All Forum Posts by: Chris Matthew

I’ve trying to bring eviction proceedings to take possession of a unit for my own personal use. The tenant has created a heath and safety hazard due to a child repeated waking at 4 am and plugging the bathroom sink and running the water until it overflows and comes through the ceilings of the floor below and continues to the basement. They refuse to allow entry for repairs and are a general nuisance. They refused to sign a lease when I purchased the property last year and do not pay rent. They refuse to apply for any rental assistance as well.

My attorney has been unsuccessful at petitioning the court. The judge has refused to allow any eviction petitions to be accepted for any reason. It is a small town court that meets one evening a month.

Does anyone have any suggestions or possible options I can consider?

@Michelle Fenn I’m dealing with a small town court in NY. The court is refusing to accept any eviction petitions for any reason at all. I have folks who have broken windows, plumbing leaks that are destroying a downstairs ceiling and creating mold issues in the basement. They light fireworks off of the roof via a second story window, drive four wheelers on the property without permission, changed the locks, refused to sign a lease, refuse access to make repairs. They have become a nuisance to the other tenants and neighbors. They smoke in a building that is non smoking, refuse to adhere to quiet hours and are driving my good paying tenants out. They have not paid a Penny in rent dispute him working full time and they refuse to apply for rental assistance.

I plan to take possession for my personal residence and the court still refuses to accept the petition. No other court will accept the petition since they don’t have jurisdiction.

I’m to the point that I am considering selling the home.

@Dylan Katz there are many things to consider before allowing anyone access to the unit. However, in my 15 yrs of managing somewhat nicer apartments in a rural area, I’ve had great success doing just that. I screen the prospect first. I find out where they work, what they are looking for in a place and why they are leaving their old place. If they sound the least bit sketchy I schedule a group showing a week or so out for the “B” tenants. If they present themselves well and have a legit sounding backstory, I often inform them the door will be left unlocked by someone who works closely with me and inspected and locked after their visit. I also ask them to shoot me a text when they arrive and Whalen the leave. This also allows me to assess, their ability to comply with simple requests, their consideration when coordinating with others and get a measure of their punctuality. If they are late and don’t inform me, they probably aren’t going to be great tenants.

I do notify the neighboring tenants that the part will be shown so they can keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.

Perhaps it is luck, or knowing the area... there is not anyone that unlocks and locks the door. I leave it unlocked during showings. If I know I’m not going to show it anymore, I simply ask the last person to lock the door when they are through.

I also leave blank application forms on the kitchen counter and explain the $50 refundable application deposit. If they complete the application, I review it, have a conversation about the apartment and their rental history. If everything checks out the $50 become part of the security deposit. If not it gets refunded. If I offer them the lease and they don’t sign within 7-10 days requested, they lose the deposit.

I meet everyone face to face for the lease signing. So far, I have never had issues with chronic non payment or had to evict anyone that I have vetted.

If you are renting at or below market quality housing, I’d be much more Leary about leaving a door open.

My hands are completely tied.  I’m going to file in small claims in hopes I can garnish wages since these people have not experienced any work reduction due to covid.  

I ‘ve contacted three different attorneys and no one knows quite what to do.. I’d love to know how I can force them to at least apply for public assistance since they are scammers already and receive other benefits.  

In NY the courts are all over the map. Some a hearing evictions others aren’t.  Courts shut down completely for a few months and are back logged.  I have a friend that purchased a single family home with the intent to move in and is unable to remove the tenant or get a court date. Luckily, they continue to pay rent.  

Thinking back to my college days... every apartment I had was rented by the unit all tomatoes on the same lease and shared responsibility.  Move in and move out dates were coordinated with the college schedule.  Rent for the entire semester was due at lease signing.  Month of January often wasn’t an option and only some properties were available during summer months.  

Looking back on those properties, they were cash cows.  Beaten and battered, rarely cleaned but we didn’t care.  350-400 a room per month and that was 25 yrs ago.  

I’d love to get my hands on a few of them.  🙂

The problem I am facing is the tenants know they can’t be evicted so they are not making any efforts to apply funding.  Kicker is, two of them have the unworking females getting public assistance and the guys are both working per usual.  Neither has suffered any covid hardship.  They have chosen not to pay because they can’t be kicked out.  They refuse to complete applications for housing assistance because it would only benefit the landlord, not them. Both are like, hey, my credit is **** anyway.  I’ll just move to a new place after covid. 

They know I can’t do a thing about it, or the cats they decided to acquire.  They have all now decided they can smoke inside the MF despite it not being allowed.  

As a landlord, I have zero recourse.  I was advised by my attorney that they will most likely be able to use the argument that I am attempting to evict them in retaliation for non payment of rent even if I tried to evict them when the moratorium is lifted. Most likely I will lose.  

Gotta love NY state.

I ran into the same issue.  I was told by multiple lenders that they don’t offer a 5% option on 4plex.  Also, no one in my area offers a 203K loan.  So really it  comes down to the specific institution as to the product line they are pushing.  I ended up using a local credit union to get the financing that makes the most sense for me.

I am in the purchase process for a 4 plex as well.  I’m a little nervous as some of the tenants have chosen to use covid as a reason to stop paying rent.  In NY state there is a stay on evictions for any reason.  The courts aren’t taking eviction petitions. My fingers are crossed that the October 1st date is not extended. 😬

As far as tips and tricks, consult an attorney as to what your rights are and what the tenants rights are to ensure you aren’t violating theirs. They can advise you of the proper notifications and procedures for your jurisdiction.

Are the tenants month to month or are they under lease agreement?  If there is a lease you will need to honor that agreement or ask them to sign a new one with your terms.  If they are month to month, you will need to provide them notice of the changes you’d like to make.

I’ve found the best practice is to meet the tenants face to face and establish positive communication.   I also like to do a thorough walk through of the apartment and provide them with a property condition form that they are to complete that identifies any damages or problems that exist.  I make sure they understand this protects them when it is time to move out so they don’t get dinged for damages that they may have inherited. ( hopefully they already completed one with the former owner)  

Depending on the quality of tenant, you may want to terminate their tenancy and rehab the unit at that time. 

Best of luck!  I’ll be interested to hear how it goes!

@Kyle Shepherd. Don't be discouraged. Different banks will offer different loans. I was shopping around for financing for a 4 unit property, I was told by two banks that FHA loans were not available on 4 units, only up to 3. Another told me I could use the rental incomes as income to help qualify for the loan, the first two did not allow that. The third said, sure, 4-plex is fine with FHA. A fourth bank said no and a 4 plex wouldn't qualify for any conventional loans and would need to be commercial with 20% down.

Not a single one said, “well here at our bank, this is how we do it.” Figure out what you want or need, then talk to the banks to see who can best fit your needs. You may be surprised how different the loan origination fees can be with some banks.

Best of luck.