All Forum Posts by: Nat C.

I bought a house in Atlanta in 2013. I live overseas so I don't get mail that's sent to the property.

I have been regularly checking online the Fulton County tax assessor website for any taxes owing. It always says that nothing is owing. As I've now owned the property for over a year, I was starting to get suspicious as to why there is still nothing owing.

I called the tax office and they said a third party paid the taxes. I asked who the third party was and they said Vesta Holdings and gave me their number to call. I called but the number was disconnected.

When I google searched I found this

http://vestaholdings.com/

'Vesta Holdings is a major purchaser, servicer and owner of delinquent county and municipal real estate tax liens.'

Their website also has no contact information. Can someone please help me out with some knowledge? I'm mortified I'm going to lose the house in some tax lien scheme.

Thanks Jon, that was what I was thinking. I thought that was why you paid so much to title companies and closing attorneys for; to avoid nightmare situations like this.

I just had a doozy of a situation.

My tenant didn't pay rent for March and I asked him why not. He said because the property was about to be auctioned and he was going to end up homeless. As I bought it cash in full I was mighty confused.

I called the tax appraiser and property taxes from 2010 were not paid. I bought the property in Sept 2010. I never received any tax bill for 2010. I paid 2011, 2012, 2013.

As 2010 was never paid, the property went into foreclosure status. The tax bill doubled in the past 4 years due to being delinquent. I've just paid the whole amount. Is there any way to get the money from the seller? I bought it from a bank as a foreclosure.

Thank you everyone. It's Miami-Dade county and I am going to try to get in contact with them to get more information from the source. I currently have a list of violations from the selling agent.

To be honest I don't completely understand the document. The original contractor appears to have pulled permits but then added bits of wood or stuff to the structure which wasn't included in the permit.

I'm determined to get my head around this property violation thing because it's obviously a niche market and I'm sure there's good opportunities for investors who are able to deal with violations.

Oh Troy, I was asking for helpful advice, not outright criticism.

FAIL FAIL FAIL.

Thank you but I rarely fail. I do not have any emotional attachment to the property whatsoever. I see it as a very positive investment.

Its an excellent property in very good condition, requiring almost nil work. I have had the structure of the property professionally inspected. However the best thing about the property is the area. Its in a very hot up and coming zipcode and a very central location. The street and the block are attractive and well kept. It's a few streets away from an extremely affluent Miami area but without the hefty price tag.

The property presents as an outstanding investment opportunity if I can resolve the violation issues.

I found a duplex in Miami that I really, really like.

There are various code violations on the property. To me they don't look like major violations although I have no experience in this matter.

Generally I've shied away from buying anything with violations as I have no experience in the area. I am very keen to buy this current property however I am overseas for a few months now and was wondering how things would go.

I've found a few companies that you can pay to fix everything for you as a 'one stop shop'. Does anyone have any experience with such companies?

If anyone has any recommendations or advice, I would really appreciate it.

Firstly, sorry for my naive question but I've never been in this position before.

I am in the process of evicting a tenant.

The current rent they owe is-

November rent- $450 + $75 late fee

December rent- $450 + $75 late fee

There is a court date this week, which I assume the tenants will appear at and try to make any blande excuse/lie they can about why they should continue to stay longer rent free. Inevitabley they will have an eviction order against them and then I will have to pay for the constable to come and carry it out.

My question is, what do landlords do in this case if they want to attempt to recoup money? The amount I would be trying to claim is $1050 in rent and late fees plus approximatelt $150 in court fees. Does the landlord then take them to small claims court if they want to try to get this money?

In my country of origin, there is only one court case and the judge rules at the time of eviction, how much the tenant has to pay. If the tenant doesn't pay this money, then you simply send it to a collection agency and they usually get the power to deduct it from the tenants bank account or future earnings.

Now obviously a lot of landlords would not bother, as they know the tenant is never going to pay that money. I was only considering it because I have been in regular contact with the tenants lawyer, who is actually from a good firm (I assume working pro-bono or state funded). The lawyer had previously asked me to allow the tenants to live there indefinitely rent free, as they were waiting for some big workplace compensation payout.

If anyone has any thoughts, advice or experience on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Scenario:

Investor purchases building in North Miami in fairly dilapidated state.

3200 sq ft block construction with no doors, windows, electrical, drywall etc

At time of closing investor is informed an additional $5000 is payable to Miami City as a 'bond' and the property must be fixed up within one year.

Repair quotes for property vary from $110,000-$180,000.

Investor flies in contractor from interstate who rehabs entire property with everything meeting code standards, for total cost of $35,000. Note: contractor is not licensed in state of Florida and no permits are acquired.

Property is completely fixed up, looks fantastic, everything is to code standard and functions well.

Obviously there is going to be a fair bit of headache and costs to ensue regarding not acquiring permits. Any advice? Any chance of getting bond back?

Is there any way to find out exactly what the City will know was undertaken, as opposed to what was existing? As in, is there any degree of fudging that's possible like claiming electrical and mechanics were already in place and there was only drywall work done?

PS this risky move was taken on the assumption that the fines and hassle would be less than $75,000 which is the difference in price for the cheapest repairs quote with permits.

I believe it is in the standard lease.

I just want a list that is kindergarten style with examples of what a tenant repairs result from tenant negligence.

I'm looking for a document to give to tenants which outlines what is a tenants responsibility and what is a landlords responsibility.

This week I've had tenants calling me with some pretty outrageous requests-

'We accidentally put a hole in the wall; can you come and fix it?'

'The sink is clogged, can you send a plumber?'

I'm looking for a document with an extensive list of examples that shows what a landlord is required to fix as opposed to repairs which are needed as a result of tenant negligence/damage.

I also want to get them to sign a document which states that if the handyman attends the property and the tenant is found to be responsible, that they will be required to pay for it.

Tenants are signing new leases next month, so I want to ad it as an addendum to the lease.

Does anyone have something like this they can email to me?