pages: RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2018-03-05.pdf, 2
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RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee | 2018-03-05 | 2 | Approved Minutes March 5, 2018 subject unit, which caused him to have to remodel the bathroom. He stated that he believed market rate rent for the unit was $2,300-$2,500 based on his review of Craigslist ads for similar units. He added that the repairs the property needed would require a bank loan, the payment of which will require increased rental income from each unit. Tenant Srijana Kandel replied that she did not ask Mr. Lee to remodel the bathroom, but that he had to do it due to water damage. She added that the rest of the units in the property were remodeled, but no other part of their unit except the bathroom had been renovated. She said she believes that because their apartment is unimproved, it could not fetch market-rate rent. She informed the Committee that she is the only person living at the unit who brings in income, and that paying the increased amount requested by Mr. Lee would create a financial hardship. Mr. Lee added that he voluntarily changed the carpet in the unit upon the tenants' initial move-in, put in a new stove and fridge, and rented it below market to them at the time because he sympathized with them as they shared the experience of being immigrants. He said he also prefers to rent to families rather than roommates and liked that a family would be living there. Ms. Kandel replied that the stove had not been working for 3-6 months and Mr. Lee had not yet fixed it, despite being notified it was broken. She said that her father lives in Japan where he runs a restaurant and takes care of his elderly father. Chair Cambra asked if Mr. Lee learned anything new from the discussion thus far. Mr. Lee replied that he did not know that the tenant's father was taking care of his father. Mr. Lee added that the tenants were subleasing the apartment, and he believed they could pass on some of the cost to the subtenants. Chair Cambra asked Ms. Kandel if she had learned something new thus far. She replied that she did not know Mr. Lee had new expenses on the property. Vice Chair Sullivan-SariƱana asked Mr. Lee if he had approached the neighbor about paying for some of the costs incurred by the neighbor's trees falling on his property. Mr. Lee said that he had but that the neighbor was not responsive and it was easier for him to take care of the damage himself than wait for his neighbor to act. Vice Chair Sullivan-SariƱana asked about whether there was a sub-tenancy and Ms. Kandel replied that her uncle came to visit often but was not subleasing or helping pay the rent. Member Friedman asked Ms. Kandel how much of her income goes to pay the rent. She replied that more than half of her income went toward rent and that she must ask her father for financial support frequently. Page 2 of 5 | RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2018-03-05.pdf |