It is reported that over 60 percent of American tenants have pets in their homes. This means that an owner or landlord who does not allow pets on her/his property is cutting themselves out of over one-half of the prospects in the market! So, most landlords will accept one or two pets and charge a fee. The fee is either refundable or non-refundable and is charged once at the time of leasing or monthly.

Whenever I go into a vacant housing unit I always check the furnace filter. I preach the virtues of a changing the furnace filter in my monthly newsletter to all the tenants. So why do I  invariably find filthy dirty furnace filters in my properties? I just don’t understand this.

Continuing with my Rant about tenants that pay their rent late . . .   Isn’t it funny how some tenants experience death more than normal?

One of my pet peeves as a landlord is when tenants pay their rent late.

I have been a landlord for over 40 years and have only had three tenant fires. However, the last two fires occurred in the last month!

What was the cause? Grease left unattended on the stove top by the tenant. Fires are not only expensive to remediate but, more important, they are life threatening!

This is a new column for our association’s website. I have been charged with the responsibility of conveying to the cyber world what it is like to be a landlord. After over 40 years of managing property, I feel qualified to give my opinions. So, here we go with my first Rant.