Frustrating Week!

Before I post all the crap I've dealt with this week, let's start with the good news. I reported in a previous post that the roof on my personal residence was damaged by the 75 mph winds from a recent storm and the 80 mph winds of Hurricane Ike earlier in the year. The grit appeared to have been sandblasted from the shingles and they were paper thin. I called my insurance company about ten days ago. A few days later, an insurance adjuster came out to look at the roof. Then, last Saturday night I received a call from the insurance company. They agreed that the roof was destroyed and they estimated the repairs would be $6,500, which was almost exactly the estimate that my roofer gave me. I told them that I agreed with their estimate and they wired the money directly into my bank account on Tuesday. I was very satisfied with their service!

Now for the CRAP!!!

This week has had a steady stream of maintenance problems. Monday, I received a call from a tenant at the Pink Elephant (one of my apartment buildings) who said that her furnace wasn't working. Her furnace is in the basement and access to that basement is through the storefront, which is now the storage facility for my tools and supplies. As I approached the door to my storage room, I could hear water running (not a good sign). I opened the door to find that a water line from the upstairs apartment had become disconnected and it was spraying water into the storage room. This particular water line is some of that gray, flexible water line that is connected with compression fittings. Unfortunately, the water line that broke was at the rear of the storage area and didn't damage my tools or supplies. The water has soaked the back 10 feet of the floor in the room and was running down the stairs into the basement. The water break apparently hadn't happened too long ago because there was only about an inch of water in the basement. Obviously, I repaired the leak by replacing the line with PEX and then went to look at the furnace. The problem with the furnace was that some water had run down one of the distribution ducts for the furnace and went into the furnace. I called my HVAC guy and he came over to inspect the unit and get it working. That was Monday.

Monday evening, I got a call from a neighbor of one of my apartment buildings. She said that several known druggies were hanging around one of my apartments and that a man, woman, and two children had moved in with one of my tenants. On Tuesday, I investigated the issue. What happened is that one of my tenants had a stroke about 6 weeks ago. She was hospitalized for about 2 weeks and then in a nursing home for a month. Her relatives paid her rent during that time and everything was fine. When she moved home, her relatives asked me if one of the family could stay with her for a week or two to help her get back on her feet. Obviously, I said that was fine. What ended up happening is that a relative that just got out of prison (a convicted felon) moved in with his wife/girlfrend and their 2 kids. All the druggie friends of this guy started hanging around and one of them even stole my tenants prescriptions. What a bunch of scumbags! So, I drove over there and told the felon to "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY PROPERTY" and not come back. I also talked to the relatives of the tenant and the tenant herself. I told them all that if this scumbag isn't gone by the end of the week, or if there are ANY additional probolems in the meantime, that I will evict the tenant. We'll see what happens!

Next, I got a call from one of my better tenants who reported that her shower handle had broken and that she had to use the shutoff to stop a leak. Sure enough, she had over-tightened the handle so often and to such an extent (despite my requests in the past to the contrary) that she broke the shower. That required replacing the entire shower valve, which is in the wall behind the shower. I'll once again ask her to not overtighten the knobs, but it probably won't do any good.

Finally, and this is the kicker, I received a letter that the insurance on the Pink Elephant was being cancelled March 22 due to the "condition of the building". This was clearly a mistake on their part, but I still have had to deal with it. I talked to my agent and he called the insurance company. The sent a copy of the inspection report from the insurance inspector (13 pages in length). The report basically said that the property was safe and clean. It didn't list a single safety issue, but it did list a bunch of cosmetic items that we're still working on. This list included soffits, window trim, etc - all of which meant that we hadn't completed painting the building.

Since I tool over the building a year ago, we've already addressed ALL safety related items; upgraded the electric in several apartments; completely rehabbed 3 units and partially rehabbed 3 others; repaired the stairs; installed a handrail; had all the furnaces inspected and serviced as necessary; installed fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, a very elaborate security camera system, and painted the lower 10 feet of the building. They insured the building last year before any of these items were done and now they are cancelling the insurance because the painting isn't completed? Idiots! So, I'm writing them a letter detailing all of this. Either they will continue the insurance or will get other insurance. This is completely ridiculous and I'll get it worked out, but it is typical of the everyday frustrations of being a landlord.

That gets me up to date with the posting. Hopefully, the rest of the week will be quiet!