Posted by Mary on June 18, 1997 at 00:11:42:
In Reply to: Re: Rent Control has some significant inequities posted by Sir Loving on June 17, 1997 at 19:59:37:
>>> electricity in the halls $10.00 per month >> new boilers - free if you switch to gas heat>> RC tenants pay $106 per month more than what it's worth.<<<
Gee, what do you think RC tenants are supposed to freeload off the landlord for the rest of the tenant's life, the life of the tenants children (who in turn will live there) and then any successive generations that come about?
What you, as an unknowledgeable tenant, MUST be made aware of is that a landlord has MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY expenses even after the mortgage is paid. Let me tell you. My mother's parents bought this house 80 years ago. They, and then my mom and dad have always kept this house in very good condition. It is a two family house in upstate. So the mortgage is long paid off and you would then say that my parents have no expenses? Well, then you tell me, who pays the property taxes (almost $5,000 a year) when the tenant only pays $400 in rent? Then my parents included the heat in the rent, but the tenant jacked up the thermostat to $75 and opened windows and my parents could not turn the heat off--it was not yet May 31 (becuase the tenants' rights people wanted my parents to pay the high heat bills ($250 a month in winter) so the tenant to heat the cold, icy, snowy, 20 degree outdoors!)
Further, what you need to learn because are an unknowledgeable tenant, is that there are many many many other expenses. There are all sorts of insurances that are mandatory. We have mandatory certificate of occupancy and must pay the city each time someone moves in. My dad just had this 2-family house painted (on the outside). That alone was a WHOPPING $6,000. The bathroom and kitchen floor got redone -- $2,850. Plumbing work (some new pipes and a back vent) $1,250. Just because one light fixture in the bathroom was going to be taken down and a new $20 fixture put in, it cost my dad a WHOPPING $750 because simply by virtue of taking the old one down, the city ordinances require new GFI wiring (cripes, the house was totally rewired only 25 years ago). New floor joints had to be put in under the upstairs porch floor (the ceiling of the downstairs porch)--this was about $1,000. Then, where does the money come from to put in a new sidewalk? We can't have blacktop thrown on top. No, we must have concrete. Typically,that will cost the average LANDLORD of the typical two family house about $10,000 and these sideswalks usually need to be replaced every 15 years. If a window gets broke, landlord must pay to replace it. Replacement batteries for the several smoke detectors--maybe only a buck, but even if tenant takes the batteries out (which virtually EVERY tenant does), landlord is still held responsible for the detector's operability. Locally, we have city trash pickup. But we sort paper, from the glass/plastic/aluminum, from the yard waste, from the trash. If the tenant is irresponsible enough to fail to sort trash in accordance with city laws, the landlord pays the penalties. So, many will say that a landlord should get a better tenant. But, if it is a rare case of a rent controlled apartment (we have a very few), the landlord would be stuck with a lazy tenant and the landlord would forever be responsible to pay penalties resulting from the tenants laziness of not properly preparing trash and the landlord further could not get the money back from the tenant.
This two family house is very well maintained. Two years ago, the interior was COMPLETELY repainted, hardwood floors COMPLETELY refinished, brand new wall-to-wall carpeting installed, windows all washed, lightbulbs in each socket and the smoke detectors. It has a living room, dining room, kitchen, bath, 3 bedrooms, 4 closets, w/d hookups, a basement storage area, a front porch, and an enclosed back porch, and a front and back yard. The young, single tenant wanted to spend his money on beer and video games so for the past year he didn't pay his rent. Mom never told us, but she was terminally ill and has since died. She was too weak to handle the hounding of the tenant for the rent money. So, the tenant chose not to pay this modest $400 a month with heat included, chose not to pay the electric bill (he had it in a couple different names), chose not to pay two different phone accounts (shut off for non-payment), kept promising my parents he'd be back "in a couple days" to pay the long overdue rent then never showed. He fails to show up in court for the eviction case. He waits until the VERY last day and moves his stuff out 6 hours before the sheriff comes but only AFTER my dad has to pay for the movers to move his stuff (IN CASE he doesn't move) as well as storage units. That's after a few hundred on the legal costs. And the tenant took off with not only the batteries, but all the smoke detectors as well. He took most of the light bulbs. He left cat litter and cat poop on the living room carpeting. He left lots of trash laying around. But, don't forget, he is a tenant--you would think he should live in the place for free, make it dirty and make the landlord pay for the clean up, steal the smoke detectors (landlord can pay to replace). Oh, go after the back rent some will tell me? Hah. Do you think Soc Security or the IRS tell us where the deductions are being taken from in the tenant's paycheck so we'll know who to send an income execution to????? No, by law, landlord does not have ability to findout from fed. govt. where tenant works in order to do income execution. Further, income execution must be served on former tenant personally. But sheriff says we must tell sheriff where the guy has moved to in order for them to serve him. My dad doesn't know. And my dad is prohibited from finding out where ex-tenant lives, thru the post office (that's private info enough so as to preclude a creditor from finding the debtor. Great world isn't it?
Oh, by the way, this house doesn't have the fancy moldings that the first writer spoke of, but certainly that has to be painted. The cost of that is not free.
The city says this house is worth $80,000 and it is THAT amount on which property taxes and county taxes and water taxes and swere taxes and school taxes are based upon. BUT, as with most such homes in this city, if my dad wanted to sell it, he would be forced to keep it for a number of years, because homes here are sitting in the for sale category for 5 or more years. That IS the honest to goodness truth. And one house that was similar to this is assessed at and it was sold for only $50,000. THAT is totally unfair.
So, now, tell me what else is allegedly free to landords?????????????
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