All Forum Posts by: Amer Mallah

You haven't posted what happened for anyone to give their two cents on what to do. (But here's a hint, it will probably be talk to a lawyer who is familiar with the Maryland Condominum Act).

The 5 years/10% equity deal in exchange for rent payments is a terrible deal within the context of BP community. I wouldn't really get worked up about any politician proposing their ideas - there are many steps before it becomes a law. Plenty of ways to screw it up more/fix it before then. 

What are the termination conditions of the contract? Maybe there's no way to undo the past, but at least you can figure out how to get out of it for next time. I'm sure it's not "forever".. if it's unspecified or ambiguous, then I would talk to a contracts lawyer to figure out how to cleanly get out of it.

I agree with a lot of what you have to say. I think we will all re-evaluate our tenant screening processes if we survive this. Like with anything, there are people trying to take advantage of the situation maliciously as well as people who were fine before and have their whole lives turned upside down.

There is more work to do in the state and federal governments, and I'm sure we haven't heard the last of the changes. I suggest you reach out to your elected representatives and let them know how you feel. It does have an effect, especially at the more local levels.

PS, not to take away from your point, but it only took 2 weeks for the # of cases to quadruple and for the number of deaths to go to 10x. We should leave all the projections to the epidemiologists, the way viruses spread is complex and a moving target as we learn stuff about it all the time.

You could install a firewall and a content filter and manage that.. (example from a quick google search, I have experience with business firewalls, but not this one: https://www.untangle.com/shop/z4-appliance/). That way, if your renters don't like you filtering out content, they can feel free to buy their own 4G connection for their personal use.

That being said, firewalls aren't perfect and the Internet connection is still in your name. If it's a big concern for you, drilled holes can be repaired later, the best solution is probably everyone gets their own service.

Assume M definitely knows of the moratorium on evictions in your state and knows you're a first timer. You need to stick to exactly what your lease says in terms of payment due date, late penalties and/or eviction clauses. Not being sure what your lease says, it's unclear of your list is just "neighbor" issues or "tenant" issues. If there is a requirement in your lease on any of those topics, then again - reference the lease, and the remedies contained within.

From my lessons learned - you need a lawyer now to button things up for you and that will be much more expensive than if you had a property manager in the first place (so, budget it in for the next tenant).

Stay positive, this is a business transaction and all you need is for them to do their part of the bargain. It gets easier from here!

Is there a lease or a move-in inspection report? A change of ownership would be a good time for a walkthrough (to document the current state of the house for when the tenant does move out and you need to assess damage) and a new/updated lease. 

While I'm working out the numbers at the beginning of a rental, I take all the cap ex items and give them an average lifespan and replacement value (that is appropriate for the property value). That creates a schedule. If I have enough to replace something that is past its lifespan, I do.

Personally, for the life of my ownership of the property.

Also check your state laws for any documentation that needs to be a part of returning a security deposit. You may need to send a certified letter clearly stating how the balance was calculated.