S02.E21: Rent Day

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The flip house is finally finished, and Jessica convinces Honey and Grandma that they would make more money if they rent it out instead. Honey and Grandma are reluctant to get into the landlord business, but Jessica assures them that she will take care of everything. However, when the perfect renters become more of a nuisance, Jessica fears that she might be in over her head. Meanwhile, amateur detectives Emery and Evan, better known as "The Huang Boys," take on the mystery of Louis' missing watch.

Edited April 29, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[LAgator77]

Jessica did not just say the house has a finished basement... In FLORIDA! C'mon on writers, you're better than this. 

[qtpye]

I like the episodes that are not centered around Eddie.  However, Jessica not doing a credit check was crazy.  Did she not even ask for pay stubs, security deposit. or first and last months rent up front?  Usually at least one of these things has to clear for a leasehold to take effect.

[ClareWalks]

It was weird that the cop just told Jessica there was nothing she could do to get rid of the squatters. She could consult a lawyer about moving forward with eviction. The entire episode I was waiting for her to consult a lawyer. Isn't Marvin a lawyer, or am I remembering that wrong?

[theatremouse]

Yeah, that was weird. She's usually so persnickety? But I guess part of the point was she was in over her head and just assumed she could handle everything, without even researching how. Of course, most adults at some point have rented so you'd think she'd at least be familiar with the concept of a deposit. I think the kludge that she trusted her gut over a credit check sort of jives with her hubris. On the other hand I could easily hear Jessica in my head telling someone else that was idiotic and of course you do a credit check to avoid liars. I think that's what bugged me. She's been presented as untrusting, not just overfident and controlling. So it gives me pause to believe she'd be so eager to be taken by presumed lawyer-doctors' story without grilling them more and doing the actual credit check.

[Jenkins]

Yeah, I love this show (second favorite sitcom behind the Goldbergs), but the writers dropped the ball on this one.

A person like Jessica would NEVER rent to someone without knowing everything about them and doing all kinds of checks.

Though sadly they were right on how hard it is to get rid of renters. We lived across from a guy in an apartment a few years ago and it took the manager almost 6 months to finally get rid of them after they quit paying rent. The guy just kept holding them up in court. Though it was more a nightmare for US...they were HORRIBLE neighbors.

Not my favorite episode...but I still look forward to this show every week (when the damn thing is on...this and Goldbergs seem to take weeks off a lot).

[peeayebee]

7 hours ago, theatremouse said:

I think the kludge that she trusted her gut over a credit check sort of jives with her hubris. On the other hand I could easily hear Jessica in my head telling someone else that was idiotic and of course you do a credit check to avoid liars. I think that's what bugged me. She's been presented as untrusting, not just overfident and controlling. So it gives me pause to believe she'd be so eager to be taken by presumed lawyer-doctors' story without grilling them more and doing the actual credit check.

Kludge. I had to google that. I'm surprised I've never heard or seen that word before.

Wasn't there an ep where Jessica poo-pooed or distrusted credit scores or something like that?

I really hated the squatters story line. I know it's true that renters, esp in California, abuse their rights, but I hate seeing that. I hate that it happens. I became hopeful for a minute when Jessica first started telling them what they needed to do, like make their own breakfasts and study their law books. I thought that it could be fun watching Jessica help this dumb (not scamming) couple turn things around. But no.

I enjoyed Emory and Evan as detectives. It was funny when they both whipped out their notebooks. I also liked when Louis was with Emory and Evan, then Eddie burst in. Louis quickly hid the piece of paper behind his back, and Eddie hid his watch-less arm behind his back.

[SmithW6079]

I find bossy Jessica annoying, but stupid Jessica is far worse. She might think she knows better, but she's smart enough to use the tools available to get done what she wants. After all, she didn't do the home repairs herself or exterminate the termites on her own, did she? However, I did like that her plans to "motivate," then get back at the tenants, all backfired on her.

Was the fliip house in their neighborhood? Because if so, wouldn't the HOA have something to say about renting the property?

I find most of the Eddie-centric plots kind of dull, so I was only half paying attention to the bit with the watch, but I did like the twist that it was Grandma who stole the watch to teach Louis a lesson for trying to teach Eddie a lesson. And I did fill sorry for Eddie in the beginning, when he's clearly enjoying doing crosswords with his dad, until Louis flings the paper aside when the other boys find the missing remote. 

[norm]

In defense of Jessica, in the episode she DID get a security deposit and first month's rent.  It's just that the check bounced.  And she DID run a credit check on the couple.  The couple say how surprised they are she rented to them after running their credit, to which Jessica replies that credit checks are fluff.  So Jessica did know the right things to do, she just overvalued her "gut" in deciding on the tenants rather than cold hard facts.  

[theatremouse]

I interpreted the "fluff" remark to mean she didn't bother running the credit report because she deems them fluff, not that she ran it and ignored it...were they explicit?

[peeayebee]

I was surprised that Patrick Fischler had such a small role. He was the first guy interested in the house in order to rent it.

[biakbiak]

Yeah I think it was clear she didn't run a credit check. She didn't do any of the things Honey mentioned. If she ran a credit check she would have realized they weren't employed and that is something Jessica would never get over.

[mtlchick]

I did laugh that Jessica signed the check Montana Moorehead as that was a character from one of my favourite movies ever, Soapdish.

Outside of that though...oy.  Out of all things I would hope Jessica would be smart on, it's renting.  She waffles over EVERYTHING on expenses on the house, restaurant, the van but this?  Pretty surprised this is the one that she gut checks on especially when she is supposed to be getting paid.

[JeezumCrow]

John Francis Daley was one of the renters, yes? He did an excellent job growing up, I'll say that. *swoons*

I enjoyed the episode overall but still couldn't believe Jessica let the couple MOVE IN before the check cleared. 

[peeayebee]

3 hours ago, mtlchick said:

I did laugh that Jessica signed the check Montana Moorehead as that was a character from one of my favourite movies ever, Soapdish.

Thanks. I was wondering what the significance of that name was. As it happens, I just recorded Soapdish when I was it was on HBO. I never saw it.

 

1 hour ago, curlyblackeggs said:

John Francis Daley was one of the renters, yes? He did an excellent job growing up, I'll say that. *swoons*

Yes. I thought it was him, but I wasn't quite sure, so I checked out the credits at the end. Also, his wife looked really familiar. She was on Warehouse 13.

[qtpye]

Quote

John Francis Daley was one of the renters, yes? He did an excellent job growing up, I'll say that. *swoons*

Small voice...I think he's cute, too.

Quote

In defense of Jessica, in the episode she DID get a security deposit and first month's rent.  It's just that the check bounced.  And she DID run a credit check on the couple.  The couple say how surprised they are she rented to them after running their credit, to which Jessica replies that credit checks are fluff.  So Jessica did know the right things to do, she just overvalued her "gut" in deciding on the tenants rather than cold hard facts.  

This is an interesting interpretation, but I took it as she did not want to pay the minimal money to run the credit check, so she never did it.  You might be right, though.

Also, if she saw the credit check was bad (and for these people, it must have been horrible), why would she not at least wait for the check to clear, before renting out the space?

Truthfully, the episode made no sense and was tied up much to easily at the end.  Why the heck would the original buyer pay the exact same amount of money, now that he has squatters that he will have to deal with?

[norm]

OK, here is the transcript:

Squatter: Honestly, we were surprised you rented the house to us, especially when you saw our credit report.

Jessica: Fffft! Credit checks are fluff! This is my credit check My gut.

So the squatter says that she saw their credit report.  But I agree with everyone else about how that makes no sense that she would still consider them perfect tenants and rent to them.  

[MaryMitch]

2 hours ago, norm said:

OK, here is the transcript:

Squatter: Honestly, we were surprised you rented the house to us, especially when you saw our credit report.

Jessica: Fffft! Credit checks are fluff! This is my credit check My gut.

So the squatter says that she saw their credit report.  But I agree with everyone else about how that makes no sense that she would still consider them perfect tenants and rent to them.  

My take is the squatter assumed she saw their credit report, but Jessica basically says no, her gut is her credit check.

[mansonlamps]

12 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

My take is the squatter assumed she saw their credit report, but Jessica basically says no, her gut is her credit check.

That's my interpretation as well.  But I think it's also contrary to Jessica's normal personality.

[biakbiak]

23 minutes ago, mansonlamps said:

That's my interpretation as well.  But I think it's also contrary to Jessica's normal personality.

I agree and the writers thought they were "explaining" it by having her repeat the fluff line twice, when the idea of renting the place out is first presented Honey brings up the difficulty of finding good tenants and mentions a variety of difficult things about being a landlord including credit checks and a handyman and Jessica dismisses them all as fluff. The credit check and the handyman (Jessica tells them they will be the handyman until they pay the remt) come up later proving to Jessica that Oprah needs her Gayles.

[Ghost Bear]

I'm not 100% sure, but Jessica may need to pay for a credit check to be done - and she doesn't do well with paying for 'fluff' services. Remember how much she scoffed about termites and blew off having an inspection?

[qtpye]

I know Jessica is supposed to be frugal, but the investment property has really made her look penny wise and pound foolish.

[biakbiak]

9 hours ago, Ghost Bear said:

I'm not 100% sure, but Jessica may need to pay for a credit check to be done - and she doesn't do well with paying for 'fluff' services. Remember how much she scoffed about termites and blew off having an inspection?

Every place I have rented there has been a non-refundable application fee, usually $25-30, that pays for the credit check.

[Camera One]

On 5/9/2016 at 0:36 PM, qtpye said:

I know Jessica is supposed to be frugal, but the investment property has really made her look penny wise and pound foolish.

I think that is supposed to be Jessica's weakness.  Her cheapness of refusing to pay for a credit check got her in this problem.  Though I agree that even Jessica would not be so stupid. 

I was expecting Honey to come up with a brilliant plan, like making it seem like the house was haunted or something.  It too reminded me of a friend's tenant who gave her such a headache when she was sick, so I wasn't entertained by that obnoxious young couple at all.

Evan and Emery as detectives was fun.  Disappointing they had to fake their solved case.  I seriously doubt they would still sell that same watch model.

The episode had its amusing moments, but they need to make sure the plot actually makes sense.

[SanDiegoInExile]

On 5/10/2016 at 9:47 PM, biakbiak said:

Every place I have rented there has been a non-refundable application fee, usually $25-30, that pays for the credit check.

Not always.  Although I do have to keep reminding myself that the show takes place 20 years ago.  Renting a place was 10000% easier in the pre-internet pre-recession world.  I rented 4 different times in the 1990s and never paid an application fee.  It was the mega rental companies that exploded in the 90s that started the scam nonrefundable upfront fee.  And pre-internet, it would have been much harder for small investor landlords to run credit on someone,  Sure it could be done, but a newbie may not want the hassle.  Besides, I think the whole point was that Jessica was impressed by the idea of having lawyer/doctors as tenants.

I was also swooning over the male squatter.  He can squat with me anytime.

[biakbiak]

7 minutes ago, SanDiegoInExile said:

Not always.  Although I do have to keep reminding myself that the show takes place 20 years ago.  Renting a place was 10000% easier in the pre-internet pre-recession world.  I rented 4 different times in the 1990s and never paid an application fee.  It was the mega rental companies that exploded in the 90s that started the scam nonrefundable upfront fee.  And pre-internet, it would have been much harder for small investor landlords to run credit on someone,  Sure it could be done, but a newbie may not want the hassle.  Besides, I think the whole point was that Jessica was impressed by the idea of having lawyer/doctors as tenants.

I was also swooning over the male squatter.  He can squat with me anytime.

Which is why I said every time I have rented not that it was universal but I have done it in four different states in the mid 90s all with small landlords and they all used the application free to run the credit check. Pre Internet they simply faxed the application to one of several different agencies that would perform the check. I got every apartment I applied for so I didn't find it a  scam.