All Forum Posts by: Craig Sutta

I am OR landlord.

my previous tenant had bad intentions, he started accusing me of 1 thing or the other for last 4 months and I did not renew his lease. now he has accused me of retaliation and sent me demand letter without specifying any amounts, he doesn't want to discuss anything but sue me for large sums of damages. he has a brother in law his attorney counsel.

I did a background search and found that tenant has been involved in 6 lawsuits over last 3 years, each involving him as plantiff and his brother-in-law representing him. They sue people, settle and he gets money, his brother-in-law gets attorney fees from defendants. there are 3 additional lawsuits from collection agencies against the tenant and his wife as well.

I contacted lawyers, they keep continuous $700 retainer fees, $275 for each letter, his brother-in-law will keep sending. I already received 2 vague demand letters, the return of the security deposit, etc.

lawyer thing is not working for me... I am afraid, it's just racking my bills. I want to pay him something to settle (I am not at any fault at all, except having bad luck), but his intention is not to get reasonable small sums. He doesn't want to meet or speak to me. Wants only letters mailed to him

what should i do?

can his intention be classified as "bad faith" or "vexatious litigant" how?

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. 

I did some background search. Apparently, I did not know that my tenant went on Suing spree in the last 2 years. He has a brother who is lawyer, they have sued several people in small claims courts for $5-$8K + his brothers' fee. Their credits dropped like a rock. All after getting lease signed. 

So his threat is real, his simple email is written as "demand letter" , that if i don't respond will be used against me.

my tenant improved our garden before leaving. He is claiming me to pay him $3000 for yard upgrades!!

Last year he was not maintaining yard, and it was in bad condition. All I had done was send him email to take care of garden. He works for lawn company and himself told verbally that he got material for free. Then he worked in lawn himself to make upgrades.

he was not maintaining our home from inside either, so i asked him to leave & he is claiming he improved yard but never enjoyed it because i asked him to leave.

He never took permission to put yard stones, now he is asking me to pay up. I have tried to speak to him to discuss but he has refused to talk and wants to communicate only through emails in writing. 

now that he has left, can i deduct security deposit for cost of removing the boulders/ stones from my yard? I am shocked how is he asking me to pay instead?

if everything is referred to attorney/ accountant, what's the point of having a discussion board? 

I have a rental property in my hometown that I bought 5 years ago and is generating good income. Its fully paid off. For tax purposes, I want to transfer this property to my son (student 18 years – going to college 2000 miles from home). He can use the income from the house for college tuition & he can travel back hometown to manage the house. House has 20% appreciation & I have taken 5 years of depreciation in my taxes. I get W2, he works summers & has a small income to report in his 1090 in the year.

What is the best way to structure the sale, so we can optimize for taxes during sale & future (next 3 years when he will be studying):

• 1)Should I transfer 100% to him (deed transfer – should sale price be $1?)
• 2)Should I & him jointly own it 50/50
• 3)Should I set up an LLC (NOT trust) that owns the house & we both are partners in LLC?

Sorry but I hate wasting bandwidth with replies that ask to consult a lawyer. If I were to consult a lawyer for my questions, I won't be posting here for information.

Foreclosure sale: HOA was one of the defendants which has unpaid dues. Writ of execution is 8/10/2013, foreclosure sale is held on 11/22/13. Foreclosure buyer will get redemption after 180 days. When new owner gets possession on 05/22/14, will he be required to pay 6 months of HOA, utilities dues? How these fees can be avoided?