All Forum Posts by: Brandon Shoults

@Ned J. great idea. thanks Ned.

I happy to see this crazy lady gone.

Thanks for the advice Everyone. I Chose to take the advice of a really experienced colleague and returned her the prorated rent money back to she could secure her new place of residence. Bit of a risky move but it was only 400 dollars. Not a huge loss there. she moved out and cleaned the space as she agreed to and is out of my house and out of my hair. It seems like her son was pushing her to make the calls she did not want to. Either way she is out of the house. I returned her the security deposit and hopefully she wont come back to sue me. I did have her sign a hold harmless agreement stating her medical condition was not caused by staying here which she had already stated. I have not spoke with a lawyer yet as they all seem to be conveniently on vacation or not taking clients. Does anyone know the statute of limitations a tenant has to sue for mold after vacating ? hopefully they wont sue me but I am still seeking a attorney for how to protect myself in the future. 

@Account Closed So what are your thoughts on this. The tenant wants her prorated rent back before she actually gets her stuff out so she can lock down her next rental she has lined up. I feel like I'm continuing to get my but kicked here but I'd like to just give it to her so she can secure another place to stay. Honestly it seems like she has some mental health issues that I cant exactly pinpoint. Some people are just really odd. Very happy to see this woman out of my life. Although I Feel like giving her prorated rent money back before she even leaves is a really bad idea. 

@Account Closed Wow thanks! that was a very well composed and thought out response. Thanks for clearing that up about the security deposit. Those are the numbers I thought were the case but I got duped hard this time. I learn from my mistakes so it is what it is. Thanks for the book recommendation also! Your very helpful. It is refreshing to hear you suggest what I had just decided to do and tell her that she is welcome to sue me if she feels she has a case. I’m letting her walk and break the agreement so I feel like that should help my case in court if she wanted to try to get aggressive.

@Larkin Adey thanks for the advice. I feel like I am good at being kind and firm with policies but I need to screen heavier for sure. Gotta break some eggs I guess. This Has been a great learning experience for me. I’m very new to this and still want to do self management at the moment because the margins are extremely slim where I’m located. In this particular case I don’t think it’s worth it trying to hold her to the 30 day policy. I’m fine with losing this battle and moving on. Not a huge loss really. I appreciate the 2 cents on finding the right roll. 

@Ned J. your guess of 99.9 percent they don't have a lawyer is %100 correct. She just told me the advice was sent via her doctor who supposedly contacted a lawyer. I have already chose to stop speaking with her son for the reasons you just described. He is not on the lease and any correspondence I need to do are only with her. She is moving out immediately and has already found somewhere else to move into. Thank god. She says she had a preexisting condition of asthma, and that staying in the place here was bringing it back. hopefully she will be gone next week and I will never hear from her again. I'm not planning on slowing down with investing and renting so I thought the money spent on consultation with a attorney could be worth the money spent. Although that is very debatable. I probably wont pay a lawyer for anything unless really needed.

@Nathan Gesner I did order a few Nolo books thanks for that advice. I'm going to read those promptly for sure. About them having money to sue or not, her son does have money. They are basically having her rent some place so they can take the rental agreement and collect SSI and have leverage to get more money through the cost of her housing. Your probably right about them playing me. It really seems like her son is actually playing her (and me) because she seems more shaken up by this then I. She is letting her son make all her decisions for her and he seems very controlling and a bit of a con artist. I'm letting them have this battle, its not worth my time or energy to fight this over a few hundred bucks.

@Jonathan R McLaughlin thanks I felt like it would be a waist of time to have her sign something that she would not sue down the line also. seems like just letting her walk with he prorated rent will hopfuly get her out of my hair. good riddance.

I just spoke with my tenant about her moving out and me prorating the rent as she is requesting. she agreed that would work for her and no further legal action would be held against me. i got her to agree to signing something saying she would not sue me for the rent money or any medical issues that could have possibly arose from her staying in my house. she agreed to sign a settlement document. Its Saturday so I have not contacted a lawyer, yet I'm planning on doing that Monday. The tenant came back about 20 minutes later saying that her son has advised her not to sign anything in case they want to sue me for medical issues from her staying here. So it sounds like her son has the desire to sue me still even if i give her the money back for the rent. I'm definitely going to seek legal counsel in this matter as its starting to seem very serious and possibly very expensive. 

@Kyle Boughton any suggestions for a good attorney for this matter? 

Yea, I’m admitting defeat on this one. Apparently she has a lawer already and is threatening to sue. 

@Nathan Gesner

I’ll thank you upfront! 
Thanks for the book recommendation I’m about to order that right now. These guys did sign a mold addendum also. I appreciate your feedback on. Your very right about me being a pushover. I tend to get suckered into cons from tenants because I’m inexperienced and want to be easy going. 

Here is the text I got from the woman’s son who has been doing all the talking since day one. 

“Non disclosure of presence of mold is not ethical and not legal, if you're trying to do business in this way in a small town, may be shooting yourself in the foot.“

-Mike King

He is also a real estate investor and claims property manager as his profession. I was intimidated by this because he does seem more experienced then me. 

But he is obviously incorrect on the lack of disclosure it’s clearly in the rental agreement