All Forum Posts by: Bill Flannagan

@Joshua Schindlbeck. I'm in Aurora too. I would be interested in a virtual meet up. 

I'll try not to make this lengthy. 45 Days before my current lease was scheduled to end I contacted my tenant to find out if she was going to renew the lease. She informed me that she did intend to renew the lease. The lease ends on July 31st. This weekend I sent all of the paperwork to her to complete and provide back to me. This included paperwork for the association, my lease, a lease addendum for the city of Aurora, and notification to her that I will need background checks completed for all four people living there. 

This is where it gets messy. She is a Section 8 participant is only supposed to have 3 people living there. Her and her two children. Over the past few months I have been working from home and have had more time to drive by the property and have noticed another car parked in the driveway and a gentleman at the house. I wasn't sure that he lived there but thought that maybe he was. Yesterday she confirmed that he is living there. I told her that I will have to put him on the new lease and he will have to have a background check completed. If he is on the lease he has to be approved by the Aurora Housing Authority (AHA). She will have to redo her voucher and will most likely lose it. Since yesterday she has waffled back and forth as to if he is going to move out or stay. Currently she has informed me that he will be moved out by August 1st. From a simple Facebook search I found out that they are actually married. I don't believe that he is really going to move out. 

At this point I don't trust her and believe that her actions will get me in trouble with the AHA. Based on this information I don't feel comfortable renewing the lease. In Illinois I am required to provide 30 days notice to vacate. It's only 9 days until July 31st. Can I inform her now that I don't want to renew the lease? Does it need to be 30 days in all cases?

Thanks in advance,

Bill

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the feedback. 

I believe that my tenant is smoking pot in the house. I am renting my townhouse in Aurora, IL. I have a no smoking clause in the lease and because we're in Aurora the city forces the tenant and landlord to sign a Crime Free Addendum which has to be signed and returned to the city in order for me to obtain my landlord licence from the city. 

Why do I suspect this? I signed the lease in August and did my first inspection in December. During that inspection I could smell it, upstairs mostly. I asked the tenant straight up if he was smoking pot in the house and he told me no. He then proceeded to state that he had hit a skunk a week or so ago and that the smell was leaching into the house. I inspected the garage and there was no such smell. I left it alone. It was the first time that I had smelled it and there was no other indication that he was smoking in the house. 

Yesterday I went back out to the house for a pre-inspection walk though. I had my inspection with the city today and wanted to be prepared for the inspector. During that walk though the smell was there, but faint. I chose not to press the issue thinking maybe it was just in my head. Today I was in the house without the tenant to meet the inspector, while having his written approval to do so. During the inspection the smell was much more prevalent, especially in one room. Again there is no other sign that he's smoking in the house. No ashes, no burn marks, nothing. The inspector didn't say anything about the smell either. 

My question is, where do I go from here? Where can I go from here? I simply suspect that he is smoking pot in the house. I have no proof. I know that smoking in the house brakes the lease and have read other posts where people have said that if the tenant is good then wait and not renew the lease. While I don't totally agree with that strategy because it sets a standard that I am not going to enforce the lease, I don't know that this is even an option for me because of the crime free lease addendum. that we both signed. 

Please let me know what you think. 

Bill 

The lease on my rental is up at the end of June and I am looking for a painter I don't know the extent of the work yet. Some ceiling work for sure.

@Heather DeGeorge - The property is in Aurora. I did go through the landlord class with Property Standards and have included the addenda. I will reach out to Jason Borg and Gary Davidson. Thanks for the recommendations. 

Residential

I am in my third year of being a landlord and things have been going well. I have a lease in place. I started with a standard lease provided by my realtor and added an addendum to cover things that I felt the standard one did not cover. I am looking for an attorney in the Aurora or Naperville Illinois area to review my lease to make sure that I am managing the property within the local laws as well as to ensure that the lease covers me if I do run into an eviction.  

Wondering if you all can help me out. I am putting together a spreadsheet that will calculate cash flow and ROI to evaluate a Buy and Hold investment. I have been using the UBG and information from other sources to put it together. The basics of course are Income - Expense = Cash Flow.

I am struggling to figure out what kind of things I should include in the investment cost and the monthly costs. I am currently assuming the following:

Investment costs: 

- Down Payment 

- Closing Costs

- Repair Costs

Monthly Costs: 

- Loan Payment 

- Property Taxes 

- HOA

- Insurance 

- Garbage 

- Realtor Charges (my realtor charges one months rent) 

- Vacancy (Assuming one month) 

If you could help out with more information or a template that you use or know of I would appreciate it. 

Thanks,

Bill 

@Alex Sanchez the red tape that @Elyse Moore is referring to involves a few things for the city of Aurora. In order to lease a property in Aurora you must first complete a Crime Free Multi-Housing Program Phase 1 - 8 Hour Seminar. Once you have completed the seminar you have to purchase a Property License. The renewal of the license was $90 this year. Then the city's department of Property Standards will do an inspection of the property to ensure that you are in compliance with all of the rules and regulations for rental properties in Aurora. At that time you will need to provide an executed copy of the lease, a signed copy of the City of Aurora's Landlord-Tenant Lease Addendum, as well as background checks on all tenants 18 years and older. 

Hope this helps explain the red tape for leasing in Aurora. Good Luck!

Bill