With the issues that I've had lately with the Pink Elephant and the incident I had with the 22 year old drug dealer in my other apartment building (right next door), I've decided to take an additional step in attempting to turn around the Pink Elephant. This afternoon, I ordered a fairly sophistocated video surveillance system. The system basically consists of 8 IR day/night color cameras with a 250 GB DVR (digital video recorder); a high speed internet connection; and remove viewing software that will allow me to simultaneously view all cameras from my computer at home or anywhere in the world. The 8 cameras will allow me to view the entire exterior of the building; have one camera in the common stairway; and have 3 cameras covering 3 sides of my other apartment building (all sides that have doors) and collect 4 channels or audio. My intent is that the surveillance system will provide 3 benefits.
1) Deter criminals, deadbeats, and other scumbags from even going to the property. Even though these people have now been evicted from the building, this building has a long history of being mis-managed and these misfits have been coming to this building for years. A strict, no-tolerance policy accompanied by the surveillance system should deter this behavior when I'm not at the building.
2) Provide real time intelligence for what's occurring at the buildings. I'll be able to see who is entering, leaving, and handing around the buildings. This will assist in determining which tenants are violating their leases and may need to have their leases terminated.
3) Provide video evidence of any crimes that occur, which can be provided to the police to be used in prosecutions.
I'm also hoping that the presence of a surveillance system will make the property more attractive to potential honest tenants, thereby allowing me to charge a slightly higher rent.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Pissed Off Druggie!
This is what the bathroom looks like when you kick out a very pissed off druggie. Unfortunately, I have to take the responsibility for this tenant. He was about 22 years old and had absolutely no eviction or criminal background (at least as an adult). In retrospect, I'll bet he had a juvenile record, but of course I don't have access to that. I met this kid's father and everything seemed very normal. Not long after move-in, he and about 25 of his scumbag friends started dealing drugs from the apartment. I pointed out the security cameras to him and told him to leave IMMEDIATELY or I would do EVERYTHING in my power to have him arrested and sent to jail.I finally got possession back this morning and the morons had made a mess of the place. The picture above is the bathroom, where they squirted three full bottles of catsup all over the place. The rest of the apartment was vandalized also. Especially clever was that they sprayed the fire extinguisher all over the place. They also carved F.U. (spelled out) into one wall.
The really stupid thing about all this is that I will now keep their entire security deposit as damages AND I filed a police report. CRIMINALS ARE STUPID! In any case, I'm glad they're gone and I'll have the place ready to rent tomorrow!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
3 More Lying Scumbags On the Street!
Today was a good day for me and a bad day for the scumbags. Starting at 10 am, I had 2 eviction proceedings. They were as frustrating as always for me, but of course we won both cases.
Both of these tenants were inherited in my big 11 rental purchase in January. I have evicted and otherwise gotten rid of a few other tenants from that purchase and I'm hoping that I'm getting near the end.
The first tenant to be evicted lived in one of my 3 bedroom houses. She was paying below market rent and had been late on the rent several times for the previous landlord. Of course, I won't accept late rent, which is what brought us to the eviction today. As with almost all low-income, low-class deadbeats, they perjure themselves in court. In this case (as frequently happens), the tenant blames not paying the rent on the landlord's failure to maintain the property. Of course, this was total nonsense and certainly not a defense for refusing to pay the rent, but that didn't stop her lies about undone maintenance. She said that she had two roof leaks - a blatant lie and that electrical outlet covers were missing and that she had gotten shocked. I found that humorous and was trying to picture her sticking her fingers back into the socket and being shocked! I don't discount anything the tenant says in court, she could have easily removed the outlet covers, thinking that would prevent her from being evicted. If she did remove the covers or do any other damage, I'll add that onto the second cause of action (lawsuit) for damages. At any rate, none of that mattered and the magistrate granted the eviction.
The second tenant lived in the Pink Elephant, which is the apartment building I bought in January. She has not really caused any problem, but is a hopeless crack addict. I have personally seen her meeting a known crack dealer in a local alley, although I have not seen her smoking crack. When the magistrate (judge) asked her why she didn't pay the rent, she said that she was mad at me because I wouldn't allow her to move into a different apartment in the building (which was true). However, that wasn't the reason that she didn't pay the rent. She didn't pay the rent because she spent her entire Social Security check on crack; then a couple of days later, she spent her shack-up boyfriend's entire paycheck on crack; and then just a few days ago, she spent her boyfriend's last check on crack. She forgot to mention that in court - maybe all that crack has fried her memory! Needless to say, the magistrate granted this eviction also.
The final deadbeat to go was a young man that was one of MY tenants. He was about 22 years old and my screening of him turned up absolutely no criminal or eviction record. He looked normal and I met his father. Unfortunately, almost as soon as he moved in, he and about 25 of his best druggie friends started dealing drugs out of the apartment. Fortunately, we have security cameras on this building. I pointed out the cameras (which also record sound) and told the scumbag that he had a choice - LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or I would do EVERYTHING in my power to see that they were arrested and sent to prison. They left! GOOD RIDDANCE!
I think we've finally turned the corner on the Pink Elephant. We've got almost all of the scumbags out and I am making great progress on the exterior painting. Getting the scumbags out and painting the building will allow me to get better quality tenants and raise the rents (which I've already started doing). I'm pleased with the progress!
Both of these tenants were inherited in my big 11 rental purchase in January. I have evicted and otherwise gotten rid of a few other tenants from that purchase and I'm hoping that I'm getting near the end.
The first tenant to be evicted lived in one of my 3 bedroom houses. She was paying below market rent and had been late on the rent several times for the previous landlord. Of course, I won't accept late rent, which is what brought us to the eviction today. As with almost all low-income, low-class deadbeats, they perjure themselves in court. In this case (as frequently happens), the tenant blames not paying the rent on the landlord's failure to maintain the property. Of course, this was total nonsense and certainly not a defense for refusing to pay the rent, but that didn't stop her lies about undone maintenance. She said that she had two roof leaks - a blatant lie and that electrical outlet covers were missing and that she had gotten shocked. I found that humorous and was trying to picture her sticking her fingers back into the socket and being shocked! I don't discount anything the tenant says in court, she could have easily removed the outlet covers, thinking that would prevent her from being evicted. If she did remove the covers or do any other damage, I'll add that onto the second cause of action (lawsuit) for damages. At any rate, none of that mattered and the magistrate granted the eviction.
The second tenant lived in the Pink Elephant, which is the apartment building I bought in January. She has not really caused any problem, but is a hopeless crack addict. I have personally seen her meeting a known crack dealer in a local alley, although I have not seen her smoking crack. When the magistrate (judge) asked her why she didn't pay the rent, she said that she was mad at me because I wouldn't allow her to move into a different apartment in the building (which was true). However, that wasn't the reason that she didn't pay the rent. She didn't pay the rent because she spent her entire Social Security check on crack; then a couple of days later, she spent her shack-up boyfriend's entire paycheck on crack; and then just a few days ago, she spent her boyfriend's last check on crack. She forgot to mention that in court - maybe all that crack has fried her memory! Needless to say, the magistrate granted this eviction also.
The final deadbeat to go was a young man that was one of MY tenants. He was about 22 years old and my screening of him turned up absolutely no criminal or eviction record. He looked normal and I met his father. Unfortunately, almost as soon as he moved in, he and about 25 of his best druggie friends started dealing drugs out of the apartment. Fortunately, we have security cameras on this building. I pointed out the cameras (which also record sound) and told the scumbag that he had a choice - LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or I would do EVERYTHING in my power to see that they were arrested and sent to prison. They left! GOOD RIDDANCE!
I think we've finally turned the corner on the Pink Elephant. We've got almost all of the scumbags out and I am making great progress on the exterior painting. Getting the scumbags out and painting the building will allow me to get better quality tenants and raise the rents (which I've already started doing). I'm pleased with the progress!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Inherited Tenants - UGH!
We had a good time during our 3 day weekend. Our primary agenda for the trip was to visit TK Towne, which is a model home community near Anderson, Indiana (my wife and I are thinking about building a new house). So, we took the motorhome on a road trip and stayed at the Timberline Family Campground near Anderson. The campground was nice and offered excellent service, including WiFi. While we were there, we went to the new Casino (I've already forgotten the name) and I did a lot of bicycle riding. On one of my rides, I rode by a place called Camp Chesterfield. I thought it might be a boyscout camp or something like that, so I rode my bike in to see what it was. As it turns out, it was a "spiritualist" camp with signs on the houses that said things like "Clairvoyant Teacher", Medium, and Tarot Readings. I felt like I had entered the twilight zone!
On the way home from Indiana yesterday, I got a call from one of my tenants who is moving. She said that she would be out by July 4th and that she would pay for whatever days she was there after the 1st. I told her that if she was there after June 30th, she would owe rent for the entire month of July, as was called for in the lease. A few minutes later, I got an angry call from her husband (a truck driver). He was furious that I would expect them to pay the rent as was required by the lease and stated that he would not do so.
This tenant is an inherited tenant, which means that he was already in the property about 2 years ago when I bought it. The previous owner accepted sob stories and excuses in lieu of a security deposit and this tenant therefore didn't pay a security deposit. That is very normal when you buy property from a distressed landlord. The tenants have usually not been properly screened and they usually didn't pay a security deposit. Obviously, this puts me in a very weak position in dealing with this tenant. The end result is that I'll probably lose a month's rent (unless I can re-rent it on the 5th). Furthermore, if they're not out by the 4th, I'll have to start eviction proceedings on the 5th to ensure they leave.
There isn't really any lesson to be learned from this story. I bought this property knowing that the tenant didn't have a security deposit and there was nothing that I could or should have done differently. I almost always find that inherited tenants are problems and they will often need to be evicted. They were often living with the original landlord because they didn't have to meet screening requirements or pay a security deposit. When you've got that caliber of tenant, you can expect problems until they're gone.
On the way home from Indiana yesterday, I got a call from one of my tenants who is moving. She said that she would be out by July 4th and that she would pay for whatever days she was there after the 1st. I told her that if she was there after June 30th, she would owe rent for the entire month of July, as was called for in the lease. A few minutes later, I got an angry call from her husband (a truck driver). He was furious that I would expect them to pay the rent as was required by the lease and stated that he would not do so.
This tenant is an inherited tenant, which means that he was already in the property about 2 years ago when I bought it. The previous owner accepted sob stories and excuses in lieu of a security deposit and this tenant therefore didn't pay a security deposit. That is very normal when you buy property from a distressed landlord. The tenants have usually not been properly screened and they usually didn't pay a security deposit. Obviously, this puts me in a very weak position in dealing with this tenant. The end result is that I'll probably lose a month's rent (unless I can re-rent it on the 5th). Furthermore, if they're not out by the 4th, I'll have to start eviction proceedings on the 5th to ensure they leave.
There isn't really any lesson to be learned from this story. I bought this property knowing that the tenant didn't have a security deposit and there was nothing that I could or should have done differently. I almost always find that inherited tenants are problems and they will often need to be evicted. They were often living with the original landlord because they didn't have to meet screening requirements or pay a security deposit. When you've got that caliber of tenant, you can expect problems until they're gone.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Camping!
My wife and I planned to leave first thing yesterday morning for a 3 day camping trip. I like to take at least two or three long weekends each month and yesterday was to be the start of another one. The motorhome was all packed the evening before and everything was ready to go.
When I started the motorhome yesterday morning, after a few seconds, there was a small noise and the electrical warning light came on. I immediately knew that we broke a belt. Our motorhome is on a truck chassis and even seeing the engine is difficult. I thought out trip was over before it started, but decided to see if I could at least find the alternator on this beast. I removed the engine cover and to my surprise the alternator was relatively easy to get to. The old alternator belt was shredded. I routed a string around the pulleys to get the length for the belt. Fortunately, our local auto parts store had one in stock and I was able to replace it relatively quickly. From start to finish, the entire delay was about 3 hours - not too bad.
Our adventure wan't quite over, however, as we encountered some small hail on our trip to Indiana. It might seem like we had some bad luck, but I think that we actually were very fortunate. If that alternator belt had broken while we were on the road, that could have been a MAJOR problem. Likewise, the hail that we encountered was small and didn't do any damage. Many places in Indiana yesterday had much larger hail and it was a blessing that we didn't enounter that. One inch hail would have almost certainly done a lot of damage to our motorhome and my motorcycle, which we tow on a trailer.
Anyway, we did safely make it to our destination and are having a good time. In fact, I've got to go! Time for my morning bike ride.
When I started the motorhome yesterday morning, after a few seconds, there was a small noise and the electrical warning light came on. I immediately knew that we broke a belt. Our motorhome is on a truck chassis and even seeing the engine is difficult. I thought out trip was over before it started, but decided to see if I could at least find the alternator on this beast. I removed the engine cover and to my surprise the alternator was relatively easy to get to. The old alternator belt was shredded. I routed a string around the pulleys to get the length for the belt. Fortunately, our local auto parts store had one in stock and I was able to replace it relatively quickly. From start to finish, the entire delay was about 3 hours - not too bad.
Our adventure wan't quite over, however, as we encountered some small hail on our trip to Indiana. It might seem like we had some bad luck, but I think that we actually were very fortunate. If that alternator belt had broken while we were on the road, that could have been a MAJOR problem. Likewise, the hail that we encountered was small and didn't do any damage. Many places in Indiana yesterday had much larger hail and it was a blessing that we didn't enounter that. One inch hail would have almost certainly done a lot of damage to our motorhome and my motorcycle, which we tow on a trailer.
Anyway, we did safely make it to our destination and are having a good time. In fact, I've got to go! Time for my morning bike ride.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Shower Fixed!
Today's big project was to fix a shower that was leaking. Unfortunately, there was no access panel to be able to get to the old shower valve, so I had to cut a hole into the drywall, which was screwed onto some sort of lapped wood. That was very odd, but it's hard to tell how a 175 year old building was originally designed. Once I got into the wall, I discovered that there were two sets of copper lines in the wall. One set appeared to be going into the apartment above and one set appeared to be coming down to the shower. I later discovered that the supply lines are in the ceiling and both sets of lines were coming down from the ceiling.
I removed both sets of lines and the shower valve. I then installed the new shower valve and installed new sections of PEX pipe with Sharkbite connectors. Sharkbite connectors are instant connectors that will connect copper, PEX, or CPVC pipe instantly, without gluing, soldering, or any other type of bonding. Just slip them together and they're done! I also decided to install 4 shutoff valves on the lines, so that the water could be more easily maintained in the future.
Once I turned the water back on, I discovered that I had a significant leak out of the bottom of the new shower valve. So, I took everything back apart and put some thread tape on the plug in the bottom of the valve. I put everything back together only to discover that the plug was still leaking. So, once again, I took everything apart and applied a thicker layer of thread tape to the plug. The third time was a charm and everything was dry.
To finish up the job, I made an access panel to cover the hole I made in the wall. This access panel will make it easy to work on the shower and to reach the shutoff valves if ever necessary in the future.
This job should have taken an hour, but ended up taking about 2 hours. With that, I was done for the day.
We're going camping for the next 3 days and I wanted to get a headstart on loading up the motorhome.
I removed both sets of lines and the shower valve. I then installed the new shower valve and installed new sections of PEX pipe with Sharkbite connectors. Sharkbite connectors are instant connectors that will connect copper, PEX, or CPVC pipe instantly, without gluing, soldering, or any other type of bonding. Just slip them together and they're done! I also decided to install 4 shutoff valves on the lines, so that the water could be more easily maintained in the future.
Once I turned the water back on, I discovered that I had a significant leak out of the bottom of the new shower valve. So, I took everything back apart and put some thread tape on the plug in the bottom of the valve. I put everything back together only to discover that the plug was still leaking. So, once again, I took everything apart and applied a thicker layer of thread tape to the plug. The third time was a charm and everything was dry.
To finish up the job, I made an access panel to cover the hole I made in the wall. This access panel will make it easy to work on the shower and to reach the shutoff valves if ever necessary in the future.
This job should have taken an hour, but ended up taking about 2 hours. With that, I was done for the day.
We're going camping for the next 3 days and I wanted to get a headstart on loading up the motorhome.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Assault!
When you're in the landlording business, you will have problem tenants once in a while. It is very common to evict a tenant for non-payment, only to have them blame the landlord. That is exactly what happened to me today.
While I was doing some painting at the Pink Elephant, I received a call from the city fire inspector. He told me that they had a complaint about one of my rentals from - guess who - the tenant I'm evicting. The tenant had called to complain that his side door was screwed shut, which violates the city fire code (all doors must be operational, even though only one door is required). I explained to the fire inspector that the idiot tenant was the one that screwed the door shut after one of his druggie friends broke in the side door. At any rate, I told the fire inspector that I would remove the screws today and he said he would re-inspect it tomorrow.
I arrived at the apartment and knocked on the door. When the tenant opened the door, I said that I was there to remove the screws from the side door and walked in. Suddenly, the tenant shoved me! Feeling somewhat threatened, I shoved back and knocked him nearly across the room. I asked him what he thought he was doing. He stated that I had to give him a 24 hour notice. I informed the moron that he called the fire inspector to complain about an "unsafe condition" that he caused and that I did NOT need to give him a 24 hour notice.
I proceeded to remove the screws from the door. As I was leaving, this idiot tried to slam the door on me, but I caught the door with one arm and it swung back, striking him in the face. Being finished with my business, I left.
A few minutes later, another one of my tenants who live across the street and saw the entire incident called me to say that the tenant had called the police and that the police were there. I asked her to give the phone to the police officer, but the police officer was in his apartment.
About a half hour later, I received a call from someone who claimed to be a lawyer friend of the idiot tenant. He asked me for my side of the story and I told him that I didn't talk to scumbag lawyers, and then I hung up.
This is the first time in 5 years that I've had a physical confrontation with a tenant. The odd thing is that I had not had a prior confrontation with the tenant - not even a verbal argument. This incident just illustrates how landlords must be prepared to defend themselves at all times. Who knows what was going on in this person's mind?
While I was doing some painting at the Pink Elephant, I received a call from the city fire inspector. He told me that they had a complaint about one of my rentals from - guess who - the tenant I'm evicting. The tenant had called to complain that his side door was screwed shut, which violates the city fire code (all doors must be operational, even though only one door is required). I explained to the fire inspector that the idiot tenant was the one that screwed the door shut after one of his druggie friends broke in the side door. At any rate, I told the fire inspector that I would remove the screws today and he said he would re-inspect it tomorrow.
I arrived at the apartment and knocked on the door. When the tenant opened the door, I said that I was there to remove the screws from the side door and walked in. Suddenly, the tenant shoved me! Feeling somewhat threatened, I shoved back and knocked him nearly across the room. I asked him what he thought he was doing. He stated that I had to give him a 24 hour notice. I informed the moron that he called the fire inspector to complain about an "unsafe condition" that he caused and that I did NOT need to give him a 24 hour notice.
I proceeded to remove the screws from the door. As I was leaving, this idiot tried to slam the door on me, but I caught the door with one arm and it swung back, striking him in the face. Being finished with my business, I left.
A few minutes later, another one of my tenants who live across the street and saw the entire incident called me to say that the tenant had called the police and that the police were there. I asked her to give the phone to the police officer, but the police officer was in his apartment.
About a half hour later, I received a call from someone who claimed to be a lawyer friend of the idiot tenant. He asked me for my side of the story and I told him that I didn't talk to scumbag lawyers, and then I hung up.
This is the first time in 5 years that I've had a physical confrontation with a tenant. The odd thing is that I had not had a prior confrontation with the tenant - not even a verbal argument. This incident just illustrates how landlords must be prepared to defend themselves at all times. Who knows what was going on in this person's mind?
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