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Updated over 5 years ago, 04/16/2019
The Occupants from Hell!
I am currently dealing with some occupants (who are no more than squatters) and getting them out so I can get in and start the rehab has been a daunting process. Typically, I get them out with cash for keys and it is never easy, but usually effective.
In this case, I purchased the property (practically stole it on price and terms)Feb 28th of this year and am still working on getting these morons out. I offered them $6k! for keys and they did not take it. I started eviction and they have used every tactic in the book to cause delays and extend the process. On the final hour before the summary judgement hearing, one of the two occupants filed for BK causing another 45 day or so delay. Unfortunately in CA, the laws, for some stupid reason, reside with occupants and not the legal owners. (I wont even get started on politics here!)
The good news is that I was able to have summary judgement against one of the occupants and already filed for the Sherriff to remove her from the premises. Should be within the next week or so for that. The kicker is that once it happens, her boyfriend still has rights to be there (until he is finally evicted) so I am quite sure she will just come right back. When that happens, I will make damn sure I make their lives as miserable as possible for the problems they have caused me. How can I do that legally you might ask? I will have periodic visits to the property and when I see she is there, I will call the Sherriff and inform them that she is illegally trespassing on my property and I want her removed/arrested. I will do this as many times as it takes until they get the point or until summary judgement against him occurs. Either way, screw them both!!! :roll:
What comes around goes around and theirs is coming.
***Update as of today 1-31-16: 5 years and 32 thread pages later, this is still ongoing. The following link was created by a BP Member in support of my situation found on page 32 of this thread. https://www.gofundme.com/OccupantsfromHell
This was approved by the heads of BP to be live in this thread. ***
We're into month #12 since the OP, so nearly a full year. Anything new?
Was in court last week, spending more attonrey funds . . . hurray for me (I mean my attorney)!
It has actually been 15.5 months since I closed and I have yet to set foot inside my own home.
The only update and potential good news is that we did have a productive meeting after court with the other attorney in hopes to settle this out of court. if i spend the $30k more needed to file the claim i need to, the opposition would have to put up a bond of at least $100k whcich would pay out to me when I won and I would!
Hopefully it will not come to that. The offer is that I be made whole and I walk away or we figure out some way to sell so that I am made whole and we split any profits. either way, I just want out with my money returned.
Where in CA? I have a black sheep step brother that is relatively useless except for situations like this. He is a 6'6 330lb member of a well known motorcycle "club". I had somebody that would not leave a 4 plex I purchased but they somehow packed and left within 48 hours of my step brother and his friends parking a camper in the backyard and hanging out for a few days, I wonder why:)
Joe Bertolino - In Southern CA (San Fernando Valley)
I wish that were an option for me, in this case, with lawyers and court already in process and the specific scenario of this situation, that would not be an option.
I just went through an ordeal that required an attorney. I was shocked that her charges were broken down in 6 minuet encrements to the tune of $150 per hour. She smoked the other side though. Well worth it.
Will Barnard
How many Mercedes have you paid for with this deal by now?
BTW
The litigation was not over RE. Some BS the family is going through for now.
Don
This sounds like a trustee sale purchase at the court house?? Am I right? If the occupant is the homeowner and you purchased the property at a trustee sale, homeowner can file for bancruptcy THE MORNING OF the sale and delay the sale another 45 days. If you paid $$, thinking the house was yours, you will get it mailed back to you thru the trustee system.
Trustee sales are very tricky. Not for the amateur investor. Not only can they file once for bancruptcy status the morning of the sale,---they can file TWICE, to delay the sale. It is not necessary to use an attorney, and there are agencies that specialize in this type of delay tactic.
Don Hines - No kidding, the attorneys are the only ones that ever win in these scenarios. Actually, the occupants are winning too since they have managed to stay in a home that does not belong to them for over a year, rent and mortgage free!
Ren Ver - You must not have read this entire thread. For one, this was not a trustee sale purchase, it was a subject to purchase which has been detailed in this thread. Secondly, I am very seasoned and have done trustee sales, those are a walk in the park compared to this.
Will Barnard, I got a chuckle at the thought of your being "an amateur investor". Ren Ver should go back and read the whole thread.
Don Hines, Attorneys around Boston are $250 to $395 an hour, some are more, and you are LUCKY if they bill in 6 minute increments. Most times you get a flat fee bill not broken down. $150 an hour would be a dream come true.
Hi WIll,
Sorry if you misunderstood my inference of being a first time investor. Not specific to you--only commentary. I am a beginning investor, I have only been in this industry for 27 years and always still learning !! Good information on the site.
No worries Ren, I see you are new here, so welcome to BP Nation.
With your years of experience, most of us are beginners in comparison, I only started a few months ago in 2004! :)
Ann, I agree, $150 per hour is cheap these days, I pay $250+
Originally posted by Ann Bellamy:
Don Hines, Attorneys around Boston are $250 to $395 an hour, some are more, and you are LUCKY if they bill in 6 minute increments. Most times you get a flat fee bill not broken down. $150 an hour would be a dream come true.
I sure miss Denny Crane!!!
Don
Hi Will,
I read through this thread and am amazed that a situation like this can happen.
Isn't title insurance supposed to protect you from situations like this? I would think the entity that performed the title search would be liable for this?
Just my thoughts.
Rick
Originally posted by Rick Jones:
I read through this thread and am amazed that a situation like this can happen.
Isn't title insurance supposed to protect you from situations like this? I would think the entity that performed the title search would be liable for this?
Just my thoughts.
Rick
Originally posted by Will Barnard:
Unfortunately, no, this is not title's fault nor is it cvered since the claim has occured AFTER I purchased the property.
How so? I thought this dispute over ownership arose because one of the current "occupants" claimed to have been at least previously married to the previous owner. Wouldn't a title search discover the marriage even if common law? Didn't the previous legitimate owner (and seller) reveal any possible previous marriages? And thus wouldn't this fall under title insurance coverage?
Or perhaps in California the exceptionally broad definition of marriage would allow this to fall through the cracks.
Still, there has to be some legal precedent.
I'm also curious as to how these"occupants" can afford the house if they have to make you whole in a settlement. By "whole" are you including the amount of interest you could have earned by having your funds in a bank account (albeit at 1% interest) instead of tied up in this fiasco?
Kevin,
To be legally "married" in CA, there would be a legal document filed with public records, there never was such a document, therefore, legally (as far as a real marriage is concerned) they never were married. If common law marriage is determined, how could title possibly know that?
No, seller stated she was NOT ever married to occupant and after reseraching public records before purchasing, that held to be true.
To make me whole, I need all the money I put into it, and would walk away with 0% return, that is fine. Yes money was tied up and opportunity loss is there, but I am willing to accept that right now.
Wow! Just read this whole thread. What an awful situation. I feel for you.
I've had to do one eviction with a professional deadbeat tenant and it was a pain. It took me 76 days from initial notice to final "set out". Thank goodness I live in Tennessee and not California.
Thanks Michael. Even in CA, if this was only a tenant issue and not what it is, I would not have been this long, even by CA liberal and deadbeat standards!
Will, it has been another month. Your last "good" news was that the end was in sight. You and these squatters were negotiating to end this fiasco. The squatters were to make you whole of your purchase price and you would walk away.
I'm curious where the squatters, who were not paying even the property taxes, have money to pay you.
That is a very good question, I am sure they can not hold to that which is why I was not holding my breath. Getting closer to a resolution, but nothing really new to share at this point.
Will, Any update on this? It's been a few months.
OMG! I just read this thread all the way through. That has to be the worst "Professional Tenant" story I have ever heard of and they're not even tenants! He must have some legal experience. Someone new to the business could have been bankrupted by this and if they were not, they probably would never touch real estate again. Truly unbelievable. I know the laws here in Florida are less liberal, I sure hope something like that isn't possible here.
The worst experience I ever had was a purchase from the county foreclosure auction. The previous owners were still there and had to be evicted. They then broke in that night and ripped up all the counter tops, ripped the doors off all the cabinets, ripped all the drywall off the walls, spray painted the carpeting and tile floors, tore up the wiring, ripped the copper from the A/C, and kicked holes in the bathtub surrounds. To top it off while I was on the phone with my insurance company the next day the guy attacked me. Then the police couldn't do anything because my contractor and I were the only ones who saw him attack me. Lastly the police wouldn't charge them with the break in because although their fingerprints were on the spray paint "It could have been there from when they were living there." When I spoke to the DA about the attack he told me he was in foreclosure and that "I should understand that the previous owner was having a bad day and both the attack and property destruction were no big deal". The last part upset me more than all the other stuff combined.
Thankfully my insurance company formed an estimate with their estimating software that came out to double what my contractor charged me. So in some ways it was all worth it I suppose. It doubled my profit on the deal. That was only my second flip too. Thank God it worked out and I have been able to continue my business.
I hope whatever happens that you at least come out whole. You certainly deserve a lot better. Maybe the guy does have some assets to take or he'll land himself in jail somehow. Certainly would be much too good for him. It sounds like he deserves to be put out of his misery.
This problem is like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going and going and going!!!!!! I hate courts and judges who rule on things they know nothing aboutr and should not have authority to rule on in the first place!
I'm sure there is a story there ... and not a happy one from your perspective (the property owner).
I know if you want to share the details, you will.
I just ponder if this had happened to a relatively inexperienced property owner on perhaps his/her third or fourth deal, that this experience would have bankrupted the property owner.
Yes, there is risk in every type of investment.
