Another Detroit Property Management Problem

[Naga A.]

Well, I remember there was a thread a couple of days ago, started by a UK investor, about a property management problem she had with her property in Detroit.

I just happened to find out that a friend of mine (really, not me as I do not have any interest in investing in Detroit) got caught in a similar scam targeting at foreigners.

My friend is a Japanese citizen like myself who bought a duplex through another Japanese agent working in the Detroit market.

When he bought the property at $25,000, the duplex had two units occupied and rent paid for $450 each.The agent said that this property was located in a nice, strong rental area so it should be rented out quickly and claim a same or similar rent amount even if current tenants moved out.

Well, soon after he purchased the property, one tenant stopped paying rent so he had to evict him. Then, other tenant threatened to move out unless a rent being reduced to $325. That was a year ago. So, the other unit has been vacant for a year as of now. Instead of receiving $900 for rent, he has been receiving only $325.

The problem is that he is not very fluent in English and the Japanese agent refused to pick up a phone from him, so he asked me to help.

Is there anything he can do? I do not know anything about the Detroit market, but is the property really in a nice neighborhood?

The address of the property is 8945 Pinehurst Ave. Detroit, 48204.