All Forum Posts by: Andrew Freesh

@Carl Mathis

These are some of the items I am confused about. You are absolutely right, but it does beg the following questions:

To point 1, they do know they need to repay the amount. Problem is, it's considered consumer debt here in CA due the pandemic, which means small claims court. This means I will not likely recover any amount by pursuing it. Not sure if they know this or not.

To point 2, It seems that you have to serve them notice and include a form that allows them to claim under penalty of purjury (which nobody will ever be able to enforce) that they are unable to make rent due to covid. Now they have a document which is considered evidence that it isn't their fault and they are protected, even if they are lying since they will likely be lost in a wave of tens of thousands of people in the same situation once our governor stops extending moratoriums. How is this helpful, exactly?

One thought I had (if I am not able to get them to pay up or at least leave) was since residents over 2 years need 60 days notice for non-renewal, I include a clause to increase the security deposit to two months (currently one month) 31 days prior to renewal, with the justification of required notice. This would allow me to recapture some amount of rent owed if they do renew, or stop 30 days worth of bleeding if they don't. I have been reading endlessly and still can't figure out if this is legal or not.

@Charles Carillo

I have certainly considered cash for keys, though would really prefer to motivate them to get back on track than have them leave, but it's there as an option.

I'll certainly speak to an attorney but I guess by biggest issue is the unknown unknowns. I don't know what to ask about. Any other thoughts on the situation?

Thanks everyone,

-Andrew

Hi all,

I own two rental properties in Ventura county. One of my tenants has 2 kids, and lives with their S/O in the house. Both are signed on the lease, both had jobs pre-pandemic. They were great tenants until one of them lost their job, but kept up with the rent for a little while. One one of the tenants is still working multiple part time jobs like before, without disruption. They aren't married, so they should be filing taxes separately and the one who lost their job should be able to collect full unemployment, which I calculate to be around $3k/mo with their two kids, give or take. This puts them very close to their pre-pandemic income.

They are now behind $6k+ on their rent, and have been claiming since September that they have been denied proper unemployment benefits. They do have letters from the EDD which corroborate this, however those are from last year and it's been nothing but "we will have it fixed soon" since then. I know the EDD is slow but I'd have to believe they have gotten things fixed by now. The issue stemmed (i believe) from their not providing proper documentation before the EDD froze their account once they began reviewing claims, based on the content of the letters.

They have applied for rental assistance and been denied, and there is nowhere else we are aware of to apply to, so any thoughts on that end would be very helpful.

Of course, Amazon has been hiring this whole time, as have grocery stores, and other businesses of the like. There are signs on the grocery store next door.

I'm a little stuck. They were good to me and I want to return the favor. I believe that makes the sort of long term mutually beneficial relationships that keep everybody happy for 5-10 years. However, they are only paying about 50% of rent due so that balance keeps growing, and I fear they are abusing the system. Even if they are just really bad at paperwork, I can't let their problem become entirely mine while they walk away free and clear after getting half rent while I eat a $6k sandwich.

I have been very patient but they keep extending the moratorium, their lease is up beginning of August, and the 60-day notice required will burn through the deposit as I'm sure they will stop paying entirely if i decline to renew the lease.

General thoughts?

Thanks everyone,

-Andrew