All Forum Posts by: Darren Love

I live in Chicago and so I wanted to ask for some advice from other Chicago landlords.  My question is about the legal way to give a tenant an eviction letter.  Does it have to be face-to-face or could it be through certified mail?  And if your tenant knows that you want to evict them and is avoiding you, how do you make sure they receive it? Thank you.

 Thanks for the advice.  

 Thank You very much. 

I want to start by first mentioning that I'm from the Chicagoland area. And the tenet I'm about to talk about has been a nice quiet tenet for as long as I have known them, so this surprises me. She complained about dust coming into her unit in the past, so my solution was to vacuum it out from the vents, and if she continued to see dust or hair flying around, inform me immediately which they haven't so I assumed all was good. I require rent due on the first of the month, but they haven't paid yet, and I've let them know that when they are able to pay an interest of 5% will be added to their rent.  So I got this text from them today that says:  

"Im sorry and good afternoon and good morning to you and your beautiful family. Hope that everyone is doing well. Thank you for asking. Im not. Im sorry, I understand that your son Darren came out to do his part about scathing the vents only with his gadget. Yes, scathe them. And, had someone new too take a loom @ the back of the stove. What is that about¿ It took me 2 hours to clean and more not only the bathrooms, tubs, sinks and all by myself and the same hairy problem still exists. And, the floors, window sills are dooming with dust. Am I hired to work yah jobs. Or is your precious wife available to help us clean. Sorry, to say I am not paying any RENT until someone comes out and does their jobs. Yah, knew about this. Pics were sent etc... Major duct work is needed and yah knew that. Please stop using us as SCAPEGOATS¡"

I'm not sure how to respond to this and I want to be as professional, but this is the first time I'm experiencing a tenet approaching me this way, so would evicting them be the best solution?

I have owned my property for about a year and have struggled to keep up with the budgeting and finances for my first property. Can anyone recommend a Chicagoland CPA that works well with real estate investors? 

My fellow landlords out there I have a question about evictions. Right now everyone is talking about inflation and rising interest rates, and it reminded me about the Mass Evictions that we were supposed to see once federal aid was halted. But looking back at it I don't recall if that actually happened. Was this just something I was oblivious about, and should we be worried about what we're hearing and seeing in the news now?

I have a tenet in my 4 unit building in Chicago who wants to bring in her daughter and dog for a week. The tenet stays in a 1 bedroom unit with her mother. The tenets daughter has a 10lbs dog which I put on the lease no dogs allowed. But since it's only a week I'm thinking I can be flexible but I also don't want it to stir up issues with my other tenants. Any ideas on how to approach this?

Greetings from Chicago. I have a tenet in my 4 unit who lives in a 1 bedroom unit with their mother. My tenet now wants to bring in her daughter and a 10lbs poodle for a week as her daughter is between houses. I don't allow dogs in the lease but I also don't think a small dog for a week is a big problem. Should I charge the tenet extra or something in order to not look too pet friendly.

Last summer I bought my first house hack, a 4 unit building. I know that everything is deductible, save your receipts, and keep track of your purchases.  But I have used my personal accountants to purchase items for the building, paid contractors through Zelle, and haven't been utilizing the business accountant until recently.  Can I still deduct those expenses from my taxes?