I would like to tell all the foolish thing I did. I hope to pass this on so as to help anyone and everyone. No ones fault but my own I know. I feel like worse than a schmuck!

----I had a married couple and a child for tenants for 6 1/2 years who paid the rent on time every month. He was a teacher and his wife was a student. Very upstanding?

The only home inspections I performed was when the city performed their required inspections approximately every 2 years. The tenants kept up the place fairly good.

The tenants gave me a thirty-day notice to move out in August 2017. The last inspection that was performed was approximately 2 years prior to move out. When I met the tenants to do the move out and get the keys back I was totally surprised that the backyard was totally overgrown with berry vines, ivy, weeds, etc. The home looked as though no cleaning was done whatsoever in the last 2 years. Door knobs on the bedrooms had been replaced with key-locking knobs to most likely accommodate subletting of the rooms. Carpet was damaged by an unauthorized pet trying to get out of the bedroom. My refrigerator that was furnished for the tenant was sitting in the garage broken. The tenant just replaced my fridge w/o my knowledge with a leaky one from craigslist. All the throw away items that were not taken to their new home were left for me to dispose of beside the driveway.The sliding glass door with tempered glass was broken and had been covered with plywood which rendered the home w/o a back door.

The worse part of all this was when I sent the tenants their final accounting (within 31 days) I used email instead of US Mail. The tenant and I had used email to communicate throughout his tenancy and I figured I could still use that mode of communication. Afterall, I considered him (somewhat of ) a friend. The accounting that I emailed him stated that he would owe me $1350 more than his security deposit because of all the repairs and cleaning and I was not even charging him for the broken sliding glass door because he said the damage to the glass was weather related.

The tenant sent me a registered letter with the list of state statutes that let me know I was in violation of the laws for not sending the final accounting within 31 days by US Mail. He was totally right. I contacted a lawyer and had a document drawn up to take care of this matter correctly and be done with it. So, I had to clean the mess the tenants left and pay them twice the amount of their deposit plus pay a lawyer to draw up a document. They made out very good because of my foolish, ignorant actions!

Bottom line, do inspections and remember your rental business is very serious and tenants are not necessarily your friends. I hope someone can learn from this.

Yeah, always know and follow the letter of the law. Also, I require payment for damages as they go and do not deduct from deposit except exit damages. Avoids big bills nobody can pay.

If they can't cover ongoing damages we can get them out before the place is destroyed.

We haven't had this problem since we switched to senior living.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience and making it into a teachable moment. I am so incredibly sorry about your awful tenants and what they knowingly did so that you didn't even hear the knife turn.

Oregon has been a rather hot market lately, so I'm sure that you'll be able to rent your place for much more money after you are able to clean things up. You're wiser now, and that's what counts. Please pore over this forum for the posts on screening, and feel free to even ask for advice on prospective tenants and about any other doubts you may have.

Best of luck. As Norman Lear once said, "Over and next."

Lawrence I feel very bad for you. At the beginning of my LL business I made all the mistakes one could make. I went thru a series of horrible experiences, incl one of my tenant's children hanging himself on my property tree! I was duped, cheated, and robbed of all appliances, you name it. I was told by a local LL "You have just been thru LL college. Education is very expensive. But the answers you got wrong on the exam are the ones you will remember the right answer the rest of your life. Now get over it, move on and do better." So you are not alone.

Lawrence,

Thanks for posting. Your experience will help others. In fact, I walked another LL thru the same thing today.

Dontcha just love lawyers! They make money by attacking others. What a life!

Yes, renters will bite the hand that fed them.

BRAD

More tuition paid in Landlord University. Now you are a smarter, better LL!

Move Forward, Lawrence.

Don't beat yourself up to bad... We ALL have done stupid. Happened to me three times just yesterday, But I learned and will move on.

While your former tenant was correct in regards to the statute regarding information on their security deposit, I have come to the conclusion if a tenant ever tried that with me, I'd let them sue me.

Even if I lost in court it would be a cold day in a hot spot before I'd pay them a dime of the judgment.

In other words, I'd be just like every other deadbeat tenant who loses in court and never pays anything on what they owe.

For what it's worth, I'm retired (so no wage garnishment) and the tenants do not have access to the information regarding my bank accounts (and even if they did, I'd be changing banks quickly).

Most of us here have made similiar mistakes, myself included. If you identify what went wrong and take steps to prevent that from happening in the future, you will SAVE more than this lesson cost.

Lawrence here.

Thanks to all for their posts. I feel better reading all the posts. I have definitely learned a lesson. In fact, as soon as we wrote the check to my ex-tenants, I notified my other tenants that a home inspection would be upcoming and I set a date for that. Also, I try to remind myself that I can charge more rent(I kept the increases to a minimum to help the ex-tenant) after I repair and upgrade my home that was abused by the ex-tenant and in a few months I can make up the recent losses.

another here who feels your pain ... we've all "known better" about different types of situations and yet most of us have been "foolish" also.

Allin [VA]

I contacted a lawyer and was told I was in the wrong. (I had pics of the terrible condition the ex-tenants left the home.) Even though I checked the box on the rental agreement that said I could use email for 'actual notice'. US Mail is the mode of correspondence i had to use. I just wanted to be done with it. I was trying to get the matter over and cut my losses.

To:ROY[AL]

Your suggestion to remind ourselves of the income we had rec'd from the ex-tenant for 6 1/2 years is exactly what we did to ease our minds. As stated by an earlier post on this subject the tenant did 'bite the hand' that helped them. This was quite a shock to us. I think the ex-tenant was 'lying in wait' just for my mistake to happen. Again, my own fault.

I am now: No more Mr. Nice Guy!

Lawrence,

Don't carry 'negative baggage' from this hand biting tenant to your next tenancy. Yes, you should continue to be Mr. Nice Guy but just keep your tenant radar on 24/7.

Lawrence of OR,

Welcome to the Landlording School of Hard Knocks U just earned your PHD!!!

It's a rude awakening!!! Trust me been there know it like it was yesterday. Early on in my rental biz was working thru the court process when one of the court entities said to me, "You know its your own fault this happened." WOW it was like a ton of bricks hit me and then a light bulb went off. At that point I became a few of my tenants worst nightmare.

Best of Success Lawrence your best days are ahead of you. Power up your electric wheel barrow to carry all your rent money to the bank. And by the way laugh all the way to the bank.

Gail K of GA, you mentioned if a tenant ever tried that with me, I'd let them sue me.

Even if I lost in court it would be a cold day in a hot spot before I'd pay them a dime of the judgment.For what it's worth, I'm retired (so no wage garnishment and the tenants do not have access to the information regarding my bank accounts and even if they did, I'd be changing banks quickly.

Gail I totally understand your thought process HOWEVER the only problem I see in your process is that once the deadbeat tenant has a claim against your now it could become a lien against your unit and a ding against your credit. At that point a deadbeat tenant just won BIG time and I would not give them that satisfaction. I recall a tenant that sued me due to itemized deductions over and above security deposit. To me it was full proof I had all my ducks in order THEN the PRO Tenant judge ruled against me. I decided it was not worth my time and energy to take it to the next level so I made payments on the account to the tenant. I think I spent more on the check, the envelope and the stamp then the amount of the judgement. HOWEVER I paid it off in 2 1/2 to 3 years. I am sure the tenant thought they won and beat me out of money but they did not get all their money at once. I can bet they thought I would send them it all at once. I learned a lesson from that issue and my lease got a liittle longer and I got more proactive.

As a Landlord/owner we hold a major asset in Real Estate and the tenant pays our mortgage increasing our ownership in that pc of real estate. In the end a tenant owns nothing but a piece of paper called a lease. Both sides have a legally binding obligation but when that obligation ends what does the tenant have ZIP nothing. What does the landlord have, they own that pc of real estate! Money for another investment to use as leverage! Money to buy a nice car! Money to live comfortable! Money to go on a very nice vacation. That vacation may be "Porch View" but its your time and your choice. Money for your retirement. More Money when LL increases the rent for the next tenant...

There are several LL associations in the Portland area: Multifamily NW, Rental Housing Alliance Oregon, and Oregon Rental Housing Association. I'm in the Salem area and on the advice of LL's on this forum I joined the Salem Rental Housing Association and attend the monthly meetings. A member benefit is that I can purchase OR-specific forms at a discount ($2 each vs $5). They also offer monthly training sessions (for a nominal fee) as well as a Hotline for specific questions. The officers are very knowledgable and eager to help answer questions.

A great, great resource I found a few months ago is an online document, Portland Landlord Training Program published by the City of Portland Business Development Services. It goes into great detail of the business of LL-Tenant relationships. You can find it by doing an Internet search of the above title.

Good point Roy. I will try to keep a positive

Attitude and be 'tenant aware' from now on.

Thanks to all again for responses

Lawrence Here,

Such great advice from everyone. What support! Feels good and that I'm not alone. I will be proactive from now on.

Lawrence is NOT foolish!!!

You and your wife need to go out to a nice restaurant on the beach. (That's if you are near one of Oregons beaches) and celebrate!!!

Celebrate your wonderful and very smart wife!

Celebrate your excellent investment!!!

Celebrate you as the renewed Lawrence the Landlord of OR!!!

Lawrence, do you usually wake up around 5 a.m. when your response post was done? I'm glad that you're feeling better and hopefully will not lose any sleep in case it might have been an issue. I'm so glad that your wife made a great pitch and please know again that Portland is such a great market. You indeed are now wiser and more shrewd with your newly acquired PhD to deal with the rest of the people in your property.

I'm late to the party, as usual - but I join with those who say that nearly all of us have been there! We learned painful lessons that made us better landlords - and we share them with others to help them to avoid the same mistakes!

To: Salernitana [CA])

In answer to your question,I usually do wake up at around 5:00

am. I love the quietness of that time and the morning coffee and the time to think about things with no distractions.I must say the ex-tenant event did and does bother me still. I am trying to forget it and use some of the suggestions from everyone who answered and commented on my posting.

Also, my wife always keeps a level head and keeps me grounded. I am lucky to have someone like her, I know, and have known for 42 years.

And I will take the advice to go for a mini vacation on the Oregon coast as soon as time permits.

Thanks to all and to Mr.Landlord for providing this forum!

Lawyers don't always understand the rules. In our area, lawyers don't do evictions unless it's a big deal case in district court rather than small claims.

NO WAY would I have written that check to the tenant. Let him sue me. It couldn't be for more than I *unlawfully" withheld and you did not unlawfully withhold it. "Notice" in NC does not specify method. My leases include a provision for dealing with electronic methods (I stole it from a bank's website) and I would argue that in court any day.

I have learned over the past, in this business you have to watch your back. Sometime I have to go back and refresh on the laws and regulations. Had to go to court one time and the judge basically read the State laws word by word. Fortunately the tenant did not know the laws too well and got happy suing. So basically for every tenants we take in, I want to think that they can possibly sue for anything. Remember there are a lot of people that are out happy suing. For all return security deposit I would do certified mail just to be on the safe side and if I email anything, a copy will be in the mail just in case they said they did not get it. Documents and taking pictures of the drop off mail will be valuable if you had to do eviction, because sometimes tenants will not accept the mail and it will be return.

Reading these forum I have learned more than reading a book.

So keep on sharing.

To: Don[PA]

Referring to your post, I may have sent the check too soon or maybe not. I read the statutes and it was clear I owed the ex-tenant twice the security deposit. When I consulted the lawyer they agreed I was in the wrong. If a lawyer tells me i am in the wrong and I see it in writing, I figured I am pretty sure to owe the ex-tenant money. Also, if I did go to court i figured I would have to pay lawyer fees on top of the penalty and court fees. I am not experienced enough with these type matters to really know what to do so I did cut the check right or wrong and hopefully I am done with it.

Wilma[Pa]

That's a good point. Thanks.

Lawrence, I am not saying you were foolish - I'm just challenging the "written notice" part of your statements. OR law says "written notice" it does not say "pen to paper and mailed via the post office."

Is typewritten notice considered written notice? Is printed from your computer considered written notice? Of course it is. Your lawyer was looking at the delivery method rather than whether written accounting was given. I object.

To WMH[NC]

This is what convinced me to cut the check:

Getting the security deposit back

Your landlord must return your deposit within 31 days after the termination of the tenancy and the delivery of the rental unit to the landlord. (Note that both conditions must be satisfied before the 31-day clock starts ticking). If your landlord keeps any part of your deposit, he or she must notify you in writing and tell you why. This notice, which is also called an accounting, along with any portion of your deposit that is being refunded, must be personally delivered or mailed within 31 days. If your landlord wrongfully keeps part or all of the money, you have up to one year to settle the matter or file a lawsuit for up to twice the amount of the money your landlord kept.

If I paid the ex-tenant wrongfully, I really got bad advice..

Lawrence

To:WMH[NC]

I am a little confused now. How could I do better in the future. Thanks

to don[PA]

Yes I had the ex-tenants sign a doc that stated this was the end of it before I sent the check.

Exactly, Don/PA. Read the actual statute, Lawrence. That will help a lot. I couldn't find it but I don't know OR laws.

Our lease says we both agree to accept electronic communications as valid, and that we will provide a paper copy to the tenant upon request to a valid address. Never had one request that but we would.

I can't serve an EVICTION notice via email or even via snail mail - the Sheriff has to do that. But other communications are not proscribed by law.

And they can only sue you for the amount UNLAWFULLY WITHHELD, not the entire Security Deposit. Now maybe Oregon Law says any amount not documented was unlawful, but you DID document it.

Things happen. You'll not make this mistake again. We have all messed up along the way. This forum has saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the 15 years I've been in the biz.

You're still ahead and you're still in the game.

ALL accounting's and other important stuff go by post office first class mail. no need for certified mail

use PO form 3817, Certificate of Mailing, for an extra $1.35 and you are golden. i have had several folks try the old "it wasn't mailed on time" and the small claims judge stomped on their BS because i had the post offices certificate.

BEST $1.35 YOU'LL EVER SPEND

Katherine[TX]; mike[CA]

Thanks for the comments and info.