How to be fair to good tenants
I have really great tenants, and I believe they are packing their garbage properly, but I received a sanitation ticket for mixed garbage. How can I be fair in asking them to pay when it can not really be proved which tenant is at fault? Should I give a formal notice and spread fee and…
I have really great tenants, and I believe they are packing their garbage properly, but I received a sanitation ticket for mixed garbage. How can I be fair in asking them to pay when it can not really be proved which tenant is at fault? Should I give a formal notice and spread fee and state this is how it will be handled going forward?
Just take the day off and fight the ticket, then you can deduct the $1000+ in lost billable hours. 🙂
But, are my lawyer fees deductible to fight the ticket? 🙂
As an accountant, I have to post that deducting the cost of tickets issued to your property is illegal. The 6:56 poster is correct – and is being honest and legit, not anal. If any of you have an accountant telling you that fees for tickets and fines are deductable: pray you never get audited and get a new accountant. As the property owner, if a ticket or fine is levied against you, it’s your personal expense and your responsibility to rectify. It is not, in fact, a business expense to cover fees for fines incurred because someone did something wrong.
I’m pretty sure most all home owners on average get a couple tickets per year. This is just the way life is in the city. Be firm with your tenants about the trash and hope for the best.
You need to hire someone to take care of your garbage. It’s cheaper than getting tickets.
You pay it but post a note saying that you did and ask for their help. There are a thousand ways to get a sanitation ticket and the best you can do is to ask the tenants to do their best. What do you do when every tenant buys an appliance and you have 20 boxes. Even if they break them down, somebody needs to string that stuff up and it isn’t going to be tenants. Unfortunately, it is owners job and we can only ask for people to know the rules and do their best.
Aaah, if you’re so anal about what’s deductible, kudos to you. For anyone else, it is, indeed, a cost of doing business…nothing to do with “legality” or “criminality.” Tensnts screwed up (presumably.) You paid. It’s a business expense.
TICKETS ARE NOT TAX DEDUCTABLE!!!! 3:58 poster is so wrong it’s literally criminal!!! You cannot deduct a ticket, for your house, your car, whatever because it’s a result of illegal behavior (intentional or not). I agree with other posters, I have, in the past, notified my tenant that it happened and asked they be careful. In my case, I was pretty sure it was someone walking down the street, or a street “guy” going through my trash looking for treasure who just dumped things back in the wrong bin.
Agree with all posters. Just stress to your tenants vigilance with the recycling. It may not have been them, you may get a ticket if someone comes by and rips open the recycling bags for bottles or your garbage and leaves stuff all over – it stinks (pun intended). I have two rental apartments and got hit with a ticket for mixed garbage last year, I understand the first time it’s $25, the next time $50 and so on. I was P.O.’d so understand your initial reaction.
Tickets are BS. All the santitation inspectors do is poke a stick down into the bags and if they hit what they believe to be metal or glass, they give a ticket. You can make yourself crazy and take a day off of work to fight the tickets or you can do the same stick thing and inspect bags before they go to the curb. Or just say it’s life in the big city.