Carrying around a checkbook all of the time seems outdated even by the standards of America’s grandmas. Why is it, then, that 70% of people who rent their homes write a check every month to pay the bill? That trend is changing, but very slowly. [More]
rentals
“Don’t Flush Feminine Products” Signs In AirBNB Rentals? $10,000 In Damages Makes A Good Case
By 10.10.14
A Los Angeles AirBNB host probably wishes she had hung one of those “Please place feminine products in the trash” signs up in her condo’s bathroom. Doing so may have saved her more than $10,000 in damages after a renter allegedly repeatedly flushed the products down her toilet causing a blockage and massive leak. [More]
Man Returns From 2-Day Vacation, Finds Family Living In His Home
By 7.23.14
In our post about the AirBNB “guest” who decided to make himself at home and squat in a desert condo after he had stayed for a month, we noted that at least the condo in question was a vacation home, not her regular home. No, that actually happened this week to a man in Miami. He returned to the house he was renting after a short vacation and found another family living there. [More]
How To Not Suck At Booking A Vacation Rental
By 5.23.14
For many, summer means renting a vacation home. Perhaps you dream of a week at the beach or some quiet time at a secluded lakeside cottage deep in the woods. Whatever your vacation fantasy, don’t let your excitement for some time away lure you into making a major vacation mistake. [More]
If You’re Going To Be Arrested, Don’t Let It Be For Failing To Return J.Lo’s ‘Monster-In-Law’
By 2.17.14
Theft is theft, even it’s not returning a VHS copy of a middling Jennifer Lopez/Jane Fonda romantic comedy to the video, and even if it’s been nearly nine years since you rented it. [More]
5 Warning Signs That A Craigslist Rental Listing Is Probably A Scam
By 2.27.13 — Updated: 12.6.16
Even though it’s nothing new, we’ve recently started seeing a resurgence of reader e-mails asking if a really awesome-sounding rental listing on Craigslist might be a scam, so we figured it was time for a refresher course. [More]
Sleeping In This Guy’s Car For $1,800/Night Might Be A Better Deal Than Other Super Bowl Rentals
By 1.18.13
Though this year’s Super Bowl is irrelevant because of its lack of Eagles, there are apparently still enough people out there who want to attend the festivities that the illegal short-term lease market is booming in New Orleans. [More]
I Can't Afford A Hotel While My Home Is Fumigated
By 8.3.12
Tom and his wife are facing a scary proposition: termites. In their home. They’re renters, so they called the landlords. That’s why people rent, right? So they have landlords who will take care of this stuff. And their landlords are happy to take care of it: by calling in exterminators to tent the house and kill any pests inside. That’s okay, but requires vacating the house for a few days. Tom and Mrs. Tom don’t have the money to cover a motel stay up front for the time they’ll be required to be out of the house. Sure, they could sleep in their car and hang out at the library or something when they’re not at work, but they have dogs. And they live in Florida. It’s August. Even the cheapest motels that allow dogs are too expensive. What should they do? [More]
Apartment Rents Rising Nationwide To Highest Average In Five Years
By 7.6.12
Grumbling over the rising price of rent? You’re not the only one — across the country, it’s becoming more expensive to rent, with rates rising at a pace that hasn’t been seen since before the financial crisis. Fear of even higher rents might be keeping tenants in their apartments as well, as the vacancy rate was the lowest it’s been since 2001. [More]
Room-Borrowing Landlord Is Mentally Ill, Running A Scam, Or Both
By 3.1.12
Yesterday, we shared with you the story of Z, the room he rented in a small city in central California, and the landlord who thought it was totally okay to stay in his bedroom while he was out of town. We didn’t expect to get an update this soon, or for the story to get even stranger. It turns out that while the owner of the house may be mentally ill, according to local police, she has definitely been running a scam for at least the last few months that consists of collecting rent and deposits, then terrorizing renters so they move out. Whether the “terrorizing” part is intentional or not isn’t clear. [More]
Warning Signs Of Rental Scams
By 1.23.12
When you’re searching for your next place to rent, it’s easy to be swept up in attractive amenities, blinding yourself to potential pitfalls. That’s exactly the type of mentality swindlers are counting on when they attempt to bilk money out of lazy rental hunters. [More]
How To Rent Out Your Basement
By 12.26.11
If you own a home with an extra room, you could be sitting on a potential easy income stream. The proposition of taking in a boarder could be especially attractive to those who have basements, since the relative privacy of the bottom floor makes renting the room out less intrusive. [More]
Would You Use A Netflix For Toys? It Exists.
By 12.15.11
Sure, there are Netflix-style rental services where you can rent designer dresses and accessories by mail, but would you swap toys with strangers by post? A few recent startups are betting that you will, at least to try out new and pricey toys before buying them, or to reduce clutter. [More]
How I Got Hertz To Give Me A Free Double-Tow, 1 Day Off My Rental, And A $25 Voucher
By 10.28.11
I was cruising down I-95 to Maryland to see my uncle’s bluegrass band with my step-father in the passenger seat and my wife in the back, when I noticed my Hertz rental wasn’t steering as responsively as before. The tire pressure indicator light went on, then the passenger-side airbag light was on steady, and so was the car temperature gauge. [More]
Absentee Landlords Help Kill Philly Neighborhoods
By 9.30.11
Investors have been snatching up houses in Philly and then applying a “rent ’em n’ forget ’em” policy. Once-picturesque blocks where neighbors competed to have the nicest flowerbed have degenerated into ones where they seem to be fighting to see who can have the highest unmowed lawn. [More]
Timing Of Netflix Price Increase Depends On Your Billing Date
By 9.1.11
Netflix’s much-maligned price increase kicks in today, but not for all customers. The new pricing plan, which charges $7.99 a month to stream movies and another $7.99 to rent one DVD at a time, doesn’t go into effect until your September billing date. Depending on when your bill is due, you can squeeze a few extra days of the old rates out of your plan before either canceling or choosing either streaming or disc rentals to avoid the bill bump. [More]
Dealing With The Trials Of Apartment Hunting
By 8.1.11
Although the depressed housing market has made things easy for home buyers, it seems to have had an adverse effect on renters, who face more competition with perhaps fewer openings than ever. Thanks to former homeowners who suffered short sales or foreclosures and are forced into the rental market, there are more renters playing musical chairs. [More]
Finding A Non-Crappy Place To Live When You Have Poor Credit
By 5.31.11
D. hates her current apartment, and is looking for a new place to live. The catch? She works as a temp, and has had some credit problems. She has a steady work history, and also a decade-long history of on-time rent payments to the management company she currently rents from. She wonders: what advice does the Consumerist Hive Mind have for her as she looks for a new home? [More]
