LL finds out the hardway you can't be nice

[bonzo]

What is the name of your state? Pa

Hi everyone. Here is my story which i hope will help others. I had a tenant living in my building for 2 years. I was left the building from my brother passing away so i was thrown into this situation. I did all the background checks i new of with the little knowledge i had.

In the past 2 years i learned alot. I got a business and renters license, joined the home owners association etc. I recently evicted this person cause he owes back rent. I filed the petition through the home owners association. I had a court date last week and of course the former tenant was a no show. So to make a long story short i was told that the only recourse i have is that my complaint will go on this persons credit report. Well i come to find out that this person has had bad credit. So in reality im screwed. I asked about attaching this person wages when he finally gets a job. I was told that i can't attach his wages because the noticed was posted and he never picked up his mail. It don't make sense to me. I want to know if i can take this person to small claims court and try to attach his wages. It seems really unfair that teanants can work the system and screw the LL.

By the way this person was a total pig and left the apt with trash, empty beer bottles, boxes, old cloths etc. You get the picture. I can't understand how people live like this.

So iam in the process now of cleaning up the mess and getting the unit ready to be rented again. Just a note: i have learned by my mistakes. My first one was not getting the first and last months rent plus a security deposit. I only took a security deposit trying to be a nice guy. Thats done with. If you can't afford the upfront money to move in, then your not moving in. I now have the resources to do extensive background checks.

Iam all ears and open to any advice and help. I hope that this story will help any other LL
in the future. One big lesson i learned. This is a business and you can't be nice to anyone.
Run your building like a business. Be cordial and friendly but don't do what i did.
You see where it got me![/quote]

[Alaska landlord]

Think of your experience as a lesson worth learning that will save you thousands in the long run you got off easy. PA rental laws are unique and you would benefit from knowing all you can about the deposit rules and about notice waivers.

[bonzo]

Hi and thanks for your response. Iam the OP. I have learned the hardway. But my question is you mentioned i got off easy. How did i get off easy? I did everything legal. I went and paid to file the complaint against the tenant. I gave him more than a month to leave.

If anything he got off easy cause the laws here are positively in favor of the tenant. I don't understand why the city of phila is letting these pigs get away with murder. So right now im out the back rent, i put out $150.00 to take him to court in which he never showed up and the only recourse i have is that he gets a black mark on his credit report. At this point i don't think this guy really cares cause he owes everyone money. So i get screwed.

The more and more i think about it the more pissed i get especially now that iam in the unit picking up the hugh mess that guy left me. And he gets to skate and nothing can be done about it.

I love when i read some of these tenants post on here complaining about LL. Here is the simple solution. If these teanants would pay their rent on time and not destroy apts and try to get away with everything they can we wouldn't even need the courts and sites like this. Iam really just fed up dealing with these pigs.

I do appreciate your response. Sorry i just had to vent and get this off my chest.

[FarmerJ]

consider your self fortunate that the tenant had not caused so much structural damage to the home that you were out 10s of thousands of dollars, Your tenant could have left huge holes in every wall, taken every appliance, destroyed every carpet or tiled or other surfaced floor, they could have left you with every window in the unit cracked or broken. The worst would have been them abandoning the house in such a way that some one could have come in and cut out every exposed piece of copper water pipe and pulled out as much of the wiring that they could have to sell for scrap =meth/ crack money, ( even the furnace , hot water heater and ductwork are salvageable) leaving the house wide open for further damage from vandals or to become a drug house for a few days. SO yes some day you may get the chance to collect a court awarded judgement , What that will do is maybe it might not affect the former tenants rental application proccess for a while but sooner or later that tenant is going to run into LLs who will refuse to rent to them based on that judgement and the only thing thats going to make it go away any time real soon here is for it to be paid off.

[Alaska landlord]

Read you state landlord act word for word. There are laws about the security deposit I don't feel you understand. It is illegal to collect in excess of twice the security deposit in PA. It will not matter if you call it first and last months rent, it will still be a security deposit according to the PA tenant landlord act.

In other words, you can only collect twice the rent as a security deposit and half of it will have to be returned to the tenant at the beginning of the third year. See the section regarding notices. PA has a notice waiver clause you could use if your county/city Judge allows it.

[usmcpark]

[quote=....
In other words, you can only collect twice the rent as a security deposit and half of it will have to be returned to the tenant at the beginning of the third year. See the section regarding notices. PA has a notice waiver clause you could use if your county/city Judge allows it.[/QUOTE]

Is this true for California as well?
Where can I find out this information for California tenants?

[CA LL]

In CA a LL can collect and retain 2X rent for unfurnished unit, 3X rent for furnished and extra if a waterbed is to be in there.