2022-04-06, 11:58 AM
Rent to Own - 2 very unfortunate examples
[Quora] What is the pettiest thing you’ve seen a tenant do to a landlord?
1/ Answered by Kelly South:
This happened just a month ago and it still makes me laugh.
My neighbor moved into the house next door 6 years ago on one of those “rent to own” deals. He had been paying the place off with hefty payments each year and he began to improve the property.
First, he built a two-car garage, then renovated the kitchen with brand new everything and granite countertops. He put in a pool and put up new fences. He ripped out the carpet and put in hardwood floors.
He spent nearly $100,000 in improvements in that short time because he was “renting to own” and he knew that in just 2 more years the place would be paid off.
About 6 months ago, the owner of the house shows up and tells him that he is kicking him out. According to the owner, the original deal was that my neighbor would pay off the entire home in just two years and he had defaulted on their “contract” ie: handshake deal.
The actual reason was that the house had more than doubled in value in this crazy economy and the original deal was to sell the house for $165,000. The owner wasn’t going to lose out on doubling that money and the court fight was on.
Since there was no written contract, the owner won and my neighbor was given an eviction order. He was given just 10 days to get out of the house he had spent so much money on and decided to exact his revenge.
He began by destroying all of the cabinets and the granite which he left in a pile. He drained the pool, removed all of the mechanical parts, and then had a friend spend a day jackhammering holes in it. He took a saw and cut strips of the hardwood floor out every 3 feet throughout the house.
And his final revenge was to cut through the ridge beam of the garage so that the stability of the roof was so bad that the city red-tagged it. Yes, he called a city inspector out to ensure that he did the right amount of damage to condemn the garage!
He only damaged the things he paid for (and had the receipts for) and left the rest in perfect condition.
The owner has now spent a huge pile of money to repair all of that damage, and the big payday he was hoping for has pretty much vanished.
That is what I call petty!
And before you comment that the owner is entitled to all of the improvements and on and on, this was done after the judge who evicted him told him that everything he purchased for the home was his, and he could do with it as he pleased.
2/ Commented by Denice Dezee:
The very same thing happened to my girlfriend. About 15 years ago her and her husband made a deal with his wonderful and really nice best friend to rent to own his house. They put a lot of money into this house, remember, it was rent to own.
Unfortunately her husband passed away and his wonderful, and really nice best friend screwed over my girlfriend
He is now over charging her for the rent and now wants to sell the house for $55,000 after she’s already put about $20,000 into it plus made all of her house payments.
All because her husband made an agreement with his wonderful, really nice best friend who turned out to be a real prick. All the money she put into it and paid him has meant absolutely nothing.
[Quora] What is the pettiest thing you’ve seen a tenant do to a landlord?
1/ Answered by Kelly South:
This happened just a month ago and it still makes me laugh.
My neighbor moved into the house next door 6 years ago on one of those “rent to own” deals. He had been paying the place off with hefty payments each year and he began to improve the property.
First, he built a two-car garage, then renovated the kitchen with brand new everything and granite countertops. He put in a pool and put up new fences. He ripped out the carpet and put in hardwood floors.
He spent nearly $100,000 in improvements in that short time because he was “renting to own” and he knew that in just 2 more years the place would be paid off.
About 6 months ago, the owner of the house shows up and tells him that he is kicking him out. According to the owner, the original deal was that my neighbor would pay off the entire home in just two years and he had defaulted on their “contract” ie: handshake deal.
The actual reason was that the house had more than doubled in value in this crazy economy and the original deal was to sell the house for $165,000. The owner wasn’t going to lose out on doubling that money and the court fight was on.
Since there was no written contract, the owner won and my neighbor was given an eviction order. He was given just 10 days to get out of the house he had spent so much money on and decided to exact his revenge.
He began by destroying all of the cabinets and the granite which he left in a pile. He drained the pool, removed all of the mechanical parts, and then had a friend spend a day jackhammering holes in it. He took a saw and cut strips of the hardwood floor out every 3 feet throughout the house.
And his final revenge was to cut through the ridge beam of the garage so that the stability of the roof was so bad that the city red-tagged it. Yes, he called a city inspector out to ensure that he did the right amount of damage to condemn the garage!
He only damaged the things he paid for (and had the receipts for) and left the rest in perfect condition.
The owner has now spent a huge pile of money to repair all of that damage, and the big payday he was hoping for has pretty much vanished.
That is what I call petty!
And before you comment that the owner is entitled to all of the improvements and on and on, this was done after the judge who evicted him told him that everything he purchased for the home was his, and he could do with it as he pleased.
2/ Commented by Denice Dezee:
The very same thing happened to my girlfriend. About 15 years ago her and her husband made a deal with his wonderful and really nice best friend to rent to own his house. They put a lot of money into this house, remember, it was rent to own.
Unfortunately her husband passed away and his wonderful, and really nice best friend screwed over my girlfriend
He is now over charging her for the rent and now wants to sell the house for $55,000 after she’s already put about $20,000 into it plus made all of her house payments.
All because her husband made an agreement with his wonderful, really nice best friend who turned out to be a real prick. All the money she put into it and paid him has meant absolutely nothing.
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