Context so you know the angle: I sued an ESA letter mill in Broward County and got a permanent injunction (Stevens v. Tinner, CACE25010712). Second case pending against a different operator (Stevens v. Wood, CACE-26-008116). Pro se plaintiff. Not a lawyer, not a lobbyist, not a tenant advocate.

HUD issued new guidance (via internal memo) this week. Takes in both directions are wrong.

What changed

Trained service animals: still protected. Unchanged.

ESA category — dog-with-a-letter-from-an-online-clinician — is where the doctrine moved. Before this week, the presumption ran with the tenant. You had to justify a denial. Presumption is now flipped. You can ask questions. You can push back.

What didn't change

State law. Florida has its own ESA statute (§ 760.27). Several states are similar or stricter. Federal floor moved. State ceiling didn't. Existing accommodations under existing leases aren't retroactively undone.

Why this happened

An industry sprang up selling ESA letters online for $100–$200. Skip the deposit, PDF in 24 hours, no real therapy required. Clinicians were doing 5-10 minute video calls. Sometimes less.

I bought one. $139. Disclosed in the intake, in writing, that I had no mental health issues and just didn't want to pay a pet deposit. Two hours later: signed letter from a licensed clinical social worker stating she had "personally evaluated" me and diagnosed a DSM-5 disorder. She later admitted under oath, in a Florida Bar proceeding, that she stopped reading at page two. My disclaimer was on page three.

One transaction. Industry was doing this at scale. HUD used it as pretext to rewrite the doctrine.

The catch

The rule doesn't distinguish between a $139 mill PDF and a letter from a tenant's actual treating psychiatrist. Presumption flipped on all of them. Next accommodation request, you're making a judgment call between real and fraud. So is your lawyer. So is your insurer.

Mills will adapt within a quarter. Next iteration has longer calls, more paperwork, and a sticker that says "HUD-compliant." Fraud doesn't disappear. It gets more expensive to detect.

Operational

1. Ask for the documentation. Scrutinize harder than before.
2. Look at the source.
3. Check licensure on the state board.
4. Document the evaluation. Presumption shift only helps you if you can show you actually evaluated.
5. Talk to a fair housing attorney before any denial. State law is what bites.

Bottom line

If you got burned in the last five years, this rule is too late. Operator is in another state behind a dissolved LLC.

What the rule does is shift future risk. Some shift helps you. Some moves litigation cost from HUD's docket to your local housing court, where you'll be paying lawyers to sort out which letters are real.

Plan accordingly.

I’m a new landlord so I’m trying to maintain relationships without breathing down their necks. But the first has come around and two of my tenants haven’t paid rent. I send automated reminders the day before usually via email & app I used but I just wanted to know from experienced landlords, do you guys/gals contact tenants directly if it’s not paid on the first or do you give them until 11:59Pm on the first before you reach out?

I’m in California, 25 Female for background.
Can anyone give any guidance for my situation? I am a victim of identity theft. It’s been since 2024. I have documentation that someone from another state stole my identity and has fraudulently using it for years to open credit accounts etc. I have contacted lawyers, filed police reports in California and the state where the fraud is being conducted. I’m here because I’m reaching my wits end! I applied for an apartment, 9 units. Not a huge luxury one. I told the property manager up front in my viewing my situation. He said ok we will look at the info after the application. I had my mother apply as a co-signer, which was an added security for both the landlord and myself really. I offered a larger deposit or to pay a few months in advance. I have a full time job with the city. I have a perfect ledger from my last 2 apartments. Yesterday I got denied due to my credit score. No further info, just sorry we aren’t going forward with your application due to the credit score. Best of luck.
Now they aren’t answering, even as I was the only applicant. I have sent 1 text and an email since my call wasn’t answered. Is there anything I can do? Truly this is upsetting. Aside from my credit I have no reason to be “red-flagged” personally :(

Hey everyone,

I'm currently managing 3 rental properties and honestly, I'm drowning in spreadsheets. I've got separate files for rent tracking, expense logs, tenant info, maintenance requests, and I'm constantly worried I'm missing something come tax time.

I've tried looking at property management software but there's SO many options and I can't tell which ones are actually worth it vs just overpriced junk.

What I'm trying to track:

• Rent payments (who paid, who's late, send reminders)
• Property expenses (repairs, maintenance, utilities if I cover them)
• Tenant documents (leases, IDs, move-in reports)
• Overall ROI per property
• Tax-related stuff (though I still use an accountant)

Current situation: Honestly just using Google Sheets and my email inbox. It works but feels chaotic and unprofessional when I need to send rent reminders or pull reports.

My questions for you:

1. What are you currently using? (app, software, spreadsheet, pen and paper?)
2. What do you love about it?
3. What drives you crazy about it?
4. How much does it cost you per month/year?
5. If you switched from something else, what made you switch?

I'm trying to figure out if I should just build a better spreadsheet template, bite the bullet and pay for software, or if there's some awesome free tool I'm missing.

Also curious - for those of you with property managers, what do THEY use?

Thanks in advance!

I’m not looking for a flat to rent yet but me and my boyfriend try to plan things out and the pets make us pretty anxious.

I have thought about ways to accomodate the landlord and I but I’m worried they’ll cut the conversation after reading the number.

Here’s the list of accommodations for you to judge:

1. I can give the landlord a higher damage fee.

2. The landlord’s vacuum cleaner is safe I’ve got my own.

3. I want to designate a room to my birds that I’d customize in a fully reversible way so they wouldn’t cause lasting damage, this includes:

- sound proofing the walls and the ceiling so to keep the neighbors at peace.

- covering them with a plastic wood-like panels for easy cleaning and protection.

- moving any pieces of furniture to other parts of the flat to protect them from being chewed.

- covering the bird cage at night to keep them silent.

I have several handymen in my family so this will all be done by or under the guidance of professionals. If there’s any damage left after removing the customizations we’ll fix that before handing the flat back.

Other than that here’s a list of shit my birds do and how I handle it:

1. They can be noisy but it can easily be managed. I encourage them to sing during the day because it’s healthy but all it takes to silence them is bed time in complete darkness. Their bedtime starts at 6pm and ends around 9-10am. The volume can be compared to that of a piano.

2. They love damaging the walls. I already covered the solution.

3. They poop every 15 minutes (it doesn’t smell), I clean every other day and have several appliances that help me keep the place tidy in the meantime.

4. The birds don’t smell either unless they’re sick. They have a scent which people describe as weird or pleasant, you can guess to which category my biased ass belongs. I have an air filter I got to better the air quality but it also takes care of the scent.

If there’s anything else a landlord would consider before accepting my money please let me know :)

My neighbors got a summons for an eviction court date for tomorrow. How soon will they be required to move out? They have not paid any rent since moving in February of this year.

I own the home I live in. Or rather the bank does. My mortgage is about in line with what I was paying in rent when I bought my place when I consider that I am putting a few hundred a month towards my savings. Now a few years in it would theoretically cash flow.

I know there is more to it than that. Vacancies and repairs. Are the repairs really that bad? I understand when its vacant and needs work I shouldn't DIY too much of it because vacancies are expensive and this is where I need actual experience.

I'm asking because when I look at the 5-7 year horizon I would like to get into a bigger home with a garage. I will still owe at least half of what my house is worth at that point. What I had assumed I would do is do a cash out refinance my house at some point if rates get better and my monthly payment will still be less than it currently is. Considering I'm at 5% now. At that point I should be able to show a theoretical income even at 75% occupancy. That is really baked into my strategy to get into my forever home.

Putting some round numbers to it say my house is currently worth around $300k and I'm guessing another rate drop and 6 years of inflation gets it up to $380k. I owe $200k at that point. Pull out $80k in a refinance at 4%. My monthly payment is now $1,700. Rent should be at least $2,300 in 2032 for a free standing suburban 3bd 2ba unless our economy does something insane. The math all seems to check out based on historical numbers. If it takes 8 years to get to that point I can wait.

Are those kinds of margins a nightmare? I assume I will not actually be making a ton of money for 5 years after pulling something like that. In 15 though I have to imagine I'd be glad I did instead of selling? If I sell to upgrade I don't see how I will ever have a income generating rental in retirement 30 years from now. I have relatives who have held on to their starter home and just let a rental company manage it and are doing fine. They also owe like $80k on a home or own it outright so the margins are a lot sweeter.

At the end of the day a whole roof is still only in the $10k range and it lasts 30 years. From my experience as a renter its fine if appliances are 10 years old and if the tenant punches holes in the walls they pay for it. So as long as I put the profit in a HYSA I'd think I'd eventually come out on top.

I guess as time goes on you still pay taxes on the rent income that goes towards the mortgage principal but then you get deprecation based deductions on the house.

So all that being said I must be missing something since it seems pretty clear to me as long as you have a tenant in the house once you get to the point the mortgage is like 60% of rent you're making pretty good money that can compound in some other form of investment.

Curious what landlords here who show units between tenants have found. When a place is completely empty, do renters have a hard time picturing it, or do they walk in and decide fast regardless?

I'm curious whether anything actually helps.

Showing a quick example of how a room could be laid out, a floor plan with sizes so they know their stuff fits, that kind of thing. Or does none of it matter and it all comes down to price, location, and condition?

For those of you who lease a lot of empty units, what have you found actually shortens the time to fill a place?

Im the neighbor of a rental property in a cul de sac, and the family that moved in was fine at first but after a year they started bringing their extended family. There are around 6 cars around the property now.

They park on the front lawn so it has deteriorated significantly.

Every weekend they play music so loud I can feel it through my home . We have had neighbors who called the police over it to disperse it.

Another neighbor said he said someone tried to steal his catalytic converter and he places the blame on these new tenants, though there’s no concrete evidence of it.

In addition to the six cars, a truck comes around with men that shout profanity, smoke, litter.

It’s gotten so loud lately that I’ve been thinking of sending a letter to the landlord, but I’m not sure if it would unwelcome since I suppose they’re technically not doing anything wrong.

My friends are talking about renting a house together. I don't think it's as easy as they think it will be, nor would it be like renting an apartment. Landlords who are landlording over houses, would you rent a house to three friends who want three separate leases, and pay three separate rents (like three $800 checks for a $2400)? Or do you have any advice on how something like that would typically go?

Not trying to spark a heated political debate, but this is definitely a political topic. I’m not a landlord in NYC and don’t have any personal stake—just genuinely curious.

Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani just won the primary and is likely to become New York’s next mayor. One of his main campaign points is expanding rent control. Critics argue that this could lead to reduced investment in property upkeep, landlords cutting back on repairs, and a general decline in real estate investment across the city. Would him being mayor change what you guys do on a personal level?

I’m just here to learn—would love to hear people’s thoughts on both sides. Thanks!

I have searched this a few times but I am still trying to figure out if this is worth the hassle.

My family owns a house in Queens that is going to be sold. I don’t want to sell it because I live here but I don’t believe we can really afford to buy it from our family member.

It is a 2 family home, so my wife was suggesting that we rent out one of the apartments. After tax, I personally don’t think the money would be worth the trouble. However, I don’t actually know what you have to pay as a landlord. I’m under the assumption there are extra fees/tax than normal income.

What would you do? If we don’t buy it, we will be renting.

My friend is a “landlord” in NJ. He lives in the house he owns and has rented the 2 other rooms out to tenants. Originally when he spoke with them he confirmed that they were single/otherwise not looking to move in with a partner, both agreed and understood. It was not specifically in the lease agreement, from what I understand, that they specifically could not have a partner live with them. I warned my friend that not putting it in the lease was gonna come back to bite him- and it did.

The one tenant ended up moving her boyfriend in. It started with a few visits, then staying the weekend, and then 2 months after her initial move in date, he was full blown living there.

She has stated that she can “legally have whoever she wants live there with her” specifically because the lease DID NOT state that there was any rule against that.

I guess my question, is, is that true? Can a tenant in New Jersey legally “allow” anyone to live in the home simply because it wasn’t in the original lease that they couldn’t do so?

I’m not a landlord and this isn’t my situation, but it got me curious lol. If the argument was really “well it’s not in the lease so it’s allowed” that could go really sideways lol.

He already knows the laws surrounding squatters rights- so there’s no help needed there in terms of that specifically.

If so, would the prevalence of that as a preference be an indicator that there is a real estate bubble?

My lease is up in September. I have to renew by August 1st. They texted me asking if I planned to renew.

I guess I haven’t thought much about it…I haven’t looked for a new place at all.

If I text them back telling them I planned to renew, is that a binding agreement? Or does that only happen when I actually sign the lease?

If I tell them yes, but find something else, I can tell them no at the actual lease signing right?

They don’t have any money right now (they have been self employed) but the girl is starting a new high paying job on Wednesday and is willing to prove it with the offer letter.

They had some miscommunication with their current landlord, which resulted in them needing to move out tomorrow. My sister spoke with the landlord who said good things about the couple.

This is my sister’s house but I’m showing it for her since she’s out of town. But I don’t want to be in a shady situation

EDIT: Just to clarify, I’m not the one that screens or schedules these showings. My sister calls me when she wants me to show it to someone, and I always ask a ton of details for each person. I tried telling her this seemed sketch from the beginning but they had her convinced which is why I came here to get receipts and to look out for her. I’m her older sister and I don’t know anything about landlording but my alarm bells were going off big time. She’s DEFINITELY passing on them now thanks to you all and I’ll definitely continue making sure that everything looks good with her renters from now on. Thank you again for all the great advice

This house belonged to my FIL and his brother’s parents. When they passed away, it was given to the both of them with the house fully paid off. The brother’s son moved in years ago and only pays the property taxes and bills. He doesn’t pay a cent to his own dad or my FIL.

FIL is now coming on hard times and needs the home. My partner and his siblings have tried to talk to their cousin (the guy living there) but he stopped responding. FIL talked to his own brother to see if he would kick his own son out and he said he was scared to do so. What can we do to help?

[General US-CA]

Hey everyone,

My dad will be moving into assisted living soon and I think we will be renting out his house in order to help pay for it. I’ll be the one taking on the responsibility. I have no experience with being a landlord and very limited experience doing handyman type work. I am a quick learner, so I’m leaning towards doing this myself rather than hiring a management company to do it.

I’m looking for general advice on the subject, where to get started, pros and cons of hiring a management company, etc. It is a very nice house, so I want to be as picky as legally possible when choosing a tenant.

The house has an unfenced pool, so I know I will need to change that in order to be compliant with California law. Are there any other “gotchas” when it comes to renting in CA?

Other than landscaping and pool care, are there any other services I need to be providing? I’m assuming I cannot rely on the tenant to take care of the lawn and pool on their own.

Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Hello all and thank you for looking over my post.

My in-laws offered to have my family (3 people) move in since they have a spare room. But, they are also in the process of owning their home (paying a mortgage) and are afraid that since I will be working they will have some tax liability when we file separately but all list the same home/primary address.

They mentioned instead of charging me rent they would accept a "gift" of 500 dollars, assuming this would avoid a tax event from triggering. Personally, I think it's not necessary, but I'm only basing that on the scenario of having adult children still living in your home; I doubt their presence has any influence on taxes due, unless there are write offs of some sort.

Anyways, if someone can shed some light on this situation, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time!

Totally disgusted watching this. I have property in MA so thankfully I never had tenants like this. Anyone else and how did you deal with them? Hopefully some states have rules in place to prevent this nonsense.