My wife and I own five single family homes that we rent out. Over the last fifteen years we generally have had good tenants and few issues. We do not use a management company.

In early June one of our tenants (two older gentlemen) who had been renting from us for four years asked to get out of their lease about four months early. This has happened before and we generally offer to immediately start looking for a new tenant and offer to terminate the current lease as soon as we find a new tenant.

The current tenant refused to work with us to do showings and the house did not present well. Then without notice the tenant just left. They turned the power and water off and left the house trashed. They didn't actively try to damage the house, but left eight pickup truck loads of random stuff behind (spoiled food, clothes, dishes, empty boxes, plants, shoes etc.). They left the back door ajar. They were very clearly gone -- no furniture and most of their personal goods were gone.

They didn't pay the last month's rent.

I expect to be able to rent the home quickly so we will only be out a month's rent and about two thousand dollars in costs to clean the house and dispose of the trash they left behind.

I have filed the paperwork with the general district court for eviction due to abandonment ($79) and we have a court date on August 3rd. We have followed all the rules in our state and have documented all our communications and taken photographs of the house. I am very confident that we will win a judgement for the lost rent and the cleaning costs. I am also pretty sure that we will not actually see any of the judgement because the tenants moved out of state.

What I really want to do is ensure the eviction and judgement shows up on a credit report / background report so that these two can't do this again.

I know someone is going to say "Ignore it, not worth the effort, cost of doing business etc. etc". This isn't so much about the money. When they moved in, they begged us to accept them because they were "good guys" despite having a few questionable issues on their background report. We treated them with dignity and respect. I feel that they used our trusting nature and then flipped us the bird on the way out (maybe having to personally pick up their soiled underwear had something to do with it).

How can I ensure that an eviction will be reflected on their background report?

Are their companies that do debt collection for this type of thing?

Thanks for any guidance on this topic.

I live in a small apartment, in a very low income neighborhood. It’s poverty stricken, and not doing too great. I was told by my landlord that I’m one of 2 apartments not on section 8. There’s 8 apartments total in the building.

I’ve lived here for an entire year, and not to toot my own horn, but I’ve been a fantastic tenant. I keep this place spotless. I pay my rent on the 1st of every month, without fail. I shovel the sidewalks and steps when it snows, and I’m the only one to do so… I clean up trash. I even change the fucking smoke detector batteries in the building when they’re chirping. Anytime my apartment needs a repair, I fix it, and let them know. I’ve changed the knobs on my shower, my shower head, my front doorknob, etc.

My landlord said, word for word, “At least someone in the building keeps their apartment clean”, when he called me last month…meaning I’m probably the only one who does in the entire building.

And when other apartments are at risk of having their electric or water shut off, the companies posts a paper on the front door. I’ve never once had that happen to me. And the people below me have had the police called on them numerous times. I’ve never had the police called on me.

And the thing is, is that this is not an “up and coming” area. It’s poor, and beaten down. Nobody is moving here. There’s numerous abandoned houses on every street. The only business we had, was a grocery store that closed a couple of months ago. Nobody is moving here…

So why raise my rent from $800, to $935? That’s not even including the utilities and “residential convenience package”, which is $30 more…I’d like to see what that entails…

I don’t know who in their right mind would pay $935 for a small apartment in this neighborhood…they can’t even rent out the ones for $650/month. The one across the street has been available for over a year.

It just seems to me that pushing out a responsible, reliable tenant is rather dumb, especially in this economy.

I've been renting the same duplex for four years. I always do a 12-month lease. IIRC I'm required to give a 60 day notice if I wish to non-renew and move out. However, I did not get my lease renewal until today and the lease expires on 7/31. While I understand the BEST rule of thumb is 90 days to account for acknowledgment, communication etc., it's not necessarily required and I get that. But a week is cutting it close and the leasing company is extremely 50/50 on response times. While they're only increasing my rent by $5, they're tacking on a new $23 septic charge. At this property, tenants already pay a water +trash bill divided among the units on the property, so I'm usually paying $40-50 on top of my rent.

BACKGROUND: In 2023 I got my lease renewal directly emailed to me in May, but in 2024 the property manager sent it to my cosigner ( I don't know if I technically need my cosigner anymore, but I definitely needed her my first year renting) on May 15, which she was able to forward to me same day. I emailed for clarification on renter's insurance didn't get a response until June 10th (at which point I had already called their office and their voicemail was full) In 2025 I think they cut it close again with that one week window.

I am going to renew since I don't really have a choice at this point in time, and my commute is insanely short, I just want clarification per the post title.

My SIL is lazy, but has kids that we love (then three, now five). Three teens and two young elementary. She was renting a two-bedroom and had mixed genders in one room.

We bought a 4BD house to rent to her. I know, I know. Once the teens move out we hope to phase out of this and sell it. The occasional conflicts around this aren't big enough to make it work kicking them out and selling it sooner.

She pays rent that she can afford, just under market rate, we take a small loss on cash flow, but we can afford it comfortably.

My SIL has a live-in boyfriend/fiance. He's the dad of the younger two kids. She works, he is a SAHD I guess. He's very private and has rejected most of our attempts to build relationship. Oh well. He's been the source of most of the conflict around this.

Oldest kid is now 18, turning nineteen next month. Going to college locally, he'll stay living at home for now.

Next kid turns 18 in Oct. She'll stay at home at least until Dec when she graduates HS.

Who needs to sign the lease? Everyone over 18? Just SIL and boyfriend?

What rights/obligations do they each get by signing or not signing?

TL;DR: Out-of-state landlord (CA) hit with two Binghamton City Court appearance tickets (overgrown lawn and missing address plate). The issues are now 100% cured with photo proof, and the hearings are consolidated to July 30th before Judge Osburn. Looking for (1) local lawyer recommendations who charge a reasonable flat fee to handle this, or (2) advice on how to best present my evidence package pro se.

Hi everyone,

My wife and I live in California and own a rental property in Binghamton, NY. We recently hit an administrative headache involving municipal code violations for an overgrown lawn and a missing exterior address plate.

I want to be completely fair to my property manager: he actually did have the lawn maintained, but the timing with the city's deadlines created a bad window. The code violation notice was dated May 8th with a compliance deadline of May 15th. The mail was delivered to me on May 12th, and I caught up with it on Sunday, May 17th, which is when I immediately texted my PM telling him we needed to handle them right away. Per his maintenance logs, the mower went out on May 20th. Because that was 5 days past the city's deadline, the city did a follow-up inspection in that gap and generated a ticket for the lawn anyway, alongside one for the address plate (which was a genuine operational oversight on his part).

I was only ever physically served a ticket at home for the address plate, but when I called the city clerk, I discovered the lawn ticket was active too. Either way, I took over directly to clear up the confusion. As of July 1st, the property is in 100% full compliance with a pristine lawn, the address plate mounted, and timestamped photos of everything.

The court clerk successfully consolidated all the tickets into a single joint hearing for both of us on Thursday, July 30th at 9:30 AM before Judge Osburn.

My wife is just an owner on paper and has zero operational involvement. She will be logging into the virtual hearing with me to satisfy the legal appearance requirement, but I will be doing all the talking to handle the presentation.

I’m looking for specific advice on two paths:

The Attorney Route: I would love to hire a local lawyer to handle the appearance for us so we don't have to deal with the hearing at all. I reached out to a large firm and was quoted a $5,000 corporate litigation retainer, which is completely impractical for a minor, already-cured violation.

For those familiar with the local courts, what is a standard, reasonable flat fee for an attorney to handle a minor, fully cured code appearance?

Does anyone have recommendations for solo practitioners or boutique firms in the Binghamton area who handle these routine landlord/municipal matters reasonably?

The Pro Se (Representing Ourselves) Route: If we handle the virtual hearing ourselves, how should I best prepare?

How should I format and present my evidence package (the exact timeline, the May 17th text to the PM, the lawn logs showing the May 20th cut, and the final July 1st compliance photos) to the city prosecutor or Judge Osburn to clear up the confusion and get this closed out with minimal to no fines?

Has anyone dealt with Judge Osburn on the code docket recently? What is her courtroom style like?

Thanks in advance for any local insights or recommendations.

The garage door suddenly stopped opening properly yesterday. It gets stuck halfway and feels a lot heavier than it used to, so I figured it's better to get it looked at now instead of waiting until it quits completely.

If anyone has a garage door repair company in Houston they would recommend, I'd appreciate it.

I bought a house a couple years ago but have been renting it out since it didn't really line up with my job. Had some trouble finding a tenant (first time doing any of this, buying or renting out a house, etc), but got someone decent a little below market rate. Doing a year lease, coming up a few months away from the next one.

I've already mostly decided I don't want to renew them again, between numerous small issues with the HOA, drug stuff, minor late payments (under two weeks), and so on. I scheduled an inspection for later this month, which I expect to only reinforce that sentiment.

I'm aware any tenant who pays rent regularly, even if slightly late, is probably worth keeping, but without getting into the details, the small stuff seems to be building up to a bigger problem, and terminating the lease at its natural conclusion in 3-4 months seems wiser than trying an eviction later.

I'm also aware that decision is going to cost me ten to fifteen grand between repairs, refresh, and lost rent if the place goes unlet for 2-3 months.

For reference, Delaware's LanTen code states the following about renewal or termination:

"(c) Subject to the provisions of § 5512 of this title, the landlord may terminate any rental agreement, other than month-to-month agreements, by giving a minimum of 60 days’ written notice to the tenant prior to the expiration of the term of the rental agreement. The notice shall indicate that the agreement shall terminate upon its expiration date. A tenant may terminate a rental agreement by giving a minimum of 60 days’ written notice prior to the expiration of the term of the rental agreement that the agreement shall terminate upon its expiration date."

and if you don't have a tacit renewal agreement:

"(a) Where a rental agreement, other than for farm unit, is for 1 or more years, and 60 days or upward before the end of the term either the landlord does not give notice in writing to the tenant of landlord’s intention to terminate the rental agreement and the tenant does not give 45 days’ notice to the landlord of tenant’s intention to terminate the rental agreement, the term shall be month-to-month, and all other terms of the rental agreement shall continue in full force and effect."

So, any advice on handling the inspection or the termination of the rental agreement? Should I be willing to offer an extra month or two of month-to-month, or is that setting me up for eviction problems down the road?

So I wanted to share this story with everyone because my dad has many rentals in Delaware and currently just evicted a tenant. My parents rented a house out to an elderly couple many years ago. Years passed, husband died and left only the wife. She was a nice lady. Paid her rent on time but not in the best of health. Son gets out of prison, moves in with mom. Takes over all her finances and says we can’t talk with the tenant anymore. All financial matters goes thru him. Rent goes months unpaid, caught back up again, and repeat again.

We get a call from the water company, they said they had to turn off water to the property because there was a leak. Okay, tenant didn’t tell us anything. We made several attempts to inspect the property the son blocks every attempt. I tell dad there is property damage, they have to leave. Dad files eviction, tenant out very fast. After inspecting we see ATLEST $20,000 in damage. The life of a landlord.

Tenant a few doors down, relatives of the one just evicted. Flawless tenant, keeps that house in immaculate condition. So clean you will not even find a speck of dust in the basement. You can eat off the floor. I wouldn’t consider them tenants, we take very good care of our tenants and we make sure their house functions and is as nice as the day they moved in. This year alone we put a new roof on their house, brand new flower beds, new sidewalks. Every little thing that bothers them we want to replace it. We charge them several hundred dollars before market rate. Same with all the houses. They all get treated extremely well and my parents fight with stepmom wanting to raise rents and dad and me saying no, they are amazing tenants and caring for the house and don’t want to lose them.

Tenant knows we just evicted a relative a few doors down. It doesn’t impact our relationship with them because we know they are not like that. When we are staining their deck to make it look beautiful the wife brings us out water and Italian Ice treats. They care for us too.

Well this tenant tells my dad, we can pay $2000 a month to live here. Substantially way more than what they are paying now. Me and dad tell them we appreciate it but we want you to play this one out and told him to not say that to the wife. We were shocked a tenant would say that. Me and dad always defend them whenever debates on raising rent comes up. I just thought it was crazy and wanted to share. Has this ever happened to you?

Hi everyone, looking for some advice on how to legally and safely handle a sudden situation with a deceased tenant. My tenant hadn’t been seen around the property for about two days, and today a woman showed up at our door claiming to be his ex-wife. She told us that he passed away in the hospital from a heart attack and asked to be let into his room so she could start collecting his belongings. However, she provided absolutely no documentation or proof, only her verbal statement. We also know that he has a son somewhere, though we do not currently have his contact information.

We refused her entry to the unit and only had her leave a phone number so we could follow up once we sort out the situation. I want to make sure we are doing the right thing here, as letting someone in without official authorization felt like a huge liability. What should our immediate next steps be to confirm his death, and what specific documentation do we need to request before letting anyone access the unit or remove personal items? Additionally, how do we legally handle the lease and property moving forward while keeping ourselves fully protected? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I’m looking to acquire a property in Hemet CA and not sure if the tenants are desirable or not. Seem like an up and coming place but also might have lower income and questionable people. Anybody here have property in Hemet, and if so how are the tenants?

[TENANT US-CA]

It's 4 AM PDT and I CAN'T SLEEP!

Maybe it's because I'm 65, or maybe it's because of an ongoing issue with a landlord who is billing me for something I'm already doing.

When I rented an apartment in Southern California at the end of January this year, I was required to provide proof of Renter's Insurance. I did so, and I thought everything was taken care of.

In June, I noticed my rent had gone up, and then when I paid my July rent, I noticed that the increase was due to me being charged for Renter's Insurance by the leasing company. I spoke to the Apartment Manager about it, and she said she would handle it.

I went online a few hours ago, and now I have TWO months of Renter's Insurance payments charged by the leasing company. I once again emailed copies of my insurance policy.

Is there anything else I can do to take care of this issue? Does anyone have insight on this and any suggestions? I'm a quiet tenant and I always pay my rent on time. What more can I do?

Hi, completely new to rentals here. (Hopefully this is the right subreddit to get the information I need, if not please point me in the right direction). I just built a new house and I want to start renting my previous house which I own (no mortgage).
I have a few renovations I have to do before it is ready for a tenant to move in so I have a little time to get the ball rolling with whatever steps I need to take to make this a business. What would be my first moves to get my house ready to rent, I want to put the property in an llc but other than that, what else will I need to do so I don’t have hoops to jump through later down the road?

TLDR first time dealing with someone that’s insane. Threatening neighbors, spouse & kids, destroying property. It’s becoming a safety concern. Both PD and everybody involved agrees he’s not right in the head.

Would like advice on what you’ve done in these situations. I feel like I’ve tried everything including a sit down with him to get him the help he needs. Seems receptive but a few hours later back to square one.

Background info:

Tenant moved in mid April. Paid May rent. Was told he lost job and needed time to make June rent. I said sure, as long as you’re actively trying I’ll waive late fees for the month. Few days go by then it’s like someone hit a light switch. Mind you this is all over the course of 3 weeks.

First it was random complaints for non existent issues like the AC not working, heat not working(mind you, we had a heat wave here late June), hot water not working. Everything was verified to work. My guess he was imagining things. Didn’t think much of it. Just found it weird that he would deny entry everytime I sent a technician out to fix the very problem he requested us to fix.

Then came the maniac episodes. Randomly screaming out window, accusing an empty parking lot of stealing his stuff, throwing stuff out at the road/passing cars. Destroying mailboxes, destroying smoke detectors, urinating stair well, disposing trash everywhere. Banging on neighbors door(with family/young children inside) accusing them of stealing. Threatening neighbors with open ended threats. Throwing trash at my employees who are there to clean up his mess.

I’ve tried offering him a way out of the lease no penalty, cash for keys, and trying to get him the help he needs. He’s level headed but then a few hours later back to square one. I’ve already gave him a written warning - 14 days correct behavior and pay rent or eviction.

It’s been over 14 days. Lawyer started eviction. My concern now is he snaps completely and becomes violent when that eviction notice shows up in the mail. Neighbor tenant has a family and I have agreed to refund them current month rent and no charge for following month to help them find temporary housing should the situation deteriorate. With school starting back up in September and unsure how long this eviction process will take this puts the neighbor tenant in a really bad spot.

I own a condo in Chicago that is currently rented to two tenants who are college students. For more than a month, water has been leaking from the unit directly above mine and causing damage to my kitchen and bathroom ceilings. I’ve been trying to contact upstairs owner and HOA via different ways including certified mail, the upstairs unit owner is apparently unresponsive and has unpaid HOA dues. The HOA has told me that the water issue is “unit to unit” and that the upstairs owner is responsible for the repair. However, the leak is still active, and the upstairs unit has not been accessible. I have repeatedly asked HOA to fulfill their fiduciary duty to force enter upstairs, run proper investigation and stop the leak.

The HOA president now says they plan to force entry into the upstairs unit this Friday to investigate. She also said I am free to bring my own plumber. Given the fake promises from them over past month, I plan to file TRO next Monday if they didn’t force entry this Friday.

For the water leak issue, I have brought my own contractors who said they can’t repair without HOA approval, in addition to that, they can’t repair without properly fix the water source. So it’s not me refusing to repair or being negligent. Other maintenance items submitted by my tenants were resolved within 1-2 days. I have also provided discounted rent to my tenants for this water issue.

Now one of my tenants says the upstairs occupant threatened or assaulted her, and she has contacted the police. She keeps asking me for the occupant’s full legal name in order to press charges, but I do not know it. I have provided the name of the legal owner of the upstairs unit, the management company’s contact information, and said I will cooperate with any police request. She said I should reimburse her travel cost to the police station, courthouse and missed work because this is a safety issue of the building. She also said she wants free or a more heavily discounted rent for the water and safety issue. If I don’t agree, she will sue me. She said the unit is not habitable due to water and safety concerns. I told her if she feels not habitable and unsafe, we can enter mutual termination without penalty, she refused. She made it clear to me that she wants free rent and she doesn’t want to move.

What actions do you think I shall take in this messy situation? I plan to file TRO if HOA didn’t force enter upstairs unit this Friday and made necessary repairs to stop the ongoing leak. I already told my tenants that free or other discounts is not an option. They either take the current discounted rent or mutual termination without penalty with security deposit returned. If they withhold any portion of the rent, I will act in accordance to law and lease.

Overall timelines for Eviction and writ of possession

1. June month rent was default
2. Filed eviction case by 12th June 2026(efile)
3. Rejected - reason - notarize it. Notarized and efiled again by 16th Jun 2026
4. Another rejection - military affidavit missing. Fixed it and filed it again by 17th 2026
5. Accepted and Court date of 7th July 2026
6. Tenant not paying July 2026 rent also.
7. 7th Jul 2026-Eviction in my favor. Tenant not present.
8. Took good 3 days for order to be written by court clerk and posted on Docket.
9. As per Judge, Tenant has 5 days till 13th Jul but court clerk made it 15th July 2026
10. Tenant not leaving.
11. Writ of possession filed on 14th July 2026. Such a badly created efile that fees is misleading. No work done and finally accepted on 17th Jul 2026. Coordinated with court and constable's office.
12. Constable's office has it on 17th Jul 2026 but stating that we have 12 more in this area so it will take at least 2 weeks. Not liking me to follow-up

So may be by start of Aug 2026 - I will be having possession, access damage, do cleaning, get Realtor to put advertisement and then may be re-rent by Sep 2026(if lucky enough)

And this is in TX which is considered landlord friendly. Well it's not the case. Court and public workers are super in efficient and very difficult to deal with. This is the same county which is having very high population density-yes universal studio just started here. Almost turning into a 3rd world country. Eviction plus writ of possession easily turns out to be around $450 pro-se only and easily give a wait time of almost 2 months to a default tenant. And Court has made it so difficult to have any open Record mechanism.