February 27, 2005 by Saar Drimer
Ever since I created my webpage www.saardrimer.com, I’ve been searching for my name on all the search engines to see if they “caught” the site and of course what rank I am getting. So I thought of creating a “search all” page where you enter the string only once and it opens a new window with the results for each of the search engines selected. Pretty simple, so give it a shot.
Oh, don’t forget to press CNTRL to disable your popup blocker… and, “HaKol” means “everything” in Hebrew. Enjoy.
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January 23, 2005 by Saar Drimer
“Making the rental process fair!”
A form completed by the landlord and given to the prospective renter
I would like to a fix to the inequality between landlord and renter with respect to the rental application process. In many places in the US, the rental applicant is required to provide detailed and private information while the prospective landlord is not obligated to disclose any; this is unjust.
Typically, the required information consists of:
The rental applicants provide private and confidential information to enable the prospective landlord to inquire about their past in order to evaluate them as tenants; however, the renters have no real means for doing the same. Essentially, they can not validate a single thing the landlord is saying and can only trust their intuition. The current customary process is biased against the renter and this has to change (man, it’s aggravating!)
I suggest a webpage that will provide a reasonable solution to this bias by providing an equivalent to the rental application, the “landlord application.” This is an application that the landlord completes and provides as a counter to the customary rental application. The following information should be included on such a form:
In order to hear a more objective view of the rental, it is a good idea to talk to previous tenants. They will tell you of the leaking faucet, creaky ceiling, why they left and if the landlord stole from their deposit. Practically, they will tell you what the landlord never will.
This will enable the renter to inquire with the local courthouse if there are/were any cases brought against this landlord. For example, you might find out that they have been sued for an unjust deposit deduction several times. You might find other things that will make you shy away from the place.
This is a given, but I think this should go on paper rather than as just a conversational item.
Although not critical, this is useful information to have as part of the renter’s evaluation process.
Ultimately, I would like to see this as common practice and part of a formalized process that is mandated by law. Currently, a landlord will typically label the one who asks too many questions as an “undesirable.” But it has to start somewhere, and the more people asking for the above information, the more it will become mainstream. Landlord will resists, naturally; they just had it too good for too long: ZERO accountability, and that’s hard to give up. If it a “renter’s market”, this will be more appealing to landlords because they need to compete over the applicants and want to show their glorious past (it might even make them treat the current tenants better, so they recommend them in the future.) However, in a “landlord market,” landlords get down right abusive and treat current and prospective renters more like cash cows than people (renting in the silicon valley during the “boom” was pure hell so I know what that is like.)
In the Bay Area, a studio will run for about $800 – $1000 a month; that’s about $12,000 yearly (including utilities and all.) Who in their right mind pay that sum for anything other than a rental under the current conditions? Think about it: the seller is unknown, no records are available, only superficial inspection is allowed before purchase, you can’t ask too many questions and there is no return policy! Would you buy a car like that? Both parties should check the history of each other and the property’s so they can make a knowledgeable “purchase” rather than take a chance.
Everyone needs to know who they are entering an agreement with; it should not be as one-sided as it is today. Typically, disgruntled tenants give up going to court over grievances because it just takes too many resources (financially and mentally) and that plays into the landlord’s hands. It is much better to know what you are getting into up front and avoid the aftermath.
If a webpage ever comes about, it could also host a database of rental properties ratings and reviews reported by tenants. Currently, there is apartmentratings.com, but it only covers apartment complexes.
If you’d like to work on such a project, feel free to do so; I’ll help as much as I can.
Your comment are much appreciated.
Here is a “Landlord Application” sample form I created; use it as you please.
Make sure you vote on my related post on halfbakery.com.
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