Tenants Who 'Work The System'
Have you ever had a tenant who knows just how to work the system in order to get to live in the unit for as long as possible for free? I think some tenants are quite aware that they can take advantage of eviction laws to get to live somewhere for a month for free, and do some strange things to 'work the system'. Here's a real story...
When a tenant was served a notice to appear in court for an eviction hearing (he hadn’t paid his rent), he filed a response that the property management was racist. The problem was that he was a red-head Caucasian male. Filing a response simply bought him a couple of extra days of living at the property rent-free. At the actual eviction hearing he did not have anything to say about the supposed racism.
And here's another recent experience from tenants who knew how to get free rent...
When I recently sold a multi-unit building, I made the mistake of transferring ownership (and notifying tenants) before all the rent checks from the previous month had completely cleared. Upon learning of the transfer of ownership for the building, three tenants decided to place 'stop payments' on their rent checks. They knew that they couldn't be evicted for not paying the rent since the building was now under new ownership and it would be difficult for the previous owners to chase after them in court. What a frustrating situation!
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If you would like to get a taste of some of the issues you may run into when managing rental property, try the Real Estate Investment Simulator at http://www.InvestorHeadStart.com.
When a tenant was served a notice to appear in court for an eviction hearing (he hadn’t paid his rent), he filed a response that the property management was racist. The problem was that he was a red-head Caucasian male. Filing a response simply bought him a couple of extra days of living at the property rent-free. At the actual eviction hearing he did not have anything to say about the supposed racism.
And here's another recent experience from tenants who knew how to get free rent...
When I recently sold a multi-unit building, I made the mistake of transferring ownership (and notifying tenants) before all the rent checks from the previous month had completely cleared. Upon learning of the transfer of ownership for the building, three tenants decided to place 'stop payments' on their rent checks. They knew that they couldn't be evicted for not paying the rent since the building was now under new ownership and it would be difficult for the previous owners to chase after them in court. What a frustrating situation!
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If you would like to get a taste of some of the issues you may run into when managing rental property, try the Real Estate Investment Simulator at http://www.InvestorHeadStart.com.
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