Jeffrey, it is time to permanently ban Robert (CA). See “Free Loaders” post.

Often Robert J's posts are amusing and sometimes informative.

You could always be the adult in the room and treat him like TV ads - ignore them if you don't like them.

I enjoy the real Robert I . I've learned a few things from his posts and value advice that works, whereever it comes from.

JR ME hope you do better verifying your rent applications then what you claimed here. Ban!!!! Illegal!!!

Maybe instead of banning Robert, the person who pretended to be him should receive a short period of suspension.

I'm one of the ones that tends to "call out" Robert on some of his more "creative" posts, but it's still not cool at all to pretend to be him.

Although, it was extreme enough that I think it was clearly intended as a joke. An "homage to Robert" maybe.

The fact that some people thought it was ACTUALLY Robert when it was that crazy of a post just goes to show how "creative" some of his posts are. heh.

- John...

standard - I'm a contractor - followed by broke into the unit while everyone was sleeping and pistol whipped some or all the folks that were there.

LOL, thanks Nicole. That's very amusing. Sounds like that poster is trying to one up Robert J.

I don’t mind most of his posts, which are hard to believe are true but harmless., But he regularly brags about committing crimes, like impersonating an officer, restraint of his tenants, faking hazardous waste transport, etc, etc. That is not right, and it is not right for this site to post them.

While that is true, JKJ, I think it is important to remember that lots of NEW landlords show up here to ask questions. While WE all know Robert J and how he posts here -- they wouldn't know that yet. So, when they ask a question about how to do something about a tenant problem that they are having -- and Robert J replies with some story where he did one of the things that JR just mentioned (impersonating the police, for example) -- then it is important for someone to point out that Robert's story is either fictitious or, at least, very outdated and BAD ADVICE.

It isn't a matter of just going "if you don't like Robert's posts, then don't read them." It isn't that simple when he's replying to newbies that don't know better (and he does that very often). He may be TRYING to help, but often his posts would be dangerous to most landlords today -- many of whom visit here that might not know better.

So, I'm fine with him posting just like everyone else -- but I hope people DO continue to "call him out" when he posts things that he may have done in the 1970s that were likely illegal then and are definitely illegal now. It isn't just an "experience" story when it is given as a response to some newbie asking for help...

- John...

John...., that can go for A LOT of advice given that newbies may read.

That's why I think this forum would greatly benefit from an anonymous thumbs up, thumbs down voting system that is allowed to be cast once from each IP address for responses given.

Some advice is great, some middle of the road, some makes no sense whatsoever and some is TOTAL GARBAGE.

JKJ: Yes, but remember that JR[ME]'s original "time to ban Robert J" was based on a FAKE POST, of course. He thought that Robert had finally gone "too far" and was flat out telling someone to BEAT people to get what he wanted.

I don't think that anyone actually wants to ban anyone at this point -- because that was apparently a joke post (or malicious -- depending on who you might ask).

My point is that, at some point, if a person were repeatedly recommending illegal actions and actually MEANT it, then maybe banning makes sense more than just having people "call them out." But, again, that didn't really happen here -- so I don't think anyone is seriously calling for a ban of anyone, of course.

- John...

NE: Yes, it applies to lots of advice for newbies -- but the difference is that there is a HUGE difference between "poor" advice and ILLEGAL advice.

If someone here is repeatedly recommending doing something that is illegal -- then I think it may make sense to take more action than just going "yeah, just ignore him -- he's been around since the 70s and 'things were different' then." I don't think that's a good thing to allow to continue long-term.

So, yes, there is lots of advice given here -- ranging from great to poor -- but that's still very different from advice that recommends breaking the law.

- John...

Well, as long as this thread is still limping along here's what I think...

JR made the post and later found out it (most likely) wasn't RobertJ. Time to apologize. That's what we do when they screw up and trash someone elses' name.

It's not a valid excuse to say, "Well, maybe he didn't do it THIS time but he does it other time..." When you mess up, you mess up. Be a decent human being and admit your error.

Next time check the IP address and stars by the name before writing something so brazen. Or if in doubt you can always send the message privately to the webmaster as this site encourages. There's no need to "call out" publicly for banning someone in a post. Respect Jeffrey's rules and follow the processes he has established, so we can all remain civil in our variety of view.

Sid: Just to note it, I'm pretty sure the stars are based only on the name. So, trusting them is not a good idea. (In this situation, they actually typo'ed on his name and left out the space between Robert and the "J" -- so that is why it didn't match up. But if they HAD done it right, it would have matched.)

Just saying that trusting the Stars isn't enough. And, heck, trusting the IP isn't enough either since we have some people where it changes regularly -- and/or is shared by several people.

If we want to "trust" names on this site, then we need a real forum system with usernames. I know some are opposed to that -- including Jeffrey (although he did seem to indicate after the recent site problem that maybe it was an option down the road) -- but that is the only real way to prevent people from pretending to be others and having any reliable way to "trust" who it really is.

Note that I agree with you about this situation though -- once it was discovered that it wasn't Robert J, an apology was in order (even if he DOES often post similar to that). :)

- John...

JKJ: Ok, we can agree to disagree. In my opinion, if a newbie LL comes in and goes "I seem to have some non-payers in my unit that I can't get rid of -- how do I start the eviction process in my state?" and someone replies with "Well, what I did was take the hinges off the door and they left!" -- then that seems to be "recommending someone do something illegal."

It isn't just "posting about a way he dealt with a tenant in an illegal manner one day" unless that is made clear.

Again, that is why I said that, for newbies that don't know the person, those sorts of "stories" can very well seem like "recommendations" or "answers" to their question.

Again, if you don't see that, then we can agree to disagree. I, personally, think it is bad advice that could be taken wrong by newbies that are asking questions.

- John...

John I agree that Robert J (or anyone else) who gives illegal advice should be called out.

JKJ: Yeah, yeah. That sounds great in theory, but isn't likely to be how the real world works. People don't come here asking for advice and then decide to do a bunch of research on their local laws and "seek professional assistance."

That's a nice "cover our butts" statement, but it just isn't reality.

J: That's fine. I'm not suggesting at all that anyone be "removed" or "banned." That being said, I stand by what I said above:

If someone here is repeatedly recommending doing something that is illegal -- then I think it may make sense to take more action than just going "yeah, just ignore him -- he's been around since the 70s and 'things were different' then." I don't think that's a good thing to allow to continue long-term.

There seems to be a lot of people here going "What Robert J says isn't a big deal because he's just a Good Old Boy from back when that used to be commonplace." Um, yeah, that's not a good enough excuse to me, sorry.

@John

I never impersonated a police officer. You must have misread my post.

I've had a City Housing Inspectors impersonate Emigration officer.

I've had Building and Safety Inspectors issue me a STOP ORDER for an emergency plumbing job. If I didn't finish the job then sewerage would have been discharged on the street and there would have been a health and safety issue AND I would have been fined. So the City Inspector got a arrest warrant issued and tried to have the Police arrest me for working on my own property. The signer of the arrest warrant wasn't a real Judge, but the Senor Building Inspector. They try to scare contractor to compliance with fraud. I got to finish my work and I did have a permit that I pulled on line but the City inspectors with their I-pads can't access that system....

I've made private person's arrest. I've scared gang member off of my apartment properties because the police were too busy giving protector to VIP's.

Won’t be able to make it this year, but, I’m going to put it on the calendar for next year. Husband and I Jhabvala yet to visit most of the upper east coast. CT sounds like a good place to start.

Just for the record...I enjoy Robert's posts!