to respond and more importantly, from their experience…it’s a bad idea to allow a third party such as a parent get involved. </p>

<p>The actual tenants should be the only ones who correspond with you on landlord-tenant matters. Too many complex headaches and possible additional legal issues may arise per the landlord friends’ prior experience. </p>

<p>Incidentally, this very issue is a reason why one of them no longer rents to college students or young professionals who show any indication of needing this level of “help” from their parents.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Depending on the tenancy laws of the state/locality, being a co-signer may not always necessarily confer legal rights regarding landlord-tenant relations. In most cases, the co-signer doesn’t usually get called into play unless the tenant being co-signed failed to pay rent in a timely manner and the landlord wants that rent money yesterday.</p>

16

<p>Fwiw DH is in an HVAC related business. I asked him once why we don’t have our ducts cleaned and he just laughed. He says changing the filters is sufficient.</p>

17

<p>I should have had a heads up what we were getting involved with when the main renter’s mother wanted to know if they could paint the kitchen as it wasn’t a neutral color like all the other houses they saw. She then told me how much she liked another house better as it had granite counter tops, but they didn’t rent it as it was $200/month more than our. I said no to the painting, but my husband said they could as long as it was the same color as the hallways and den. As far as I know they never got around to painting.</p>

<p>Out of courtesy, I will respond to the mother’s email this last time, but will tell her I need the boys to handle all remaining correspondence.</p>

<p>I don’t think I need a waterproofing company to come look at the basement, but what kind of company do I call? This is a small town and it seems most of the people I get names of are more like handymen, but I want someone that specializes in this.</p>

18

<p>I’ve been involved in real estate for decades. </p>

<p>You need to develop a thicker skin. Tenants will take advantage of you. They just will. Some will be great but some will be scum. (I’m talking about tenants, but I could say the same thing about landlords.) Even the nice ones will break things and hide that and then claim ignorance so it becomes your cost. This is true with commercial and residential. Heck, I have a tenant who is useless with home repairs - he’s a scientist - so I went around to lock his windows for him for the fall. I found one of the storms was gone. Not broken. Gone. Why? Well everyone pleaded ignorance but I’d bet $100 that someone broke it and disposed of it so he or she wouldn’t have to pay to replace the pane. That would be about $20 at the glass store. I had a tenant break his key off in the door and then want me to pay to get the lock changed. His solution, btw, was to put glue on a stick and fish out his key. </p>

<p>You can’t let tenants bully you. Same if you’re a tenant: you can’t let the landlord bully you. </p>

<p>The idea that you should replace a sill is ridiculous. Who cares? You didn’t build the house, sell it and give a builder’s warranty. The only possible issue is if a landlord accuses a tenant of breaking something that was already broken. Most tenants don’t check places out and landlords can be unscrupulous when it comes to returning security deposits. But putting that aside, the correct response is to nicely say, “Go pound sand.”</p>

19

<p>I find this thread extraordinary. My daughter started renting her own apartment her sophomore year when she was 19. She has rented the same place for 4 1/2 years and I would no more dream of interfering between her and her landlord that I would dream of calling her boss (and yes that type of parent will do that as well - when my son worked at a certain fast food restaurant one Mom was always calling about her daughter’s schedule and other stuff which resulted in none of the supervisors wanting the girl scheduled on their shifts at all).</p>

<p>I think you need to nip it it the bud and quick. A polite email, cc’d to each of the young men, saying that you are unable to respond to emails from anyone not on the contract. It is ridiculous. If they are anything like my kids, they will be infuriated that the Mom has done this. My kids would kill me.</p>

<p>I would also state quite explicitly that any work done without your express permission will not be reimbursed and any reduction of rent payment will be breaking conditions of the lease.</p>

20

<p>

</p>

<p>I know from NYC/Boston area housing laws, locks were not only legally considered the landlord’s responsibility, but that due to it being a security concern…repairs must be done within 24 hours or the tenant had the option of calling in the locksmith and after showing proof of tenancy to him/her, replace the locks and deduct cost from the rent. Considering NYC/Boston area housing courts tended to favor tenants, this would apply in practice even if the tenant had some fault in causing the lock to break. A reason why some acquaintances got out of the landlord business in those areas. </p>

<p>Not sure if the last would have been the case in my rural Ohio college town or other areas.</p>