Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Bad tenant alert

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Hi all --

I agree w/ Sharon.  Don't be intimated but be aware.  I was a landlord (lady?)  
for a very short time w/ a rental property in DC.  It took a lawyer and 9 
months to evict a family that was trashing my house.  More than 10K in damages 
-- but they had "rights" under DC law. I had to go to court to get an order.  
The 9 months to eviction was considered FAST by DC standards. (?)    After that 
... I fixed the house and sold it.  Had I tried to get the woman to leave she 
would have sued me and won.  Soooo ... make sure you know what your rights are 
as a landlord and go for whatever remedy is available to you.

BTW -- she came w/ STELLAR recommendations by her former "landlords" whom I 
came to suspect were her friends.

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church VA
703 663 3911

On Mar 13, 2011, at 12:35 PM, Sharon Villines wrote:

> 
> 
> On 13 Mar 2011, at 12:12 PM, Holly McNutt wrote:
> 
>> house-share situation. They are only 2 weeks into this and already major 
>> problems have ensued.  As  Board member, I got an email from her explaining 
>> the situation just to keep us in the loop, and that is when I made the 
>> connection that this is the same family I read about here.  Oh, dear.  
> 
> Be very aware of your rental laws. Tenants in many states have incredible 
> rights. It is to protect them against unscrupulous landlords, usually in 
> situations where they are renting whole units — leasing. But the laws can 
> also apply to people renting rooms or sharing an apartment. 
> 
> You may not be able to require them to move out and they can take legal 
> action against you if you do anything that can be interpreted as violating 
> their rights. So you need to know what their rights are.
> 
> I agree with a previous post that people shouldn't be intimidated by 
> legalities but you need to understand them and that they apply to you. In our 
> community we were unaware that any of these laws applied when renting a room 
> and sharing the kitchen. In DC, they do. All states are different.
> 
> And there are people who make causing trouble the focus of their lives. They 
> get energy from it. I recently read that this is one technique that people 
> with ADD use to structure their lack of ability to maintain focus. They often 
> believe that they are doing something constructive, like protecting their own 
> rights or the rights of others.
> 
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> "Reality is something you rise above." Liza Minnelli
> 
> 
> 
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