Facts of being a landlord
The intent of this letter is to enlighten the public on being a landlord. I often find that tenants tend to talk about their landlords as if they are the main issue, as if landlords are difficult but I would like to share some facts about being a landlord:
1) I would like to remind you all that landlords typically do not inherent properties and instead work extremely hard for many years to accumulate enough money to invest in or purchase properties to rent.
2) It is immensely difficult to find a “good” tenant! In my experience, after renting two houses, I have found that the majority of my tenants were unable to keep the property clean. They have destroyed both the interior and exterior of my homes, left squatters, and ruined furnaces among other things. We have only had four decent tenants in our 20 years of renting out our homes.
3) On! top of their lack of respect for our homes, I have also found that a lot of tenants do not pay their rent and utilities on time. They are almost always past due! As owners, we take care of a lot of the expenses of owning a home: fall and spring taxes, sewage, high insurance rates, upkeep, etc. If the tenants do not pay their basic utilities, we must foot the bill for those past due payments as well.
4) Evicting tenants is not as easy at it seems! In order to evict a tenant, you must allow them to receive a 10-day notice. They will receive another 30-day notice and a hearing within a month – which allows them yet another rent-free month! I must also add that the cost to evict a tenant is over $300. They continue to owe money on utilities and you will never receive the owed money because the courts put a lien on them. How does this pay the landlord? It doesn’t. You will never see this money.
5) Lastly, when I spoke the the utility companies, they informed me that the supervisors of the township are currently responsible for the current bylaws. These adopted bylaws must be revised.
If you were looking into purchasing a property to rent, I would advise you not to.
Donna Rose is a resident of Uniontown.