Hi Tenants!

On behalf of Frank and myself, we want to wish you a warm welcome to our rental family. I also want to bring you up to speed about things you need to know as a Lessee; responsibilities and precautions you should take in order to make your tenancy enjoyable and safe.

You must place your garbage inside the container provided by the City and the container must be moved to the curb the night before your scheduled pickup. You can find the pickup days for your address by going to Talgov.com.

Bulk trash (empty boxes, furniture you don’t want, etc.) is picked up every two weeks, again you can find the pickup days by checking the above link.

Your Recycle container is the green bin. DO NOT place paint cans or electronics by the curb for pickup. Paint is considered a hazardous substance and must be taken to 7550 Apalachee Parkway. You may contact the Solid Waste Services @ 850-891-4968 or the Leon County Landfill @ 850-487-2890 for more information.

Please, DO NOT put your trash out by the road many days prior to the pickup date. Your neighbors will not love you for that and I suggest you maintain good relations with your neighbors; it will assist you in your safety.

You must abide by ALL City of Tallahassee ordinances. Code violations are punishable by fines/ imprisonment. Do not fool yourself into believing you can ignore warnings. Arrest records do not look good on your resume, when you are trying to land a job after graduation.

If you have a pet, you must let me know. I do not mind you having a pet, as long as they are not aggressive. However you must report it for several reasons:

1. It is a violation of your lease agreement to have unauthorized pets in the house and you may be asked to vacate the premises. You will lose your security deposit and your parents will be liable for rent for the period of time the house is vacant; plus any deficiency in rent collected after the eviction. Needless to say your Mom and Dad will not be happy, since they are ultimately responsible for the contract.
2. When you have a problem in the house and I send a service person to handle the service call, it is important to know if pets are in the house. The service person could accidentally let the pets out of the house, or in a worst case scenario a dog could bite the service person; in which case your parents could become liable for the injury.
3. You must pay a non-refundable pet fee of $400.00 for dogs over 40 pounds and $200.00 for smaller dogs and cats. There is a limit to the number of pets you may have in a house and if you fail to pay the fee for your pet, everyone in the house will be assessed equally for the fee, regardless of who the pet owner is, since they are aware of the violation and failed to report it.

For your safety, always leave your front porch and rear patio lights on at night, as well as the motion sensor flood lights on if you have them.

If you are leaving town for the weekend or a longer period of time, always leave exterior lights on as well as some small lamps on in the house. Lights do not burn a lot of electricity and could prevent a possible break in, while you are gone.

Please DO NOT open the door for strangers selling things or asking for directions. When you request service on an appliance/ plumbing/ electrical, we normally give the service person your phone number to call you before they head in your direction. If it is something that I can quickly fix for you, we will ask you if it is okay to enter the house in your absence.

If you see strangers walking across your yard, use your cell phone/camera to take a picture of them and ask them not to do it again. In the event that it continues, call the Tallahassee Police Department at 850-891-4200 to report the incident; print a copy of the picture you took and hand it to the officer. Unauthorized traffic through your yard is an indication that they are casing the house to break in.

Humidity is really high in this area and mildew will grow on your clothes and walls. Leave your thermostat at 82 degrees during warm months and 60 degrees during cool months. Also do not shut off a vent in a room because the person occupying that room is out of town. This will not save money, it actually increases the amount of time it takes to cool/heat the house. The more air flowing through the unit, the faster it will achieve the desired temperature.

1. Re-set the thermostat to 80 degrees when you leave the house to go to class and/or work.
2. Turn off all ceiling fans when you leave the house, they eat up a lot of electricity.
3. During the night instead of running all your ceiling fans, set the fan setting on the thermostat to on. This will blow air throughout the house during the night, but the condensing unit will cycle on and off to maintain the desired temperature.
4. Turn off any appliances you are not using during the day. Keep in mind that you pay more per kilowatt during peak hours.

If you have a need for service on an appliance/ air conditioner/ plumbing/ electrical problems, please report it immediately by calling the office phone at 850-893-9221. Please DO NOT wait till the evening/weekend to report a problem. Remember parts supply stores for such usually close at 5 pm.

For example, if you are having problems with your air conditioner and you wait until Friday afternoon to report it, you may be without air for the entire weekend. If you have a power/water outage, report it to the City of Tallahassee at 850-891-4968. We have no control over the utilities.

Every year we have a number of students that go home for a weekend/school break and forget to take their bedroom key. Upon return, they end up having to destroy the door in order to get back in their rooms.

Be advised that if you damage your bedroom door and it has to be replaced, you will be charged $400.00 for the installation and painting of a new door.

In the event you decide to sublease your room to anyone, a sublease form must be requested from our office so that we are aware of the new occupant as well as, a letter signed by all the other roommates stating that they are okay with the person that will be replacing you. We cannot force the other occupants of the house to accept someone unfamiliar to them, that may upset their safety and comfort.

We provide you air conditioner filters for your convenience. They are normally stored in the closet where the air handler is. The return grills are usually on the wall below the unit and there may be more than one. Do not place any furniture in front of the return grill that blocks the air flow to the unit.

Your unit works by sucking air through the returns, running it over the evaporation coil, cooling/heating it and sending it out through the vents. Any obstruction in the air flow reduces efficiency, increases electrical use, increases the time it takes to cool/heat the house and could cause failure of the system when you most need it.

The return grills have latches at the top that allow you to open the grill and access the filters. One side of the filter is usually reinforced with paper/wire straps. That side always goes towards the unit. The reinforcement prevents the unit from sucking the wool into the evaporator coil, if the filter is left in place for too long and it gets stopped up. Never turn a filter around after you have already used it.  It will suck all the dust on the filter into the evaporation coil, aggravating allergies you may already have.

If you run out of filters or are down to the last one, please call the office or come by, we will be happy to provide you more. Filter sizes are listed on the edge of the filter, if you decide to get some yourself. Never use a filter that is smaller than the return opening.

Check your filters every two weeks and if they are dirty replace them. This is especially important if you have pets; their hair will clog up filters faster than normal.

Please call us with any questions you may have about your cooling/heating system.

Rent is due on the first of each month and is late after the fifth. Please make check payable to Frank Gomez. The mailing address is:

Frank Gomez
4601 Barclay Lane
Tallahassee, FL 32309

If you plan to set up an ACH (automatic bank transfer) you must include your name and address in the reference or you will not receive credit for your payment. Finally, if we can be of any additional help, please let us know, your suggestions are appreciated. If you find any questions not answered, please contact us.

We want you to have an enjoyable stay while renting from us.

Sincerely,

Frank Gomez & Kathy Gomez
(850) 893-9221