ok--not to bore everybody else around here into a coma-- its the difference between being a landlord tenant lawyer and being a landlord and a lawyer. You have an application --the person has a wonderful credit score, and a good job, and while he is in my office he is dead drunk at 10a.m and slaps his wife. Is he in a protected class because of his credit score? I don't think so--I have a responsibility to the rest of the tenants in my building. They have a right to peace and quiet and since I live there also--so do I. He does not have a right to rent an apartment in my building. No attorney is going to sue on his behalf either. Protected class refers to marital status, race, color, creed, and you may not discriminate against them because of that. A high credit score is not a protected class. You are in Minnesota--where maybe that simple discrimination is still an issue. I am in SoCal--I am the only blonde in the building for whom English is a first language so racial discrimination is not one of our issues. Here, we are expected to check Megan's list and make sure we don't rent to a sexual preditor. In San Diego area a city is considering an ordinance penalizing landlords for renting to illegal aliens. If I have good reason to believe that a tenant will be a threat to the rest of the building--I have liability if they injure somebody. So don't get hung up on credit scores--you get to use your eyes and ears and brain. Of course you keep good records of the problems. If you read the posts, more tenants are unhappy because of jerky neighbors than anything else.I try to prevent that. So after we found the escaped rosy boa constrictor, and I found out that a tenant had three cats and was using the bottom drawers of the kitchen cabinets to put the kitty litter in--we went to a pet free building.

I've opted to keep my landline. I have a houseful of kids and do not want to worry about them using my cell phone to make calls. Plus, I don't want their friends calling on my cell phone when I'm out and about and don't necessarily have the kids with me. Perhaps I'm in the minority here with kids still at home but I can't imagine not having a landline in that case. There are times my kids are at home when I'm not there, so how would they make a phone call? Plus, sometimes my mom babysits and she does not have a cell phone so she would have no way to call me or 911 if there was an emergency. I also live in an area where power frequently goes out, so I have a regular plug in phone (not cordless) to use when power goes out. I might reconsider once all of my kids either have their own cell phones or are no longer living at home. I also reserve giving out my cell phone number to select good friends/family/school - I don't like people having constant access to me when I'm not at home. If I'm not at home, chances are I don't want to be bothered with a phone call so I prefer they leave a message at home and let me call back when convenient. I suppose I'm weird like that but I don't like people calling me while I'm driving, while I'm out grocery shopping, etc.

I do think the problem is that, at least in my mother's case, she does not think she has a problem. I think most people who can't hear well honestly don't believe there is a problem. And after she saw the audiologist, was convinced she was diagnosing her incorrectly in that she while she thinks she might have a slight problem, it is only in one ear. We went through the same thing with her with cataracts. She thought she could see fine. Then when she finally did decide to have it done, one eye was botched because it hemorrhaged when it was taken out. She then spent two months without a lens - and that eye is still not working correctly. But not believing she had a problem, there was little we could do. I think the saddest thing for my mother is when she is with other people. I took her and my aunt and uncle to visit a cousin this weekend. Because of all of the stimulus, she was virtually left out of conversation - then would blurt something out that had nothing to do with what was being discussed -- but she couldn't hear the discussion. What convinced my mother to finally go and be evaluated was the ability to return if she didn't like them. I am glad she is at least giving a try - don't know what the ultimate outcome will be.

As an add on to this conversation regarding emergencies. Make sure your cell has reverse 911 (if available) for city/county emergencies. We lost many in fires who did not have this and got caught in fire storms and mud slides/flash floods. In these situations the danger was known, news reports gave information that the location was far enough away to give them some time for getting out, albeit a very short time. Emergency personnel going to so many homes was burdening the ability to get to all and in some cases not possible to do so. You need to sign up for reverse 911, registration should be for each phone. The use is for more than just natural devastations. Once the call/message is answered it won't repeat the information. Our city just started this last year due to the floods and fires. Most land lines already had the option. Check to see if you have this available, many cities are still working on activation. Also, somewhere in the last few years I remember having mobile phones connected to a main unit inhouse. Nothing worked when electric went out, so yes to the battery backup or the wonderful phone you found. I also took out the kitchen unit for tiling and it shut down the other connections. So make sure you don't mess with the main line, perhaps just cover it up with something that matches the backsplash and can be removed. Landlines are not available in my neighborhood area either, connections are strictly for electronic use. I never considered this until mentioned here. And now remember when my kids told me it was time to just go cell and get rid of the landline. But I'm not good at knowing where the cell is most of the time and unless it rings couldn't tell you on a moments notice. Doesn't bear well for emergencies either way since I'm the only one here. Tethered is not going to happen, out of reach does me little good if there were an emergency. How do others handle this one?