If you’re looking to open a new medical facility — not just a couple of exam rooms and a reception area, but a proper clinic — you want something affordable, spacious, brightly lit, with good parking, and a central, convenient location. Thanks to the ongoing retail apocalypse, there are dead or dying malls around the country that fit this bill. [More]
tenants
Deserted Malls Find New Use As Retail Call Centers
By 4.25.17
In order to keep bringing in the cash amid store closings, some malls have gotten a bit creative with their thousands of square feet of space, from leasing to doctor’s offices and supermarkets to using empty space as party venues. Some retailers are filling these empty mall spaces, but with call centers, not merchandise. [More]
Feds: Fraudsters Claimed To Own $17M Worth Of Property, Preyed On Tenants
By 1.26.17
There’s a lot of work that goes in to owning a property and renting it out to tenants, but in return, landlords can charge deposits and collect rent. Two Florida residents took the “work” part out of the equation, federal prosecutors claim, and instead just pretended they owned $17 million worth of property so they could demand money from tenants. [More]
Private Eyes Spy On Apartments To Catch Illegal Airbnb Hotels
By 12.27.16
In cities where housing is in short supply like New York and San Francisco, permanent residents are understandably upset when their landlords boot them out to use their apartments as mini-hotels. To prove that this is happening, ousted tenants are turning to private detectives who monitor their former apartments as if they were cheating spouses. [More]
What To Look For In A Tenant
By 12.16.11
Putting a home up for rent could be an avenue to easy, endless income or arduous, unceasing headaches. Much of your fate as a landlord will depend on your ability to select the right tenants. Some landlords get greedy or frustrated with a tough market and accept the first potential renter they come across, but those who know what they’re doing make careful choices. [More]
Know Your Renter Rights
By 12.7.10
Do you rent? Better know your rights. Here’s a state-by-state guide with links to statutes for both landlords and tenants. If you want to negotiate down your rent, get a drippy ceiling fixed, fight an eviction, or squelch a noisy neighbor, first bone up on your renter law. [More]
Crazy Landlord Fights Heat Wave With Air Conditioning Ban
By 8.2.09
An Oregon landlord refuses to let his tenants install air conditioners because he thinks they “look tacky.” Tenants of the Arbor Creek complex in Aloha who choose to sacrifice aesthetics for comfort have ten days to correct their mistake before facing eviction. One tenant’s kid already landed in the hospital thanks to heat stroke.
Answers To NYC Renters' Questions
By 1.30.08
How do you get your landlord to require the upstairs neighbors to put down carpets? A lawyer who “has practiced in the landlord-tenant arena for more than two decades” has been answering these sorts of questions on the New York Times’ “City Room” blog. The advice he gives, while helpful and specific, is mostly based on what we imagine are NYC-specific problems and cites New York statutes, but it still might be helpful for renters elsewhere with similar problems.
As Foreclosures Increase, Renters Suffer
By 12.17.07
Stephen O’Brien wants to buy a foreclosed apartment building on Warwick Street in Roxbury. He wants to keep the ground-floor tenant, James Evans, 77, who is partially blind and living on Social Security.
