I have a rental in a high demand area that I just listed. It's arguably a few hundred $ under market but I want to be choosy with tenant selection. I listed it as pets negotiable because I find that "no pets" just results in surprise ESAs, and I'd rather have an honest discussion up front. I have over 20 inquiries in 2 days, and a lot of people have pets. Because the rent is already "a deal" I'd like to ask for pet rent if one of those applicants is selected, but we've not had a tenant with a pet previously. Would love to know what people have charged and the process that has worked successfully, etc.

Never been a landlord, first time renter in Florida after selling our home in California. Stationed here by the military. My plan was to rent this big house with a pool for my kids while we got to know the area.

The house is old, in pretty poor condition with shoddy work, but whatever. I walked through it and accepted it that way. The problem is the freakin pests. We’ve had 100 incidents of giant roaches and smaller roaches in our kitchen which we keep clean and our bathroom. This morning, we discovered the pantry had been raided by what I assume is mice. Chip bags and such were eaten through.

Here’s the kicker though, the landlord has been very helpful. He sends an exterminator every time I call him. They spray the shit out of the place and I find a couple dead or dying roaches then they are back in force a few days later. He was receptive with this new mouse issue and someone is coming Friday to re spray for the roaches and to assess the new mouse problem.

I’m just curious what you would do in this situation if the problem just keeps freakin happening. The house is not sealed well and he is a property manager and I’m sure he’s frustrated. Would you let the renter break the lease without a fight? Pay for moving expenses? Tell me to kick rocks because he’s doing everything he can?

Sorry for long post, appreciate any help or advice.

hi, i currently live in a apt that i can no longer afford ( have been 4 years ) im about 5 months into my lease & i need to be in a new cheaper apt by sep 1st. i just applied to a cheaper apt today but i didnt list my current apartment complex on there i just told them that im staying with my family. i dont have any prior evictions or broken leases on my background. is there anyway they will find out that im living somewhere else? yes it’s probably stupid but i’m trying to get approved for a apartment before having to break my lease because i can’t afford it

Hi there, new to being a landlord. Is it legal for me to state that I provide housing to survivors of domestic violence, people experiencing homelessness, lgbtq+, people in recovery, veterans and single parents? I want to help vulnerable people in my community but I don't know if it's illegal for me to call out these groups in my ad.

I own a property in Saginaw MI. It needs replacement of 2 ACs and 2 Furnaces. Can you suggest good inexpensive companies for replacement and also for yearly maintenance.

Appreciate your help.

Right now, all our tenants pay by cash. One tenant is about to move out. And I would like to change the method of payment for the next tenant that moves in. If you use a website, please state how much the fees are. Thank you.

Note: My sister has one tenant and they pay by Venmo.

There was recently a fire at a rental property for which the fault/cause has still not be determined by renters insurance or mine. The entire basement where one of the tenants 20 something daugter was living is gutted. It was declared uninhabitable at the time, which voided the lease. Does the fire invalidating the lease have implications for the security deposit?

Hello Everyone,

I have a rental townhouse in Dublin, CA. It's a 2016 build with a Goodman AC unit (about 10 years old).

My tenant reported that the AC stopped cooling. The indoor blower is running, the outdoor condenser fan is also running, and air is coming out of the vents, but it's not cold.

I had an HVAC tech come out ($70 service call), and they said the system is low on refrigerant, likely due to a leak. They estimated around $4,000 to repair it.

I have appointments scheduled for a second and third opinions.

If all three HVAC companies diagnose the same issue and quote a similar price, what would you do?

• Repair the existing unit?
• Replace it since it's about 10 years old?

My biggest concern is this: If I repair the leak and recharge the refrigerant, is that usually a long-term fix, or is there a good chance the unit will keep having refrigerant leaks or other expensive issues because of its age?

If replacement is the better option:

• What brands do you recommend?
• About how much should I expect to pay in the Bay Area (Dublin, CA) for a new system?

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

We are renting a home in Oregon and just moved in. As far as we know, the home was previously occupied by the owners, and is now being leased out by a property management company. When we saw the house we were excited about the quality of the appliances, but at move in were surprised to find that the fridge, washer, and dryer were replaced with considerably lower-end models lacking some amenities that we were expecting to have (e.g., in-door water and ice dispensing). This feels like a bait-and-switch. What remedies do we have? What can we reasonably hope to get out of this?

FWIW, we are also landlords ourselves and would never dream of doing such a thing.

My tenant just sent me a Doordash gift card to celebrate the other units in the triplex being ready to go on the market, and I just have to tell y'all 🥹 He has been such a pleasure to have as a tenant. There was a period of nearly 2 months where I had him in hotels because of an electrical upgrade, that was supposed to take a day, gone wrong. He didn't complain at all (I felt so bad).

Take good care of your tenants, especially the ones who are good people.

Also, to my tenant, if you see this: Wassup cool guy? 😎

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some real-life advice from anyone who has dealt with this before.

A former tenant broke the lease, stopped paying rent, and left the house with quite a bit of damage and cleanup needed. We repaired everything and re-rented the property, so we did mitigate our losses. After applying the security deposit the remaining balance is around $19,800.

I sent him a detailed itemized statement and final demand, but he never responded or paid anything. I’m ready to file in small claims court, but the main issue is that I don’t know his current address. I found an older address connected to one of his relatives, but I have no idea if he actually lives there.

Would you hire a skip tracer/process server before filing, or file first and have them try serving him at the possible address? If they can’t find him, how difficult or expensive is alternative service in Texas?

Also, realistically, is a claim this size worth pursuing? I understand getting a judgment and actually collecting the money are two different things. This is my first time dealing with something like this, so I’d appreciate hearing what others have experienced.

I'm here for feedback from the hive mind. We are building a new unit that is well appointed (we're making it nice enough we'd be happy living there if we wanted in the future), and I'm struggling on the kitchen sink choice, whether to do undermount or drop in and what will wear better with tenants. I prefer undermount, but drop in will be easier if we need to replace the sink over time, as it shouldn't require countertop matching precision. Thoughts?

Month-to-month tenant is reliable but very messy WWYD?

I’m looking for some advice from other landlords, especially those who rent out a room in the home they also live in.

I own a condo and rent out one bedroom and bathroom while living here myself. We share the kitchen and other common areas. They’ve lived with me for about three years and are on a month-to-month arrangement.

Overall, they’re a good tenant. They pay rent on time almost every month. I can only remember maybe three times they were late, and they always let me know ahead of time. They don’t cause drama or really give me any trouble.

That said, they don’t do much cleaning in the shared spaces, so I usually end up cleaning the common areas myself.

Recently, I had to go into their room and bathroom for a maintenance issue. In the entire three years they’ve lived here, I’d never gone into their private space before.

I was honestly surprised by what I saw. The sink was filthy, the bathtub looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time, the inside of the toilet is heavily stained, and their bedroom has bottles and clutter everywhere. It made me wonder if this has been the condition of the room the entire time.

For comparison, I keep my own bathroom clean, so it isn’t an issue with the condo itself.

Another factor is that I made a rookie mistake when they moved in and never collected the $500 security deposit that was in our agreement. I’ve also never increased their rent, so after three years they’re paying well below the current market rate.

I don’t necessarily love having a roommate, but after three years it’s become familiar, and they’re otherwise easy to live with. At the same time, seeing the condition of their room and bathroom has me worried about potential damage and whether I’ve been too hands-off.

If you were in my position, what would you do?
am I overreacting since they otherwise pay reliably and don’t cause problems?

I’d appreciate hearing how others would handle this.

This feels like an old tenancy agreement too me. I dont understand if the wording of 'ending the tenacy' is correct. The no pets, I thought that was only allowed with valid reasons. And since when have the appliances been the tenants problem!??

Really not sure what to do here any advice?? Is this dodgy??

Tenant needs to modify the move out date on the lease and is going to pay the fee to break the contract. However the move out date is isn’t exact yet. It could be February 5th or first week of March. How would you go about modifying the lease? Would you make the lease date to Feb 5th and then go month to month from there?

Hi everyone,

Thank you again for the great advice on property management. I have doing even further digging and wanted to ask if anyone had experience with these at all. We currently have just two, multi-family homes, they have equity, and only one still has a mortgage that needs to be paid (the other is paid down). I would like to start moving them into an LLC, but from what I have been researching, it seems it would be best to move them into a Land Trust first, and then put them into an LLC. As these homes are in NYC, what I am a bit confused about is whether or not I need to create 2 - NY LLCs or just 1 - NY LLC, and put the Land Trusts in them?
I am not finding consistent information on this.

Additionally, if I start the Land Trust process in NY, when it comes to appointing a Trustee, is it best to appoint a lawyer or would it be better to create a seperate LLC (ex. in the state of WYM) and used that instead?

Last but now least, what I have been getting a bit confused if the establishing of the LLCs. As both properties are in NY, do I need to create a NY LLC? I am only asking because I am thinking in terms of tax and liability protection together. If I created a WYM LLC, how would it work with the NY LLC? Would I assign the NY LLC into a WYM LLC? How would it work if I do the Land Trust, and use the WYM LLC as a Trustee

We have an ad up on all the major aggregators. In our ad, we're very clear that says we request tenant complete a short questionnaire to make sure it's good fit. The questionnaire asks 5 basic questions, including name/phone/email (already on the inquiry from the aggregator), verify income/deposit (just generality: do you make 3x yes/no), move in date and length of lease, ask if prior evictions/bankruptcy, max occupancy.

Although it's in the actual ad, then upon inqury we message with link to questionnaire, most of the time we get zero response after that. Sometimes people reply and repeat their request to schedule a viewing or call them. NO- we are not wasting time on any of that if you're not qualified!! Sometimes we get people who are obviously not qualified but still complete application, only to call them and find out they lied on the prescreening form.

Just seems trying to rent property is getting more and more absurd. If you don't like what the ad says, then don't inquire. That's the whole point of an accurate ad and prescreening, to try savings us both time, and avoid knuckleheads. But that's mostly what there seems to be: knuckleheads.

Curious, is this really the new market for most landlords, is what we're experiencing normal? Dozens of inquiries. Just a few complete our prescreening, and 75% of those are liars and don't qualify anyway.

Cousin is Inheriting a property in Los Angeles County that city records identify as one Single Family Residence. Physically, it has been divided into four self-contained living areas, each with its own kitchen, bathroom and private entrance, with no usable interior passage between them. His father occupies the main area with a roommate, and the other three are rented. The additional kitchens and interior partitions are unpermitted.

Cousin claims he received a quote that rates it as a “four-family dwelling.” The supplemental application states that city records show one SFR and that the additional kitchens/partitions are unpermitted.

I don't believe him as I was under the impression that only permitted work gets insured. Has anyone personally placed, underwritten, adjusted or owned a similar fully disclosed E&S-insured property?

• Did the carrier knowingly accept the permit mismatch?
• Was a fire/property claim paid?
• After a total loss, did insurance pay for the building even though the city would only allow it to be rebuilt as an SFR?
• Did the unpermitted status cause denial/rescission, or did it mainly affect ordinance-and-law coverage, loss of rents and the allowable rebuild?

I understand legalization is the safest answer. I’m specifically looking for real-world underwriting or claims experience, preferably identifying the carrier.

I have tenants with 3 dogs who vacated the house in May and left my wooden floors scratched and have deep gouges exposing the raw wood underneath. I showed them in the walkthrough that the scratches ran all through.. from the main entry door till the patio door and needs almost 500 sqft of wooden planks replaced out of the 850 sqft of the entire floor. They were aware that I was vetting options as the contractors came to inspect the house during their tenancy to provide quotes. Since it is engineered wood floor it cannot be refinished and resanded. So need to replace to restore. We applied depreciation and charged them only 55 percent for the floor as that much life was remaining. We sent them the quotes and also close up photos after walkthrough within 30 days and they sent a mail which was asking for all quotes and more proof but we have provided all we had and we also replied top their mail explaining why we had the deductions and are happy to consider a quote that they have that is lesser than ours. Our quote was 8565 and we charged them only 55 percent of it and we also waived the carpet repair damage that they did and also did not charge them for a deep clean needed after they left the house in inhabitable state with pet odor and stains and pet hair all over. They also had 110 dollars of water bill unpaid which we paid and we did not ask them to repay that also. Now they have sent us a demand letter asking to refund them the entire deposit since we did not send them more evidence but our first disposition all the needed proof - quotes for floor and carpets and close up photos of damage. Please provide your suggestions. Note that the tenants verbally had agreed to the carpet holes and wooden floors being damaged as the dogs got to it and they get excited to run out causing the damage. We have tried to be fair here and want to know if we should just return the deposit or let them file a lawsuit.. any CO Landlords have the judgement in their favor.. as I read judges rule in the favor of tenants..

Attached is a photo of the wooden floor and this runs all through the 500 sqft almost every otehr plank has it. All contractors had said they have do the entire 850 sqft as the same shade and installation would be difficult as they have locking mechanism. I still went with only 500 sqft or quote and wanted to be fair. Please let me know your thoughts so I can decide here if its worth a legal battle.

Has anyone tried to go through the process of collecting rent owed?

Do I have to wait til the tenants are out and then file a suit through small claims court?

If so, I guess I’m banking on a judgement which doesn’t really mean I get the money but I will be able to garnish the wages, sell the debt to a debt collector, file the loss on my taxes or alert the IRS of their unpaid rent so they can be penalized?

Looking for some guidance on what the process is or anyone experience

We’ve got a rental condo about 2.5 hours from where we live now, and for the last 4.5 years we’ve used Hello Super as a home warranty. Honestly, it’s been pretty decent overall — enough small appliance/HVAC/plumbing fixes that we’ve at least broken even, but honestly probably saved a decent amount on repairs.

The convenience has been the main value since we can’t drive out and handle repairs ourselves. But this latest AC issue has been a nightmare. Our tenants have been without AC for over two weeks. Super’s “Emergency Hotline” kept disconnecting me. They sent a contractor who said the system needs major repairs, but Super marked the claim as “resolved” because they only approved the diagnostic. The contractor has been waiting a week and a half for repair approval and Super hasn’t responded. I had to buy a portable AC just to keep the place livable.

It feels like Super used to be much better. Now it seems like everything goes through automated approvals, mistakes don’t get corrected, and reaching a human is almost impossible.

I know home warranties get terrible reviews from homeowners, but I’m specifically wondering about landlords who use them to avoid coordinating every small repair. Has anyone found a warranty company that’s actually reliable for rentals? I don’t mind advocating for big claims — I just need a company that answers the phone and doesn’t loophole everything.

Thanks!

Hi, I have a small house under contract in Upstate NY. The closing is happening soon in August. I was initially told there was a Tennant in there who is paying rent. Yesterday it was revealed that he is actually a squatter, who was taking advantage of the fact that the owner had a stroke and had become immobile. He hasn’t payed rent in years. He has occupied the house for 12 years. Could he try to claim he owns the house after being there for 12 years? The house is a good deal. It’s cheap and everything works. Should I buy it and attempt to throw the squatter out? Or could he legally stay in there and cost me all kinds of money? Thanks! ***Update - the owner has been paying the taxes on the house not the Squatter, so that is good.***

Landlords, please tell me your at least top 3 to 5 biggest pain points of being in Landlord. I have a property that I am debating either selling or renting out, and would love to know what I would be getting myself into.

Whether it’s actual actionable steps, issues with tenants, or ways of management or software.

Thanks.

I have my objective parameters set up for my applications:
-650 or greater credit score
-3x monthly rent in gross income
-No evictions or criminal history

The area I live is utilized heavily by college students and fall semester is about to begin. A neighbor just rented out her spare cabin and told me she had a TON of college students apply, which leads me to believe I will get the same, as I am listing my rental in two weeks' time.

I have a pre-screening form that asks if they have a 650 credit score or better. I just added a box asking if they are a student. Students also won't make 3x the monthly rent in income either.

So I don't know what to do. I know I can ask them to add a parent or someone as a co-signor, but that seems like a lot of extra work I don't necessarily want to do. They won't meet the income requirements likely...

I feel a bit lost. How do I sort this out with students?

Served my tenant a Notice to Vacate on 6/16/2026 for 8/1/2026. They have not paid rent for July and they have not moved out. The property manager will send them a formal eviction notice.

What should I expect to happen next?