All Forum Posts by: Casey S.

I have had to exit out of a contract for 3 properties due to a material change that impacts the area around the homes and my intent for them as investments.

Seller is still interested in selling the three together to facilitate a 1031 and I believe the package can still make sense for the right person.

Please send me a private message if you’d like some more background and contact information for the seller.

@Chris Purcell Completed.  Although this is intended to be a college rental, there is a large percentage of the population in the town this property is in that rents so I'm confident it won't be vacant for long.

Well the situation finally got resolved.  After they tenants/co-signers rebuked my initial concession, I responded by including all parties (one co-signer was always left out; thank you for the advice @Brian Kane) and providing the entire background of the situation along with text messages (I now know not to utilize this as my only mean of communication) that showed I tried communicating to the tenants about the timeline and extent of the renovations and that I simply wanted to make the place better for them.  In addition, I stated that although my offer of the concession still stands, if they believe further action is required then I'm prepared to respond as necessary.

I received a response back stating they would accept my concession of the July rent and in addition wanted the full security deposit back (which I was going to likely give back anyways at the end of the lease) and wanted the lease terminated effective immediately (almost positive they signed another lease but whatever).  All in all, everything considered, I am happy with this outcome and don't believe I should have any trouble renting out my (newly updated) property.

Thank you to everyone for your input and advice, I've definitely learned a lot and am thankful for a forum like this.

@Tim S. thank you very much, Tim.  Appreciate it.

@Chris Lynn thank you for your input, Chris.

@Steve B.  Here is an excerpt from your previous post:

Determine and offer a reasonable concession and tell that bullying and hectoring mom to pound sand. Obviously she isn’t going to be reasonable so stop trying to please her, just do what you think is fair. The next step is to react to a court summons but don’t stress over all this minutia or your never going to make it as a landlord.

I did exactly that, sent over a concession that I thought was fair and reasonable and have done nothing more or less (at this point).  Not sure what other remedies I've pursed that are "a waste of your time and energy".  I'm sure you're a seasoned Pro and have never made a mistake in Real Estate but some of us are not and are trying to use this forum to learn more about real estate investing and all that goes into it.  

As an update to the thread, I offered a month's rent as a concession along with a professional cleaning the entire property and attached pictures of all completed renovations and they came back and said they would still like all of their money back or else they would pursue legal means.

Here is the clause in the lease they say I violated and their reasoning:

POSSESSION. Landlord shall attempt to have Tenant’s house ready on the date stipulated on this lease (May 1st) but cannot be held liable for failure to do so. In the event delivery is delayed, rent shall be abated on a daily basis until you are offered possession. If Landlord is not able to deliver Tenant’s apartment within seven days of the date so stipulated, then, upon Tenant’s request, Tenant’s deposit and any prepaid rent will be refunded in full and this lease will become null and void.

 This clearly states that possession of the full residence, not a percentage, needed to be offered on May 1st or 7 days later. The attached pictures taken on July 20th clearly show that possession could not be offered. There was never another document signed by you and tenants (removed names) that stated a different date of possession.

The tenants were granted possession of the property on May 2nd (took an extra day due to cleaning after prior tenant move out) and subsequently have moved possessions (furniture, clothes, etc.) into the property both at the time they moved in and before/during the renovation process (July).  Not once did I ever say they couldn't move in because I was completing renovations.  I also interpret that clause as "Initial Possession" as it pertains to the lease start date up to 7 days after, which in my opinion is not what they are arguing but I am not a lawyer.

Do they have any sort of claim to their money back or should I just wait them out and see if they are trying to "bluff" me?

For what it's worth, I believe they have another lease signed and also all of their belongings they've moved in are still in my property and they left their keys inside.

cc @Will Gaston @Chris Lynn @Tim S. @Peter Tverdov @Austin Thompson

@Will Gaston @Chris Lynn I've decided against adding the last section and have also upped my concession to include a professional cleaner cleaning the whole house (as that was something mentioned them wanting) before they come back to school.  My gut has told me to try and be as nice and reasonable as possible during this but it's tough sometimes, I'm glad you both have confirmed that from past experiences this is usually the best course of action.

@Will Gaston @Matthew Dennehy @Chris Lynn thank you all for your input.  For what it's worth, I'm going to up my concession to one month's rent (for all tenants) as this was the general timeframe the property was under renovation (both the bathroom and the patching of holes/painting, all of which are now totally complete).  I've also replaced all locks in the house and brought in a dehumidifier for the basement ("something extra" Chris alluded to)  I'm not sure I like the "open-endedness" of "what can I do to make it right" but I hope the gesture of one month's concession along with completed renovation pictures shows I'm indeed, trying to make it right.  My preference is not to pull the lawyer-card immediately but to send the "concession document" both via email and regular mail and wait for a response.   

My question is whether or not you would include a paragraph stating, "I hope this proposal and my action towards completing the renovation shows that I want to resolve the situation as amicably as possible however I am willing to pursue legal action if we in not in agreement" (or something along those lines)?

@Will Gaston thank you very much for your comment.  I'm glad to hear someone else has made a mistake like this before but I too believe the lessons learned will be invaluable down the road.