Could Your Apartment Be Leaking Electricity?

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The short answer is No. Every now and then, I get a phone call from a tenant complaining that his electric bill is higher than it should be because the wiring in his apartment is ‘leaking electricity.’ (Don’t laugh. I get phone calls like this fairly regularly.) I tell people who talk this way that electricity doesn’t work that way. Electricity cannot ooze out of the wiring in your walls. I suppose that some people think about electricity the same way they do about other 2 major utilities that come into their homes: natural gas and water. A sudden spike in your gas or water bill could be due to a leaky pipe. (That usually isn’t the reason, but it could be.) However, electricity doesn’t ‘leak.’ The sheathing around electrical wiring isn’t there to prevent the electricity from escaping. Electrical wire sheathing is to prevent short circuiting, electric shock, and fires. If your electric bill seems suspiciously high, the first thing to do is analyze your PG&E bill. Pacific Gas & Electric bills combine gas and electric charges together on one statement. If your PG&E bill has suddenly gone up, you first need to figure out whether it is due to an increase in your gas or electricity usage or the rate. If you have gas heat in your home, a big change in your PG&E bill is usually due to increased gas use for heating in winter.

 

Why Isn’t Rent Tax Deductible Like Home Mortgage Interest?

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The short answer is Lobbying. Federal and state income tax laws in the United States give homeowners a huge tax break that is not available to tenants. Home mortgage interest, which is generally the biggest single expense for homeowners, is tax-deductible. However, rent is not tax-deductible. In other words, homeowners get to pay their mortgages with pre-tax income, but tenants have to pay their rent with after-tax income. Why is that? Well, it is simply the power of lobbying. There are very powerful and well-funded trade associations that want home mortgage interest to remain tax-deductible, including the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders. These groups have the ability to write out checks for millions of dollars to PACs (Political Action Committees) and Super PACs that back compliant and ‘morally flexible’ politicians. Tenant associations don’t have that kind of money. It now costs over $10 million, on average, to get elected to the U.S. Senate. In most industrialized nations, home mortgage interest is not tax deductible. For example, in Canada, there is no tax benefit or deduction for home mortgage interest. Why? It is because they also don’t have Political Action Committees in Canada, and lobbyists in Canada cannot legally give money to politicians.

Calling Me On The Telephone.

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When calling me on the telephone, please remember that before I answer my phone, I always check my Caller I.D. screen first. If my Caller I.D. screen does not identify the caller, or if it tells me that the call is from ‘Private Caller’, ‘Unknown Name’, ‘Blocked Number’, ‘Unavailable’, ‘Toll Free Number’, ‘Out of Area’, etc.; I will not answer the call. If you are calling me from a telephone that does not identify the caller or if you have Caller I.D. blocking, just leave a message on my voice mail. Do not hang up and call me back later. That won’t do any good. I check my messages frequently, and I will reply to legitimate voice mail messages. I am sorry if this seems rude, but I get too many robocalls and calls from phony charities, crooks, and scammers, and this is the only way I can control the problem.

You should do the same thing that I do about this. When you answer a telephone call from a robocaller, you are telling the computer that called you that your phone ​number is active and that you answer robocalls. Doing that just gets your name put on their sucker list, and crooks sell their sucker lists to other crooks!

P.S. – I am writing this because 2 days ago I got a voice mail message from “the awards committee” saying that I had “just won a free all-expense paid vacation to Bermuda, including the airfare.” The caller was a man. He spoke with an accent that sounded to me like he was from the British West Indies, but I’m not sure. He said that in order for me to claim my prize, I had to call him back within 24 hours with my credit card number and security code to “verify” my identity. The call came from the 234 Area Code. That’s the Area Code for Nigeria. I didn’t call him back because this didn’t smell entirely kosher to me. Several people have told me that I have a suspicious nature, and I think that’s true. Anyway, it’s been more than 24 hours since I got this message, so I guess I’ve lost my free Bermuda vacation.

Craigslist Rental Scams. The Needless Credit Report

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Craigslist Fraud. A new study from New York University found that 1.5% of all Craigslist rentals ads in the United States are scams and that more than 50% of these fraudulent ads go undetected by Craigslist. I’m pretty sure that a lot more than 1.5% of Craigslist rental ads in the San Francisco bay area are scams. That is because there is a serious shortage of rental housing in this area, and prospective tenants sometimes get desperate.

The Needless Credit Report.  The most common rental scam is the needless credit report. It works this way. A crook creates a Craigslist rental ad for an actual property, but not a property that he owns or manages. To attract victims, the crook makes the rental look like a huge bargain. The ad says that in order to rent the apartment, you have to fill out an online application form and submit a credit report. The ad directs prospective tenants to a shady credit agency – a credit agency that is cahoots with the scammer. (You can tell I am old because I still use words like ‘cahoots.’) This agency sells you an overpriced credit report and then splits the money with the scammer, leaving you with a useless credit report. (I am writing this article because a number of my tenants are graduating soon and will be moving out.) How can you avoid this scam? It is very simple. Get a free credit report and make copies of it before you go looking for a place to rent. Giving a prospective landlord a copy of your credit report along with your application gives you an edge over other applicants. It makes you look better prepared and more businesslike.

Free Credit Reports. By Federal law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once every year from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These 3 companies jointly operate a web site: AnnualCreditReport.com where you can get free credit reports from each of these companies at no cost to you and with no strings attached. Unfortunately, spam e-mails and TV advertising direct consumers to look-alike web sites. These look-alike sites appear to offer free credit reports, but they are usually expensive credit monitoring services instead. In order to get a so-called ‘free credit report’ from these companies, you usually have to give them your credit card number first, after which, they charge your credit card every month for credit monitoring, whether you want this service or not. Stopping the automatic monthly billing to your credit card with some of these companies can be difficult. Here are some tips for getting really free credit reports.

  1. Only go to: AnnualCreditReport.com. Watch your spelling carefully when you go to this site. There are a lot of phony ‘free credit report’ web sites and many of them have names that are just one letter away from the real thing. Never respond to e-mails or TV ads for free credit reports.
  2. Space out your three free credit reports over a year. This will allow you see changes that occur over time.
  3. Print out your credit report as soon as you see it on your monitor. You may not be able to gain free access to it later. Its good to have a printed copy of your credit report on hand anyway, even if you are not looking for a rental. You may find it useful when applying for a job or loan.
  4. After you have your credit report, quit your browser if you are at a computer that is shared or accessible by other people.
My Policy. Yes, I do run credit reports on prospective tenants, but I never charge applicants for it. Charging prospective tenants for credit reports creates ill-will. People don’t normally have to spend money to apply for things, like jobs or credit cards, and people are understandably angry when they have to spend money to apply for an apartment – and then don’t get the place. Besides, how much landlords can charge prospective tenants for credit reports is now regulated by California state law. Because I don’t charge applicants for running credit reports, I don’t have to comply with those regulations.

Worst Application Ever.

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“I Have A Question.”  I rented a house on Milvia Street 3 years ago. At the bottom of my Craigslist listing, I put: “I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about this house. Send your questions to (my email address.)” Here are my 3 favorite questions and my answers.

Q. Your ad says that this house has 5 parking spaces, but there’s no garage. Is the parking outside?
A. Yes. I do not permit my tenants to park their cars inside the house.

Q. Your ad says ‘No dog.’ What about 2 dogs?
A. That was my mistake. I’m sorry. My ad should have said ‘No dog or dogs.’

Q. Do I have to tell you my name?
A. If you want to rent this house, Yes, you will have to tell me your name. I cannot check your credit if I do not know your name.

What Is Low Income Housing?

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That depends on where you are. In Palo Alto, ‘low income’ means that you make under $250,000 a year, in which case you are entitled to a low income housing subsidy. That is in Palo Alto’s recently adopted City Housing Element. This isn’t as crazy as it sounds. In Palo Alto, a typical 3 bedroom, 2 bath house sells for round $3 million. If you make $250,000 a year, you would have to spend over 70% of your take-home pay to buy a $3 million house, making it ‘unaffordable’. What does it mean to be poor? Well, one way of thinking about poverty is this – someone is poor if he doesn’t make enough money to own his own home. What do you think? Should someone who makes $250,000 a year be entitled to a low income housing subsidy?

What Are Lemon Oreos?

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lemonoreosI have been making chocolate covered Oreos for a long time. I always have them in the chocolate room. My favorite is Mint Oreos covered with semisweet chocolate. I think mint and dark chocolate go well together. I was recently at Safeway and saw a big display of Lemon Oreos. I think this is a new flavor. I thought about buying them but decided not to after reading the label, which I found completely baffling. The first thing that caught my eye is that it says on the front of the package that the name of this product is ‘Lemon flavor creme Oreos.’ I am always suspicious of the word ‘creme.’ I don’t know what it means, but I do know that ‘creme’ does not mean ‘cream’. More worrisome is that just above the word ‘OREO’ it says ‘NATURAL FLAVOR WITH OTHER NATURAL FLAVOR.’ What does that mean? I really don’t know. I am not playing dumb. I really have no idea what that means. It sounds both suspicious and ominous. I am sure of one thing. They wouldn’t put something like this on the front of the package unless they had to for some legal reason, but what could that reason be? ‘NATURAL FLAVOR WITH OTHER NATURAL FLAVOR‘ does not mean that Lemon Oreos are made with lemons. There is no mention on the ingredients list of lemons, lemon juice, lemon zest, or anything else that came out of a lemon. Attention, chemistry students! Right now, about 1/3 of my tenants are majoring in chemistry, and most of them are graduate students. One of you chemists should be able to explain this to me.

Moving Out

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If you have a lease that expires on May 31 and you plan to leave, you have to give me your move-out notice by April 1. I would prefer to get your notice sooner than that. The sooner I get your move-out notice, the sooner I can get your house rented. For a number of legal reasons. I cannot rent your house or even advertise it for rent without a valid move-out notice from you. Remember:

  • You have to deliver your move-out notice to me at least 60 days before your lease expires. That is in your lease.
  • Your move-out notice must be in writing. That is also in your lease. You have not given me a move-out notice by telling me verbally that you are leaving. A voice mail message is also not a move-out notice. An e-mail is also not a move-out notice. A written move-out notice means exactly that – it must be in writing. Your move-out notice must be dated, it must state the address being rented, it must include a specific date by which everyone in your group will move out, and your notice must be signed by everyone named in the lease. You can deliver your move-out notice to me personally or you can mail it to me.
  • Your move-out notice must be definite. I sometimes get a move-out notice like this: “I will be moving out by June 1 unless I can’t find another place to rent by then.” This is not a valid move-out notice because it is not clear that the tenant is actually leaving. I cannot rent an apartment to a new tenant if I do not know for certain that the current tenant is leaving.
  • Your move-out notice should state how you would like your security deposit refunded. Do you want one check made payable to everyone named in the lease or do you want separate checks? If you want separate checks, you have to say so, and everyone has to agree to that. If you want separate checks, you need to tell me what percent of the deposit should go to each person. If you do not instruct me in writing to issue separate refund checks, then I will issue just one check made payable to everyone named in the lease. If you want me to mail your refund check to you, include the address you want your check mailed to. You can pick up your refund check from me personally if you prefer.
  • Moving out means moving out. Regardless of what it says in your move-out notice, you have not moved out until physical possession of your apartment or house has been returned to me. As long as people or personal property belonging to your group are still on the premises, you have not moved out. If your group is still in possession after the date on your move-out notice, you could have legal problems, especially if I have already rented your house to a new group, and they can’t move in because you didn’t move out.

Ants! Part 2

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I had an article in last month’s tenant newsletter about ants. A couple of people emailed me afterward asking if there was some way of getting rid of ants without pesticides. I have been asked that before, but sorry, I really don’t know of any effective way to do that. Ants lay down a chemical trail when they find food. Other ants can follow that trail – and for a considerable time and distance from their nest. One method of controlling ants that I know doesn’t work is yelling at them. A few years ago, I had a tenant who tried that. She lived in the house next door to me. I could sometimes hear her yelling at the ants in her kitchen: “Get out! Get out!” A neighbor living in the apartment house on the other side of her once called the police because of this. He thought my tenant was being physically attacked, but when the police arrived, my tenant explained to them that she was OK and that she was just yelling at the ants in her kitchen. I am sorry that I wasn’t there. I would have liked to have seen the expressions on the faces of those policemen when my tenant told them that she was yelling at the ants in her kitchen. However, this is Berkeley, so it is quite possible that those policemen were not surprised by this explanation.

LED Lighting

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I am in the process of replacing all the CFLs (Compact Florescent Lights) and incandescent light bulbs in my rentals with LED light bulbs. LED light bulbs have several advantages over CFLs.
  • LED light bulbs use 30% to 40% less electricity than CFLs. That is mainly because they produce less heat, which is wasted energy in light bulbs.
  • LED light bulbs last much longer than CFLs. The life expectancy of LED light bulbs is over 20 years, so you should never have to replace them.
  • LED light bulbs contain no mercury. The thing that always made me uncomfortable about CFLs is that they all contain mercury and break easily.
I will be contacting you soon to set up a time to replace your light bulbs. I have 40 watt and 60 watt replacement size LED bulbs. LED light bulbs tend to be brighter than CFLs, so if you want me to put the lower watt LED bulbs in your rooms, let me know. I will bring both size LED bulbs with me. I would like to do this job while you are home and in the evening, so you can see what your rooms will look like with the LED light bulbs turned on.