All Forum Posts by: Denise Evans

In Alabama, you have no legal relationship with your tenant's guest. If you had a written lease that limited number and identity of allowed occupants, you might have some rights, but you do not have that. The guest might be a tenant of your tenant, which makes him your subtenant but still no legal relationship with you, just a legal name. If the guest will not leave voluntarily, then your tenant will have to file an ejectment lawsuit or an eviction lawsuit, depending on what a court rules their legal relationship is. It's safer to file ejectment and eviction both in Circuit Court. Your tenant can file eviction in District Court, but not ejectment. So, if filed in District Court and the judge rules it is is not a landlord/tenant relationship, your tenant will have to start all over again in Circuit Court with ejectment.

Month to month leases are terminable in Alabama on 30 days written notice.  Give your tenant 30 days notice of termination. Tell them you are willing to re-rent AFTER the guest is gone. Send a copy to the guest. If necessary, you can file eviction against your own tenant and name the guest as an additional defendant whose rights are to be terminated when your tenant's rights are terminated.

Go to the District Clerk's office in Marion County and ask them for the names of two lawyers who seem to file the most eviction lawsuits. Be sure to say you are not asking for a recommendation, because they are not allowed to do that. You are just asking for a statistic, that's all. Contact those two lawyers. If you ask in advance, most lawyers will not charge for an initial consultation.

You are allowed to put them out if they appealed but did not pay all past due rent into court and pay each month's rent into court as it comes due. Here is an example of a time when that was dangerous. Landlord was Property Owner Pete. Property Manager was Property LLC, a completely independent third party company not owned or connected with Property Owner Pete. The lease described "Property LLC" as landlord, and Tim Tenant (made up names, of course) as tenant. Tim defaulted, Property LLC filed an eviction lawsuit with its name as Plaintiff, obtained a judgment, obtained a turn out order and put everything out on the street where the neighbors stole almost all of it.

Several months later Tim Tenant talked to an attorney, who said, "Property LLC was not the property owner and so not legally your landlord. The wrong party filed the eviction lawsuit. As a result, the eviction judgment was void, the turnout order was void, the landlord had no authority to put the stuff out on the street and is liable to you for damages because all your stuff was stolen."

There is a variety of reasons why a turnout order might be void. That's scary. If the lawyer recommends you do something and it turns out the order was void and you get sued, you will then sue the lawyer for malpractice.  That is REALLY scary to the lawyer. So, it's just easier to be conservative and tell you to do nothing until it's all over.

I was trained by a very good lawyer who told me, among other things, "Denise, it is your job to explain the law and the consequences of different decisions so that your CLIENT can make a decision about what they want to do. It is NOT your job to make decisions for your client by withholding possible options and making it so they have no decision to make, they just have to do what you tell them to do."  My clients always appreciated that approach. But, it is rare.

Send me a request to connect and then we can DM and exchange phone numbers

The statutes in Alabama provide for a speedy eviction process. The tenant can appeal but if they don't file a bond equal to the all the past due rent and other charges and legal fees, the landlord can proceed with the turnout. Most lawyers tell clients not to do that, just in case it turns out the eviction order was void for a technical reason, which means the landlord would be liable for damages for an illegal turnout. That's one problem with things taking a long time--tenant appeals.

Another reason that is encountered most often in Jefferson County is a lack of manpower for executing the turnout orders. Only Sheriff's deputies are allowed to execute turnout orders currently. You can win an eviction lawsuit, get a turnout order after 7 days from the court, but then a deputy can't schedule the turnout any earlier than 4-6 months in the future.

I can provide more detailed advice for you. A lot depends on the county, the type of property, and on the PM company. I'll connect with you so we can talk.  I've helped other investors with the exact same problem, so you are not alone. For almost everybody in business, any business, their first deal is always the most expensive one and filled with the most mistakes.  You grow from there.

You might have purchased deeds of trust in Alabama, but they are very rare.  I have never encountered one.  They are not illegal.  I did not mean to be condescending or underestimate your knowledge. This is an educational forum. Other people learn from your posts and my answers.

Clothing stores are allowed to refuse to carry clothing manufactured in China, or from synthetic materials, or a wide variety of other reasons. Title companies can refuse to insure certain instruments or methods of holding title.  It's a business decision. If something is so rare that it is not capable of evaluating the risk, then an insurer cannot set a premium. The prudent thing is to refuse to ensure it.  

Shop for another insurer. Probably somebody will write the insurance.

@Justin Mason, the job of the guardian ad litem is to protect the interests of the unknown people who cannot be found, served with lawsuit papers, and defend their own interests.  If there are no unknown (heirs for example) then there is usually nothing for the GAL to do.  Sometimes the court will appoint a GAL even if there do not seem to be any unknown parties. In that case, the GAL simply reports to the court that is has reviewed the title work and done some preliminary research and agrees there are no unknowns.  In such a case, if nobody demands an auction, the GAL will not demand one, either. The investor will get the deed and the quiet title order with no auction.

If, however, there are unknowns, the GAL will have to demand an auction. That is because the  unknown parties could have done it, if they'd only known about the lawsuit. So, the GAL will have to do it for them. Then there will be an action.

@Justin Mason, the new law applies to ANY tax lien certificate foreclosures, no matter when the auction took place. That is why the new law changed the holding period from 3 years to 4 years, to give people who were just about ready to be sued time to take advantage of the law change.

Someone with redemption rights does not have to hire an attorney. Technically, an LLC or corporation with redemption rights would have to hire an attorney to enter an appearance and demand the auction, but that is very inexpensive. A natural person can represent themselves in court, and make the demand without having to hire an attorney.

You are correct, if auction is not demanded then the deed will be issued and title quieted. That's why I recommend investors find owners or their heirs if the property seems to be abandoned and buy quitclaim deeds from them if you can get them cheaply. It gets rid of potential auction-demand troublemakers and it gives you the right to immediate possession. Even if you buy out only ONE of twelve or more heirs, you are now a co-owner and entitled to possession.

@Jules Aton, I don't see virtual learning being a dramatic impact on student housing except for perhaps graduate students.  Most parents of college-bound students want them to have the "college experience" of a semi-safe environment away from home where they can learn to be independent.  Different considerations for graduate students, but I'd put them in the housing category of "young professionals."  In other words, no need to live close to campus and might even relocate to cities where they ultimately want to work. Or to vacation destinations they can enjoy before entering the workforce.

At least in Tuscaloosa, student housing brings higher rents. Yes, they are often rough on the property but regular inspection visits and immediate consequences keep that to a minimum. Also neglect-proof finishes like LVT flooring, quartz countertops, one-piece shower and/or bath enclosures and painted cabinets.  Plan on changing out HVAC filters yourself and doing pest control yourself. 

While they each pay rent by the bedroom, make sure the lease includes joint and several liability, which means everybody is liable for the whole property rent, not just their portion. If one student defaults, the others make that one pay or they ante up the difference.

Parents all guarantee the leases, so there is almost no risk of default.  Most landlords make some portion of the security deposit non-refundable as a turnover fee.  

If you are a good landlord, they will refer their friends and classmates to you and you'll never have any vacancies. A friend of mine specialized in student housing. He said their last memory of their landlord is the "lasting memory." He inspected monthly and stayed on top of them to fix minor things and clean things or pay to have it done, immediately. But, he always refunded the security deposit, in full, 5 days after lease end, unless they completely trashed the place. He charged market rents and always had a waiting list for his units.

Again, I speak only for Tuscaloosa, but historically student housing sold on lower capitalization rates than regular rentals. I'm making up these numbers, because this post will be online for a long time but cap rates will change, so don't takes these as current cap rates. A SFR in a family part of town might have monthly rent of $3,000 and an annual Net Operating Income (after expenses) of $27,000 and might sell on a 7-cap for $385,700 Student housing with the same numbers might sell on a 6-cap for $450,000.

The investment strategy is to buy cheaply on the fringes of the path of student housing growth, and then wait a year or two until the area turns to a student housing area.