All Forum Posts by: Brian R.

Go to the website www.mncourts.gov.  All the forms are on that site along with directions information you need to know.  

It is simple.  Fill out the form, drop them off at the court house and pay the fees.  When they notify you they have been processed, have them served (Follow these directions to the letter) then show up on your court date with the evidence of what they owe you for.  

When I have done it in the past, I normally spend more time waiting for my case to be called then the case actually takes.  

Good luck!

Check with your insurance company for the future.  I pay 15-20 dollars a year for coverage for sewer problems with my insurance company.  Not all companies offer it, but I have found that to be cheaper than third party places.

Insuring the property may be a problem.  I just went through this.  I bought a duplex in 2006 with asbestos siding on it.  Last fall I received a letter from my insurance company, they will not renew my policy when it ends in May of 2018 because of the asbestos siding.  I went to a broker to get new coverage, and one of the first questions asked was if it has asbestos siding.  More and more companies will not insure anything with asbestos siding.

I ended up moving all my properties and vehicles to a new company, but had to get a completely different company for the property with asbestos.  The policy is now double the cost I had been paying originally.  The only benefit is the rest of the policies went down in price, and the savings of the rest was about the same as the increase in this policy.

Call the city back, and see if they would license it for 4 units, and what you would have to do.  I had to do something similar with a duplex I purchased.  The property was only zoned for a single family. The building was was built as a duplex but a previous owner had not followed through with requirements to keep using it as a duplex.  In the purchase agreement I  added the clause they had to get the city to approve it as a duplex.  They worked with the city, and the city issued the permit to operate it as a duplex.  it cost the seller a couple hundred dollars, and I had to go in front of the city council with the seller, but in this case it was a fairly simple process.

I can't speak for Cleveland, but here in Minnesota, it is normal that most cities will not cover damage from a backup from a sewer line for any reason.  It has been upheld by courts here.  I pay, about $10.00 per year for coverage on my insurance for sewer backups.  

You have never done it before, so I also suggest to hire an attorney.  I did for my first one as well.  It is well worth the money.  If you make one mistake doing it yourself, it could drag the process on another month, and you will end up spending more in the long run, especially when you figure in even more lost rent.  

Welcome rental neighbor! I also own a SFR in Columbia Heights.

I agree, you need to start the eviction process.  I question the assistance coming from Hennepin County, even though the property is in Anoka County.  With all the people moving in and out, I have a suspicion they are trying to scam the system.  

I had some people in my house in Columbia Heights, and they tried doing that with me.  They wanted me to write a letter saying someone who wasn't on the lease lived there.  I told them no.  I then received a phone call from Anoka County asking me if someone else lived their.  With other issues I started having with them (this was after they had lived their 9 years) I didn't renew when the year lease expired, but they stayed on a month to month.  After getting a phone call a few years later from the police department about a 12 and 14 year kids that weren't supposed to be living there getting charged with felony terrorist threats, I gave them their notice to move.  

Also, I am guessing  you are aware of the quarterly landlord meetings that the police department holds.  They can be very educational.  You should receive a post card from the police department to the address you registered with the fire department for your rental license.  Since you said you are new, I suggest you attend them.  They will have lawyers, and other rental professionals come and talk about a lot of different subjects to help you be a better landlord.  The fire department and police department will also have people there that you can talk to if you have questions about the city ordinances on rentals.  Their moto is we want to work with the landlords, not against the landlords.  

The city has some pretty strict rental property ordinances, but they will also do what they can to help you succeed.

I just went through the same things with one of my rentals.  It has asbestos siding on it, and Allstate is canceling my policy at the end of the term.  I ended up going to an independent insurance broker, and got new insurance for all my properties and vehicles, but he had a hard time finding someone to cover the property with asbestos.  One of the questions on his on-line questionnaire was, does the property have asbestos siding?  He ended up getting me covered through Foremost insurance for that property, but it is almost double the cost I was paying Allstate.  All of the rest of my properties and vehicles are through Auto-Owners insurance, for less then I was paying Allstate.

Cleaning these labs up can be time consuming and expensive.  A friend of mine had a long term tenant in a house, and they were cooking it in the barn (10 acre property) and smoking it in the house.  This went on for a little over 2 years.  The owners got a phone call from the local police department they had just raided the house.  My friends had to remove the barn, have the wood taken away by a remediation company, and the entire inside of the house gutted down to the studs.  Their insurance company covered the majority of the costs, but they were still out close to $40,000.00 dollars

My brother in law also used to work for a contractor of the DEA cleaning up meth labs.  If you need some more specific information on who to call, let me know, and I will see if he can give some suggestions.

This is per a Minnesota lawyer Kelly Klein who specializes in real estate from another website:

Under Minnesota law, once the owner sells his house, the buyer takes on all the rights and obligations of the property. Generally, the new buyer is purchasing your landlords’ home subject to your lease, so your lease doesn’t end, and the new owner is required by law to honor your lease terms. There is an exception if there is a clause in your lease stating that the sale of the property terminates your lease. Review your lease to make sure there isn’t a clause that terminates your lease once the property is sold. If there isn’t such a clause, the buyer of the property becomes your new landlord. The buyer of the property cannot raise your rent on your existing lease. According to the law, your current landlord must transfer your security deposit to the new owner or return it to you with interest, minus any deductions allowed.