Maybe the host of this website can lock this Q&A area for identified landlords? It seems the likes of "Hey Mikey Likes it" types will revew to see what they can do to live free. The problem is growing, and we all have to hunker down, When the economy picks up, and any of my tenants looking for a free ride, will be out on the street

Two main take aways:

FOOD AND SHELTER: Number 1 and 1 priorities.

There is nothing wrong with ALL parties being aware of their rights. Unscrupulous landlords are just as bad as unscrupulous tenants.

When you're right, you're right, and when you're wrong, you're not right.

A landlord with a good case will always win in the end, if he knows what he is doing. Landlords simply need to learn how to deal with unscrupulous tenants, and this site is very helpful to share experience and good sense. It can even serve to check foolish landlords.

Every problem has a solution. A landlord who chooses to try to "solve" problems by insisting that he's the boss and thats the end of that, will soon learn the limits that his "solution" brings.

Moshe, here, here! I agree with that.

Busy [WI] I'm pretty sure that our Moshe is a she. Care to make a friendly wager on it. I'm willing to go as high as 2 rolls of TP the good 2 ply stuff(g). If I win you donate them to someone in need near you & on the slight chance that I'm wrong I'll do likewise in my area. Moshe [CA] will naturally have the final say on who wins. What do you say?

Steve:

" What has been discussed on here that can’t be figured out by reading a book about LLing or gotten from other sites? "

Well, I stop and think about all of the experiences that I have had over the last 30 years, what they mean, and what I did and what results I got, and what I learned from them.

You can do the same.

I have no problem with folks exercising their right to be informed, I just feel that this website should NOT facilitate educating tenants. That is not the purpose of this website nor is it a moral obligation to provide tenant information (unless mandated by law).

Tenants who want to learn their rights should not be coming to a landlord site, they should be going to a tenant website. Tenant websites don't inform landlords what to do when a tenant does not pay the rent.

Domestic abuse centers do not provide information as to the rights of the abusers. This is not the place to provide tenant right information and I think landlords who do damage other landlords who use this website. .

A competent landlord doesn't get damaged by tenants knowing all of their rights.

Only abusive landlords are affected by tenants knowing their rights.

Moshe, I totally disagree. There is a cost both financially and emotionally in dealing with an accusation, even if you are found innocent. Remember the McCarthy trials and the famous statement by Raymond Donovan after he was acquitted of all charges --" Where do I go to get my reputation back". Being innocent /non abusive does not mean you can not be damaged.

I stand by my statement, other advocacy websites do NOT advise the other side. Tenants should be informed, but they should look to a tenant centric website for that education, not a landlord website. Landlords who advise tenants coming here seeking advise do a disservice to other landlords.

What does this have to do with "an accusation"?

Most "advocacy sites" consist merely of other landlords, the site doesn't have an opinion. So many of these other landlords are either not as knowledgeable as they might be or serious enough businessmen to suggest a rational way of doing business to deal with the kinds of problems that arise in this business.

A good businessman knows how to deal with solving the problems of his business, without skipping a beat. Tenants knowing their rights won't prevent good business solutions from their necessary outcome.

Moshe:

What does this have to do with "an accusation"? Plenty, when a tenant accuses a landlord of something it is an accusation. It remains an accusation until proven. Often tenants make false/inaccurate accusations. A little surprised I have to explain the connection between accusations , tenants and landlords.

Most "advocacy sites" consist merely of other landlords, the site doesn't have an opinion. No, but the landlords posting on the site do have an opinion. . i used other advocacy websites as an example, it was not limited to landlord websites. Go to website for abused women, they do not offer advise to the batterer. Chlld suport collection websites do not offer advise to the payor. Tenant advocacy websites do not offer advise to landlords on how to collect the rent. Seems you could conclude best practices indicate an advocacy website should not offer advise to the other side.

A good businessman knows how to deal with solving the problems of his business, without skipping a beat. I don't know what world you live in, but my experience is business spend time, money & energy dealing with problems even when they do not result in a finding of wrong doing. I retired from a large corporation, with a very large legal department that dealt with business problems. Often the outcome of the business problems was a not guilty verdict. That did not mean that there was not a substantial cost in defending/dealing with the issues.

I stand by my statement, other advocacy websites do NOT advise the other side. Tenants should be informed, but they should look to a tenant centric website for that education, not a landlord website. Landlords who advise tenants coming here seeking advise do a disservice to other landlords.

What are the tenants accusing you of?

Accusations are grounds for criminal prosecution, not busines problems. If a tenant is accusing you of not fixing a leaky faucet as a defense to nonpayment of rent, I don't think that you need to worry about loss of reputation, unless you have a record of really not fixing things.

Of course, solving problems costs money. Those are the normal costs of doing business. A little experience and a little pondering about general approaches to such problems can help you minimize such expenses over a long time. Especially pondering about attitude.

Moshe .....again

What are the tenants accusing you of? This is not about what tenants are accusing me , it is about when tenants come here and accuse landlords of things and are seeking advise. Again that should be obvious!

i refer you to Webster for a definition of accusations:

accusation definition is - a charge of wrongdoing.

In fact the definition does not even mention criminal prosecution, just wrongdoing. Tenants accuse landlord of wrongdoing (accusations) that all the time. I would have expected you to have a better grasp of the definition of accusations??

Once again I stand by my statement, other advocacy websites do NOT advise the other side. Tenants should be informed, but they should look to a tenant centric website for that education, not a landlord website. Landlords who advise tenants coming here seeking advise do a disservice to other landlords.

Steve, I’ll offer two rolls of Scott classic, not the cushy stuff, the stuff my husband refers to as sandpaper. But, I want 8 oz of hand sanitizer if I’m right. Daughter in law works in Seattle area. Best gift I could give her right now would be a bottle of that liquid gold.

Busy WI,

Your daughter can make her own hand sanitizer (I found it online):

- Rubbing alcohol (they said 99%, but stores only sell 50% or 70%)

- Aloe Vera gel

- 10 drops of lemon juice

Mix 3 parts alcohol, 1 part gel and lemon drops well and put it in a dispenser.

I've been in this industry too long and have seen a bunch of landlords who have taken advantage of "good honest hard working tenants" that left no damage but was denied the return of their deposit.

In one case I worked as the contractor for a landlord who doctored my invoices for 3 of her rentals, claiming that 1 tenant who moved out caused $5,000 in damages. This wasn't the case. I re-keyed the lock when the tenant moved in and then re-keyed the home after the tenant moved out. The home was left in better condition.

While in court the tenant got the judge to give her a recess. I faxed over to the court the original invoice and payment checks with each property address on the check. The judge who horrified at the landlord and ordered the deposit be refunded plus 3 times damages -- to the limit of the court.

It's been about 20 years and this landlords still cheats current tenants out of their deposit.

This is nothing wrong with helping out a tenant in need from a bad landlord or bad situation...

Busy, darn near had a coronary when I read 8 OZ. I should be able to cover the 1 OZ size without any real issue. (g) As long as it's the 2 ply Scott, I'll agree to your new terms. I think she waiting to find out what her ut is going to be.

To all of my imaginary internet Axe Murder LLs (as my wife calls you) out there please Be Safe & Stay Well

definitely need to proof read before hitting submit. I meant to say;

Fred, thanks. I’ll text her the recipe. She a whiz cook, ad very self sufficient, wouldn’t be surprised if she’s playing around with the recipe already. Might have to send the rubbing alcohol though. Area might be out of that too.

Steve, it’s 2 ply. Septic system safe.

To the topic of helping tenants, there is learning for all of us imaginary internet axe murder landlords in the questions the tenants ask when coming to a forum such as this. I think we do a fairly good job of steering reasonable tenants towards reasonable solutions, just as we also verbally clobber anyone who wants to abuse their tenants. And, we’ll gladly ridicule/set straight/tar and feather anyone who feels entitled to the fruits of our hard landlording work without just compensation.

Busy [WI], along the same line I gained a lot of knowledge & insight from reading Legal Tactics: Tenants' Rights in Massachusetts by LMRI. Having a better understanding of what some of the tenant advocates were telling tenants allowed me to adjust some of my polices which ultimately made my business stronger.

"A landlord with a good case will always win in the end, if he knows what he is doing"