Questions and Answers – by Dennis Block

Question One: My rental is undervalued and I am planning to bring the rent up to market level. I am also planning on increasing the security deposit at the same time. What do I do if the tenant only pays the new rent and refuses to pay the increase in the security deposit?

Legal Q & A – by Franco Simone, Esq.

Q:  I have a tenant who moved into his rental unit last month.  I included a provision in his lease that prohibits smoking cigarettes in his unit. Now, his neighbors are complaining that cigarette smoke from his unit is seeping through their air vents.  When I approached the tenant, he told me that he has…

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Legal Q & A – by Richard Beckman

Question 1: Our long term tenant told me that she has cancer and would like to have a co-tenant with her in her one bedroom apartment (San Francisco rent controlled). Am I obligated to honor her request? If I allow her to have a roommate, am I allowed to raise her rent? In addition, am…

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Constitutional Amendment Could Double Parcel Tax! – by Jon Coupal, President of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Dear Housing Providers: A Constitutional Amendment was just introduced that could quickly DOUBLE the two-billion-dollar parcel tax burden already imposed on homeowners.  Yes, double! California is the only state in the USA where parcel taxes are even legal.  Parcel taxes were invented here to dodge Proposition 13’s 1% cap and now Senate Constitutional Amendment 22…

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Mold and Rental Properties – by Rick Bruce

Over the past few years, one of the problems that seem to have taken on increased importance for property managers is mold. When a property is suspected to have a mold problem, this becomes a potential health issue for the tenants, but it also becomes a potential liability issue for the property owners or managers.…

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How Will We Be Remembered – Legacy of Deceit, Selfishness and Denial or Solving Unsustainable Problems? – by Terry Moore, CCIM

A poignant cartoon shows two desperate shipwreck survivors in a life raft. We see the circling sharks, but not at the lifeboat’s other end. One says, “Look at them bail! It’s a shame there’s a hole in their end of the boat.” Every level of government has trillions of unfunded liabilities: debt, pension and healthcare…

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Wit, Humor and Wisdom in the Law – by Dale Albertstone, Esq.

Hello everybody.  Every few years, I break from my tradition of writing educational articles for AOA’s monthly magazine.  As Apartment Owner Association members know, those serious type of articles have dealt with such legal topics as compliance with all the new resident manager laws, California’s new sick leave laws, how to avoid oppressive laundry leases,…

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