Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Bad tenant alert

[Holly McNutt (holly.mcnutt]

Ann,
Hey, that's one clever lawyer you had there!  I hope I never need that trick, 
but will keep it up my sleeve if ever I do.
- h

On Mar 13, 2011, at 11:23 AM, Ann Zabaldo wrote:

> 
> Holly -- we tried to check her employment references which she gave and we 
> confirmed she worked at the place she said BUTTTTTTTT -- I remember this like 
> yesterday -- she worked in a highly classified and secure building and there 
> was no way to access her or her employer.
> 
> She avoided being served court papers in this way.  We were unable to reach 
> her to serve her because of the secure nature of her workplace.   Finally, 
> the lawyer was clever.  He sent her at her place of employment a beautiful 
> pkg  she had to sign for -- inside the box were the eviction and court papers 
> along w/ some other items that rattled around to disguise the possible 
> contents.    Building security called her to tell her she had a package to 
> sign for, she came out, signed the receipt ... and that's how we finally got 
> her to court.
> 
> Life is certainly interesting ...  :-)
> 
> Best --
> 
> Ann Zabaldo
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington, DC
> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
> Falls Church VA
> 703 663 3911
> 
> On Mar 13, 2011, at 1:01 PM, Holly McNutt wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Golly, I hate hearing these stories.  As a landlord and property manager, I 
>> am so careful, and I have been lucky to have only 2 or 3 really bad ones 
>> among the hundreds of tenants I have dealt with.  Not only do I check 
>> current and former landlord, I check current and former employers as well.  
>> It is good to speak with at least 3 references.  But anyone who really wants 
>> to scam you can make up references who will vouch for them, so it ain't a 
>> perfect system.  
>> 
>> In all fairness to L&J, there are 2 sides to every story, and I haven't 
>> heard theirs from them, only the side of the woman they have moved in with, 
>> and she is very much up in arms and her comments that were quoted in Fred's 
>> email may not be 100% accurate.  Nevertheless, it's a bad situation and I 
>> think they will be moving on shortly.
>> 
>> - h
>> 
>> On Mar 13, 2011, at 10:52 AM, Ann Zabaldo wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> 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
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
>>>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
>>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>> 
>> 
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
>