ASK A LANDLORD!! LEASE QUSTIONS and General Policeys

I am bored and with my experience in property management i though maybe i could help out any renter's with questions. one thing to remember, while most rentals laws are similar they do vary from state to state so i will do my best to still answer your question.

About me: i worked for a medium / large property management firm for 5 years in all aspects (maintenance, leasing, and management) and i have seen it all (weed grows big and small, dead bodies, crack dens,etc)

So there you go maybe someone has a question and maybe this will be buried on page 5 by 3pm

Cool thread I'm bored too. How did you end up finding the grow ops? Were any because of power consumption? Cuz I worry about that a lot since I live in an appartment. I only run about four hundred watts total but I'm still more paranoid about that than anything else

Do you have permission to go thru locked doors?(inside the aprtment) Not the apartment door

It depends on the lease, however my immediate answer is yeah. most leases will include a clause that allows the landlord access to the property in cases of emergency otherwise "proper" notice is needed to even enter. Remember even though you are renting it they still own it. If they come in and break down a door that is locked all they have to say is "we heard water running in that room".

420fourtwenty420 said:

Cool thread I'm bored too. How did you end up finding the grow ops? Were any because of power consumption? Cuz I worry about that a lot since I live in an appartment. I only run about four hundred watts total but I'm still more paranoid about that than anything else

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Nope at the apartments i worked at the power was metered for every apartment. we found them do to lack of odder control, when you have 11 apartments call about a skunk smell it's kinda easy to find. as for you how is your power billed? do you pay it to the power company or the apartment complex?? if its the apartments, they could care less as long as the bill is paid. if they raise question tell them you got a chest freezer.

a dog named chico said:

I am bored and with my experience in property management i though maybe i could help out any renter's with questions. one thing to remember, while most rentals laws are similar they do vary from state to state so i will do my best to still answer your question.

About me: i worked for a medium / large property management firm for 5 years in all aspects (maintenance, leasing, and management) and i have seen it all (weed grows big and small, dead bodies, crack dens,etc)

So there you go maybe someone has a question and maybe this will be buried on page 5 by 3pm

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so your pretty much a slum lord?
lol j/k

...... said:

so your pretty much a slum lord?
lol j/k

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no my company was...i was just a helpless pawn

a dog named chico said:

I am bored and with my experience in property management i though maybe i could help out any renter's with questions. one thing to remember, while most rentals laws are similar they do vary from state to state so i will do my best to still answer your question.

About me: i worked for a medium / large property management firm for 5 years in all aspects (maintenance, leasing, and management) and i have seen it all (weed grows big and small, dead bodies, crack dens,etc)

So there you go maybe someone has a question and maybe this will be buried on page 5 by 3pm

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Besides buying a house , what are some other situations for legally breaking a lease?

So lets say A tenant comes up to you and says "i think i smell weed coming from one of the apartments, but im not positive which one". OR they say "I think I hear a fan running in the closet in the unit next to me".


What would be your next step as a property manager?

btw good idea for a thread! thanks

neosapien said:

Besides buying a house , what are some other situations for legally breaking a lease?

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I know for a fact that if your in the military or a military contractor the Soldiers and Sailors Act will allow you to legally break any contract if you are deploying to an active combat zone and that lease/contract will not be helpful while your away. Ie... Apartments, cell phones, leased vehicles etc..

neosapien said:

Besides buying a house , what are some other situations for legally breaking a lease?

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If your lease lets you break because of a home purchase you are lucky...most don't not allow this. aside from that if your elderly and unable to live independently or active military with orders you will qualify for early termination..but again it depends on the lease

chillwills said:

So lets say A tenant comes up to you and says "i think i smell weed coming from one of the apartments, but im not positive which one". OR they say "I think I hear a fan running in the closet in the unit next to me".


What would be your next step as a property manager?

btw good idea for a thread! thanks

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Honostly...i would show concern for their issue and probably do nothing...people don't understand that maintenance is usually very busy and understaffed so having them check out a phantom fan is the leaste of my concerns. if its a weed smell then unless EVERY PERSON in that building is willing to help than it is usually a fruitless search. We would blanket the hallway with flayers saying something to the ex-stint of "we know your smoking and we will find you" after one or two of those the smell would clear up for a while. if we knew who it was it still would never go past a letter or phone call, most lanlord have the don't ask don't tell mentality.

a dog named chico said:

Honostly...i would show concern for their issue and probably do nothing...people don't understand that maintenance is usually very busy and understaffed so having them check out a phantom fan is the leaste of my concerns. if its a weed smell then unless EVERY PERSON in that building is willing to help than it is usually a fruitless search. We would blanket the hallway with flayers saying something to the ex-stint of "we know your smoking and we will find you" after one or two of those the smell would clear up for a while. if we knew who it was it still would never go past a letter or phone call, most lanlord have the don't ask don't tell mentality.

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Awesome. Thats about what I figured. Im sure apartment managers are always getting complaints from 'that one old lady who is nosey as hell'.

Also I wondered do you guys use the Pest Control guy to 'sniff around' and report back to You guys.

Could you give a few more details about how small 2-3 plant grows got busted. Im not talking about the apartment full of young party animals who are growing a bunch of skunk weed with wreckless abandon.

Thanks again.

If you own a house and decide to rent it out.....I heard that ppl can pretty much homestead it and not move out ...like in the movie where that guy was a total douche in the apartment this couple rented out in there hourse......think it was Michael Keaton

chillwills said:

Awesome. Thats about what I figured. Im sure apartment managers are always getting complaints from 'that one old lady who is nosey as hell'.

Also I wondered do you guys use the Pest Control guy to 'sniff around' and report back to You guys.

Could you give a few more details about how small 2-3 plant grows got busted. Im not talking about the apartment full of young party animals who are growing a bunch of skunk weed with wreckless abandon.

Thanks again.

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Nope never used the bugs guys to spy, they would tell us stuff like "i went into this apartments and they are pigs" but that was more in responce to why they had bugs.

The smaller grow we found was on a balcony, the guys left it out to long one morning and all the neighbors saw it and called the office and the cops. the larger one we found was due to odder. at first we thought someone was just smoking, then maintenance had to go into their apartment for a water leak and found it....we did nothing except refuse to renew his lease the next year. The thing to remember is if its not hurting anyone the manager will typically let it go.

StonedPony said:

If you own a house and decide to rent it out.....I heard that ppl can pretty much homestead it and not move out ...like in the movie where that guy was a total douche in the apartment this couple rented out in there hourse......think it was Michael Keaton

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kinda, it all depends on your states squaters laws, in Michigan someone could break into a vacant apartment and it would take about 2 months to evict legally.

Ok question, Do you have the right to go through our personal stuff, Say we have a cabinet or the closet and it's closed off from view and the maintenance guy goes through our shit? I'm all for going in and checking to see if there is something going on, holes in the wall, carpet all tore up etc etc, but to come in and look into a cabinet or someone closet would be kinda off limits i would think. thoughts?

Slojo69 said:

Ok question, Do you have the right to go through our personal stuff, Say we have a cabinet or the closet and it's closed off from view and the maintenance guy goes through our shit? I'm all for going in and checking to see if there is something going on, holes in the wall, carpet all tore up etc etc, but to come in and look into a cabinet or someone closet would be kinda off limits i would think. thoughts?

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short answer NO they cant....your personal property is off limits, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Most maintenance guys wont because its not worth risking their job.

However if a repair needs to take place, lets say in a closet, you cant tell them no. i would recommend telling them that you have a lot of personal items and want proper time to clear them out privately before they come in. most landlords will honor this request as to not cause static

Exactly, so as long as all fans are off, light isn't eminating from it, wires aren't shooting all out of it, then they should just leave it alone right? The reason i ask is I am SCARED to death for when they do their random inspections, had one right before i started this grow, but there will be another one prolly soon, not sure how I'm going to hide it completely

EDIT: I mean i do have my card, it is legal everything is fine in that area, but that's not going to stop them from kicking us out me thinks.

Things to remember!

1) they own it!!! at the end of the day no matter how much rent you pay THEY own it, therefore the rights to the property belong to the landlords!
2) DO NO piss off your neighbors, they can protect you or rat you out....your choice, i cant tell you how many times kids got evicted and jacked up their credit all because of some drawn out feud with some tenants that have been there longer.
3) Treat your maintenance and office people good! even though there is a manager these people control what the manager hears about and sees
4) Anything can qualify as an emergency, so don't think you'll get good notice before they come in.
5) Pay YOUR RENT ON TIME!! you don't want the manager coming around looking for it.
6)NO PARTIES!! i cannot stress this enough, some kid got busted with a QP because his friends got drunk, got loud, cops came, and they tossed the apartment.