State Specific Question About: OHIO (OH)

Have a question how to handle a situation.

have a boarding house, long story how that happened, short version adult son, project, talked me into buying the house for him to live in and manage, then, hated it, and he gave back to me.

anyway. usually, this brings very low income people, or people in transition stage of life, crisis, whatever. normal here, in lower income areas.

we do the background checks, no criminals, evictions etc. which is not that common around here, most of the other landlords don't bother, and take anyone with money at time of applying.

so, being in a low income area, applicants don't always have both rent and deposit at time of applying, but want the room. I don't hold without money down. with no money they often change mind, or just flake out.

So, its common practice to take payment for either the rent, or deposit, to reserve and secure the unit, and in couple of days, the person returns with the rest from their new paycheck. These are often people who make less than $1200 a month on average.

No keys, no move-in until all is paid. If they don't return, or change their minds, they are told that the money is not refundable, because other people have been turned away, and we have lost potential tenants as well as rent money for the time it was vacant. Normal practice.

you'd be surprised how many no returns,or keep the money, I don't want it, we get. some even rent, never move in.

so this has worked rather well. until now, no big problems.

now I have a guy look at the room. didn't have all the money till pay day. so he gave rent no deposit for December. was to return a week later with the rest of the money..

week later no show for his appointment. ignores my calls.

after the fact, get a call he doesnt' have the rest of money, won't till January.

I've turned down other people wanting the unit in the interim.

he tells me he doesn't need the unit till Jan. and wants to apply December rent to Jan instead.

He is of course still owing deposit. I tell him that's not acceptable. If he wants to move in January, then he'll have to pay rent for January and the outstanding deposit, the money he gave was for December rent, and he's still owing deposit.

he repeats no deposit money until after the holidays, and really doesn't need it till January.

Its been a few days since this all has started, and the room has been vacant, on hold for him, having turned away applicants, ad taken down.

so, I tell him that I have turned away other applicants, and remind him his deposit is past due.

he says again he doesn't have the money for the deposit. wants the rent money back now.

At this point, more than 2 weeks have passed into the month of December. I tell him, I'll repost the ad, and if I find a new tenant for the month of December, I'll be generous, can prorate the remainder of the month, and give him that back, for the days that the new tenant has paid for December. inform him, this will only happen if I find a replacement, but he wouldn't get anything back if I dont, and he will not until someone else has rented in December.

I said if no one rents it for December he wont get anything back, but I'll try and find someone else.

I gave him an example: if some rents prorated and pays for 10 days in the month, he'd get 10 days rent back, or if its 5 days, he'd get 5 days prorated, etc.

He says ok to that, sounds fair.

Up goes the posting on craigslist for the room. its now just a few days before Christmas.

Not alot of interest at this point being more than half way into the month, and almost Christmas.

On another date I receive text from this guy saying he's coming by for Christmas for his money. no idea how he thinks this is happening. I ignore, it. I'm closed during the holidays. I do not respond.

Christmas day, I ignore his call, and don't answer. I'm closed.

he leave a message first saying he wants his money back. then he changes his mind, and wants me to meet him right then and there at the property, and he has the deposit now, and wants to move in right away, all on Christmas day. then mid call doesn't want it. Sounded perhaps drunk. I don't answer his 2 calls on Christmas.

Ad is up, show the room to a couple of people. and finally find a new tenant finally for January.

Replacement paid on the 31st for January. move in is today.

today, receive another text demanding December rent money back. very lengthy again. then it changes midway,wants to move in on Monday.tells me I put him in a situation. Again, no offering to pay the deposit, and of course no January rent.

oh, yes, this guy never did sign his rental agreement, we usually do that when they pay all the money.

any suggestions how to handle this guy?

what would you tell this guy.

He's not the typical McD's employees, or factory worker, not illiterate.

Used to work as social worker for Children's service for the state until a year ago. some drama story about working with ex-wife, seemingly a little more educated. but obviously flaky or trying to get one over me.

how or would you respond to this guy or handle him?

Ally,

Really? calling someone asking for genuine help, and thanking everyone for their help...NAMES? stupid or crazy? how professional is that? what kind of impression are you giving others about this forum, or you?

....and you didn't bother to read far enough down, that she took Brad's advice and got them to agree to move out with a Happy Clause, preventing more drama, and possible expensive eviction and litigation.

..and happy exiting tenants...generally, leave less damage, than those evicted, and angry at the eviction. Sure they'll be damage from the dogs, and neglect of the unit, but far less if they are leaving without forcibly being removed.

Think she wasn't stupid or crazy, she was in over her head, and did the right thing, tried to reach the lawyer, and when he didn't respond, she asked the pros here for advice, and actually took it.

DON'T BE SO HARD ON OTHER PEOPLE! When you were stuck or stressed, did people call you those things on here? or were they for the most part supportive?

and.. not everyone knows all the stories that you know. Obviously she was aware of the dog being a problem, she told them to remove it.

How much are you talking about here? Gosh that was along story for I don't know how much money.

Really who cares how much. give it back move forward-- it can't be a fortune.

He did hold you up for awhile, you need to collect holding fee first which converts to damage deposit when the lease is signed and the remainder of movein money is counted next to the signed lease, a bird in the hand in worth 4 in the bush. Standardize your policy, print it and post it on a wall somewhere, if you told him he paid rent then it has been used up and no deposit to return, so that is the end of that story, thank you and happy new year.

Thank you Vee, I will take your advice.

Sara,

Love the question - made me think.

I preach to get the deposit FIRST then collect rent as it comes in. You can sue for rent but not for deposit. Deposit is your protection.

But in your case I think it worked to your advantage.

RENT does not need to be returned. It pays for TIME and that TIME has passed.

Good you had an agreement signed.

Me? I don't play these games. This works EVERY TIME without fail and without stress or confusion:

It ain't rented til it's rented, money paid and lease signed. Period. The rent starts the day we take it off the market. Sometimes this puts a strain on the new renter but it totally eliminates problems like yours.

If they have some $ now and the rest on Friday, the rent starts the day we sign and take it off the market. They get the keys when the full deposit is paid.

PayDayPlan will help with your rooming house if you are not already doing it.

Some people do a HOLDING FEE but I only see that for units that are occupied while we wait for them to become vacant.

If they change their minds they pay the Early Release Fee to end our business contract. I realize rooming house residents will not have that kind of money. But it COULD be $100, $300, half a month...

Overall my suggestion is to lock it in from the start, no wishy-washy. Other than his flakiness, somehow he picked up a vibe or weakness from you that changing is OK. Sign the lease and stick to it. The lease is the decision maker. (And I hope you are the MANAGER, not the OWNER! Makes these soo much easier!)

Wanna be right or rich?

In his case I would return a small portion of the money to look good in case he takes this to court. List a charge per day, add up the days, and refund $50-100 to

1. Get rid of him. He's not worth the stress to pursue. People like this can continue to eat up your time and energy.

2. Lets you end his lease

3. You can tell the judge you DID return money IF he goes legal.

4. Move on and re-rent. There is money to be made but not with him. He's a time-sucker.

Be strong!

BRAD

This fellow does not seem to be in his right mind. I would give him back his money and he will go on his way. If you don't, he may be haunting you and your new tenant.

It's not worth it to have a stranger with unusual behavior bothering you and your tenants.

I think that Bob guy up there put his reply to me in the wrong post.

Sara noticed you never posted how much we're talking about here? 50-100-200.00.

Lets remember**** it's a boarding house***a room.

Agree with Vee? Why because he posted what you want to do? Fact is and I know this goes against the grain of some here-- you didn't do your part. You took rent not a dep or holding fee he signed nothing. Verbally you tell him if he doesn't complete the process he losses the partial rent. Bet that's not written on the application or in this process anywhere.

You have done many things wrong so learn the process to cover you in the future. Don't make an applicant pay for your mess up.

I do ask other posters here? In all honesty how many times have we told persons who gave deposits for a property and didn't follow up with the signing-- DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE I'VE TURNED DOWN? and never turned anyone else away or no one was interested?

BRAD she said she had nothing signed?

For those that were interested, it wasnt $50, or $100. It was $325. and for those of you who have multiple units, that's nothing, for some of us small timers, that's a lot of money. And if I gave him it back, thats how much I was out for the month of December, because this guy did hold me up for much of the month, and it took time to find his replacement, the rest of the month. $325, is a lot for someone with just a couple of rentals.

OH, forgot to mention, the guy drives a brand new sports car, told me himself it was worth over $25k. Has 2 jobs.. as a tech. somewhere, and another part timer.

So, sympathy for him down on his luck, is only because his girlfriend threw him out.

Verses, small time landlord, mortgages, utilities, taxes, insurance, etc. If rooms aren't rented, those bills don't get paid.