Todd Rasmussen

Hello, Six weeks before renewal time, I told my tenants that I would help this year by not raising the rent because of covid. Far from being happy, they asked then whether I could lower the rent because "some units in the complex are running for 10% less." I told them that I wasn't sure about those units but that all my costs had gone up. So if it really helped them, I could write off $50 a month.

Start with a conversation. Explain your expectations and ask if they think they are reasonable or what their capacity is for you. If/Once they continue to fail, let them know you need to move on and do it. Kind and direct are not mutually exclusive. "Sorry, this isn't working for me" is hard to take offense at.

I have a property that has 3/4 units heat turned on. Unfortunately, a tenant left and didn’t pay his electric bill. The soonest the electric company can come out and turn on heat to the unit is 8 days from today. The property is in upstate New York and it is going to be below freezing on and off for the whole week. With 3/4 of the building heated, do you think there is reason to worry that the pipes may freeze before then? Would space heaters temporarily help? Any advice is appreciated.