All Forum Posts by: Bob Barrie

@Anthony Vargas I am looking to file on September 2nd when that courts are back open. I have tried to offer Cash for Keys and have had no luck even having a discussion with her. 

Cash for keys would be better for all. If it goes all the way to the sheriff kicking her out I will still have to deal with the 15 days for her personal property.

It was in Los Gatos. The loan was a portfolio loan so they were able to do the foreclosure. You are very right the California judicial council is over reaching, they are being sued in Kern county. I am hoping that when the legislature passes AB-1436 the council will resend theirs. 

@Todd Rasmussen She is the previous owner. I think I will just have to wait until the eviction moratorium is over. Hopefully the state comes up with a new moratorium that just covers renters and lets me do an eviction.

@Dylan Vargas She has not reason to sign a lease in that she can stay for free. Also if I were to do a lease with her, it would open up a whole new can of worms with her getting tenant rights. 

Buying a foreclosure not an REO you are responsible to do every thing, including title search, back taxes, etc.

She doesn't want to even talk about cash for keys. She has lived there for a long time,  and doesn't want to move. 

I just bought a foreclosure property and tried a cash for keys and it was a no go.
So I call and left messages with 4 eviction lawyers only one called back. I was told because of Covid 19 evictions can not be done until 90 days after the Governor removes the state of emergency. That could be a year or two.
Any ideas on how to get the former owner to move?
I am located in California.

I have been an real estate investor for 15 years and have properties in 5 states with 5 property managers. Over the years I have seen these warning signs come up. I am much faster to cut my losses with a property manager. My point is that you can't get complacent with your property manager, most have an expiration date.

That's a great guarantee, I have never seen it before. You really are tuned in to what is important to your landlord clients. 

We all know we should be careful when the expiration date comes close on a gallon of milk. We might take a small of it before drinking or look for some lumps. If we don’t, we may have an unpleasant surprise. Well property managers can also give us an unpleasant surprise that will cost us time and money.

Here is a list of some of the warning signs that your property manager is close or even past their expiration date. When it happens, it is time to move into action and find a new property manager.

1. The office move. Did your property manager just move their office 15 miles farther away from your property? So now they are 27 miles away instead of only 12. When it comes to renting the property will they be trying too hard to minimize the amount of driving to show the property? Will they tell prospective tenants to drive by first before showing? Even though the property is in a good neighbor and does not need to really have this drive by. Will they schedule appointments all on a Tuesday afternoon and no other day? So prospective tenants just move on to the next one.

2. The “We changed banks and your ACH will be a little late until we get it straighten out.” This is a stall tactic that will usually give the property manager an extra week to “fix” While they are using your money to cover a shortage elsewhere. Banks do make mistakes, but they can be fixed in a day or they can pay you directly with some other method.

3. The late ACH (automatic clearing house). Every month it seems to get later and later. A voice mail or text is needed to get it sent. Of course, after it is sent there never is a call back to say why it was late. Then one day the voice mail doesn’t work.

4. Very high turnover. If tenants are staying less than 6 months, something is broken. The property manager is either not screening new tenants well or the property manager is not treating the tenants well. Tenants rarely will contact you directly, but they will post to Yelp a review of the property manager and how they were treated by your property manager. Be sure to look at the reviews even after you hired your property manager.

5. Going dark. This usually happens after one of the warnings happen. The property manager stops returning calls. Worst yet the voice mail is full, and there is no response from email or text. If your properties are 2,000 miles away this is when it can be extremely frustrating.

Watch for the warning signs and never let your property manager get past one months rent owed to you. This is the way to control your loss if they steal the current rent and deposits. The 30-day notice in most contracts can be waved or forfeited if your property manager is not doing the job that they are supposed to be doing. The earlier you recognize the warning signs the more you will save yourself.