All Forum Posts by: Chris Y.

Was the attorney hired (and paid) to do your due diligence for you, or were you supposed to do your own due diligence and they were supposed to answer your questions? What was the scope of their engagement with you?

The attorney was hired for the full service, including title search, closing, etc..

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We have used the same attorney for a few purchases and recently came to realize he screwed up many things.

1. He failed to find out there is an open permit on the house. The previous owner applied for a permit to expand the waste water system from 2 bedroom to 3 B capacity, but he never finished the work, so the permit was not closed. The house is still a 2-b house. But we bought it thinking it was a 3 bedroom house. The seller disclosed it as a 3 bedroom as well.

what can we do: go after the seller and seller's agent?

What upset me the most is our attorney failed to find that out which is a very straight forward thing to do? The town clerk said it is a matter of reviewing the town's records, which is like attorney 101.

Can we demand compensation from the attorney for being negligent on that? what is the best way to proceed? Sue the attorney?

We do have title insurance, but not confident we can get compensation from the title insurance company. Does anyone have experience?

2. The attorney also failed to ask the outstanding balance on another property's water bill? We ended up having to pay $500 plus for the water bill. This is not enormous amount but the city said if the attorney asked about it, we would be able to press the seller to pay for it.

Could anyone advise how I can go after the attorney? Do we really have to bring a suit against the attorney to get something back?

thanks much.

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@Frank Chin, Thank you very much for the detailed reply. It truly varies from case to case. You certainly have seen a lot over the years. Tough situations. I plan to do what you suggested. Have them apply, screen and sign the lease. What do you mean 'singularly and severally'. Each sign their own copy of the lease vs. all in one lease?

Right now the original Guy A pays for the full rent and his two unathorized roommates chip in as well. so if I have the two new tenants sign the lease, I would want to make sure they rent as long the first guy A to make sure I dont lose any rent. Right.

Thanks again

Originally posted by @Frank Chin:

Originally posted by @Kyle J.:

@Chris Y. Don't be so quick to let the female roommate off the hook just because she moved out. Her moving out doesn't automatically invalidate the lease she had. Plus, she might have been the one with the job and/or good credit. So if the remaining male roommate and his two new unauthorized roommate friends can't pay the rent or damage the place, you might still want to have that female roommate on the hook to be able to go after. The more people you have to hold responsible the better.

A "female roommate" vs a "wife" which was stated is a whole world of difference. With husband and wife, you could have a wife making much more, or could be a stay at home wife. Then having a kid would also make a big difference.

You don't know why the wife left. Technically you can hold her responsible. If she's a non working spouse with the kid, you get after her, she could in turn get after him for spousal and child support. So now a case for housing court goes to family court. Then he can go to bankruptcy court if he says "my landlord won't allow roommates, and my wife wants child support". Now you have bankruptcy court. If you go down this rabbit hole, you go around in circles. You want the rent, right?

Further more, I seen cases where a spouse is forced to move back in. In cases where it's due to spousal abuse, she can get a restraining order, locking him out, but he still has to pay rent.

As I said, I had plenty of cases where roommates move out, replacement roommates are found, the best course is to quickly vet them, usually, they are working people with a good history. At least you know who they are. But with roommates, normally the best case that they know each other. Once you force them to take on someone with better finances, you get into trouble. With the investment banker story I told above, the remaining roommates found 2 friends to room with, did it for 2 years with no issues. When they left, he found a roommate through a service. The first I heard of problems was when my triplex was overrun with roaches. It started in this apartment, the place wasn't cleaned for 3 months because they were arguing whose turn it was to clean. I had to disinfect the whole building, and when this roommate left, the service had non available because it was around the Xmas and New Year holidays. He had to leave and live in a friend's basement. Left an apartment full of furniture so I got some TV sets, microwaves, dining room chairs out of it. I rather have the rent though.

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Thank you both for the comments. Now the lady of the original lease moved out, and the left 'husband' brought in two new roommates.

Do I ask the 'wife' to give me a letter to vacate ?

Do I prepare a new lease and have all tenants resign the lease??

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Calling for experienced landlords.

I bought a property with tenants (a couple with a kid) already in it. When I bought the property, it was managed by a property management company, so the lease was with that company. After the sale, I started managing the property myself.

I just learnt that the couple split and the lady moved out with the kid. The male tenant brought in two ''friends'' and it had been a few weeks before I knew it. So that was against the original lease which requires landlord's consent before subleasing.

So now I have asked the two new tenants to fill out applications and I am planning to do background/credit checks on them. My questions are:

1. Should I sign a new lease with all three of them ? The original lease was with the couple and now the lady moved out so it is no good anymore I suppose. I do not know how long the two new tenants are looking to rent.

2. What if the two 'friends' are just looking for short term rent, so should I allow the subleasing to allow the flexibility? But I have read about many posts about the downside of subleasing? such as eviction, trashing, responsibility etc.....

3. I do not have a standard lease for them to sign, can I just use the original lease from the Property management company, just removing the company's name ....

Thanks very much

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Hi Parker, looks like a good deal but I would advise checking the insurance cost: is it in a flood zone, that makes a huge difference, also check with a realtor to determine a more accurate market value. The town assessment might not be reliable. Also, for duplex, I believe you can get a loan of 70% of the ARV, so factor that in your calculations. I am also evaluating some deals and I ran into some similar issues. Good luck!

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@Sam Shueh Snow is about 120 per month by landlord, accounted for in expenses. That is the downside of living in a snowy state.

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@Caleb Heimsoth Is there a good way investors can use to estimate the appraisal value? I can only find the last sale price, zestimate, and the town assessment. The zestimate is about 180K while the town assessment is 160k and last sale is 165k.

I understand the appraisal value ultimately decides how much loan I can get and how much I will leave in the deal

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@Brian Zaug Good questions. The tenant would pay for water, heat, electricity. I have to find out about the lawn. Also, do you mean I could do another cash out refinance if the appraisal can be over 180K? For now, I would have to pay all cash for the purchase, and then do a delayed financing exception to get my fund out.

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@Brandon Frulla the duplex just recently rented out, so I guess it is now in okay condition. I called the current PM and found out that a paint job and some new heaters could be added, which could cost 10-15k, but if I just want to keep it as is, then I do not need much. Again, it just got rented out.

It is good advice to have some contractor walk through and offer some solid cost estimate on the rehab. Thanks,

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All Forum Posts by: Chris Y.

Chris Y. has started 3 posts and replied 15 times.

Post: Help! What can I do? Attorney screwed up title and other things?

Post: Help! What can I do? Attorney screwed up title and other things?

Post: Experienced Landlords Help! new tenants, leases, screening

Post: Experienced Landlords Help! new tenants, leases, screening

Post: Experienced Landlords Help! new tenants, leases, screening

Post: [Calc Review] Help me analyze this deal...too good to be true?

Post: Does this look like a good deal? My first ever

Post: Does this look like a good deal? My first ever

Post: Does this look like a good deal? My first ever

Post: Does this look like a good deal? My first ever