Fourplex Update - Evictions, City Inspectors, and Toilet Lady
It has certainly been an eventful month on the old fourplex, which saw the birth of the aptly named "Toilet Lady" and the excitement of #ToiletLadyRental.
To take it back a bit, the tenants in Unit 2 and Unit 3 were given 45 day notice in December 2019 that we would not be renewing their monthly leases. They were both to be out by the end of January, which didn't happen. After some property management issues (particularly a week delay in taking any action on the tenants), we finally filed for the eviction.
In the meantime I tried to work with both of the tenants, offering to forego the eviction, eliminate the debt for the month, and pay them $100 each if they just turned in their keys. Not only did they say no, but I received the above note from my property manager in regards to the tenant in Unit 3.
...now you know where the name "toilet lady" comes from.
The eviction was successful, almost a joke, and she eventually left as did the tenant in Unit 2. Again things were extremely slow with my property manager, as they were incredibly reluctant to follow up with tenants and always wanted to just give another week. The lessons I learned and problems I dealt with from my property management company could be an entire post of its own, but at the end of the day they no longer manage my properties and I have moved to new management.
City Inspectors
After toilet lady vacated her apartment and turned in her keys, I spent my weekend doing some demolition. The kitchen cabinets needed replaced, and the ceiling in half of the unit was covered up by ceiling tiles and was going to be replaced with sheetrock. I got to work removing it all...tearing out cabinets and countertops, removing light fixtures, and tearing out the drop ceiling.
At the end of a long day I got home and checked my mail, only to find a letter from the City of Gastonia (where the house is located).
Just what everyone wants to see right? Toilet lady strikes again...
Turns out she filed the complaint as the eviction was ongoing, but they hold all of the paperwork until the eviction has wrapped up. As a result, this didn't show up until I had already begun ripping out parts of the unit.
The pictures below show the demo work that was done, the wires that were exposed, and the ceiling that was pulled out. Aside from a broken board on the front porch, the violations he cited when he came out to do the inspections were all only identified as a result of the demo work that I did.
What fun!
More to come as this saga unfolds...thanks toilet lady.