All Forum Posts by: Bill S.

Also you can not ask for additional deposit for service or support animals. You need to take that issue up with your insurance company. If the service or support animal is a breed they don't cover then I would think that they are the ones discriminating illegally. In the mean time you can not legally charge more nor refuse service because of the service or support animal that puts them in a protected class. You can refuse or charge more for other reason provided they are legal.

@Account Closed really need the nitty gritty details of the situation to create some options.

So, do you want to be a landlord or are you just doing it because you can't sell? If you are just doing it because you can't sell then you need to get creative with the selling because being a landlord when you don't want to be is absolutely no fun.

What are other units like yours renting for in the complex? Do you have room between the current rent rate and your payment to create some cushion for when you might have a vacancy. If not you need to figure a way to sell.

In order to sell you need to figure out what the cash price is for your condo. This would tell you how upside down you are. It might be more advantageous to sell and bring money to the table than to turn it back to the bank from a credit perspective. If the difference is not too big you might be able to get a signature loan from a credit union to secure the funds to close. The cost of that loan would be lower than if you took a credit hit. It really depends on a lot of detail of your situation.

In addition to the recourse vs non-recourse that @Account Closed mentioned. I would disagree that there are no repercussions in non-recourse states. In non-recourse states they can't go after you for the difference between what they end up selling the condo for and what you owe (deficiency judgment). Regardless of what state you are in a foreclosure ends up being a hit on your credit. It will follow you for years and cost you more for all money that you borrow or limit your borrowing opportunities. Make sure you fully understand the impacts of this before you default on your condo mortgage.

I have not heard of American Bulldogs being blacklisted. The only reason I can think of is that they look like pitbulls. Sometimes I have heard of tenants trying to pass pits off as American Bulldogs. Vet records should confirm breed.

Also only in tight markets does it make sense to represent renters but in that case the renter pays your costs. Min of one month rent is the rate I have seen.

Typically getting paid to represent people in real estate requires a license. You probably want to check your state laws as most states require an RE license to manage property. There are usually ways around it but lots of brain damage and always the fear of having to defend yourself to the state authorities.

Easy solutions regarding tenants not paying utilities. Make sure your lease has that any money received from tenant first goes toward other items owed landlord by tenant. So if they owe you $50 for utilities then rent becomes short $50 which is universally the thing you can evict for.

If you require them to put the utilities in their name make sure there is language stating that if they fail to do so and you pay the utilities then the tenant owes you the money you paid. You then revert back to the previous clause where the money coming in goes to outstanding items first and rent last.

If you ever get into this situation, be sure to clearly communicate your accounting to the tenant to let them know they are behind in rent and where the money went. Incidentally if you take this route then you are also due late fees if allowed by the lease and/or your state laws.

@Aaron Mazzrillo - kudos to you for following up and learning.

BTW - Link does not work because my name doesn't have a "c" in it.

@Aaron Mazzrillo , It doesn't mater what your lease says if you have the utilities shut off after the tenant has lived there you will loose if you end up going to court. It's like this

Tenant to Judge: I didn't pay rent because the LL shut of the utilities.

Judge to You: Self help eviction - treble damages.

You are now paying the tenant to live in your property.

Sure you have gotten away with it and will likely get away with it in the future but that doesn't make it legal.

@Terence Nicol please do not ever turn off utilities after a tenant has moved in or threaten to do so. I know of no jurisdiction that this is not considered a self help eviction which will land you in serious trouble with the court. Usually treble damages.