All Forum Posts by: Don Jackson

Thanks Christopher, that's sound advice. Most people are reasonable when given the chance.

I contacted my PM again and he said that after thinking it over he's going to let me cancel the contract with 60 days notice. We talked things over and we're parting ways on good terms.

I have been with a PM in North Carolina for 4 years. He got me sued a few months ago by making a mistake that caused the tenant to get a lawyer and sue me. The PM informed me that I needed to get a lawyer to defend myself for the mistake he made. I lost in court and paid a bundle. Of course I started looking for a new PM. I found one that I like. I then informed my current PM that I would like to cancel at the soonest possible date. He told me that my current contract renews automatically on July 15th, which is less than 60 days from now, so notice today would be less than 60 days. He insists that my contact with him must renew on July 15, 2020 and continue to 7/15/2021. Here is the exact text in the contract:

Duration of Agreement. This Agreement shall be binding when it has been signed and dated below by Owner and Agent. It shall become effective on 7-15-16 (“Effective Date”) and shall be for an initial term of ONE YEAR. NOT LESS THAN 60 DAYS PRIOR TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE INITIAL TERM, EITHER PARTY MAY NOTIFY THE OTHER PARTY IN WRITING OF ITS DESIRE TO TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT, IN WHICH CASE IT SHALL TERMINATE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE INITIAL TERM. IF NOT SO TERMINATED, THIS AGREEMENT SHALL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW FOR SUCCESSIVE TERMS OF YEAR TO YEAR EACH UNLESS EITHER PARTY GIVES THE OTHER PARTY WRITTEN NOTICE OF ITS DESIRE TO TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT AT LEAST 60 DAYS PRIOR TO THE CONCLUSION OF ANY SUCH RENEWAL TERM, IN WHICH CASE THIS AGREEMENT SHALL TERMINATE AT THE CONCLUSION OF SUCH TERM

It sounds legit to me. It goes on to mention the penalties if I break the contract. So my question to the BP community is, do you see any way out? Do you have a recommendation for a good lawyer that can help me out?

I've already been put through the wringer by this guy and I really want to move to a new PM.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Thanks to everyone for all of your excellent feedback and advice. Here’s an update:

I got the lawsuit filed against me. Lots of scary stuff. They are alleging that my PM broke the law in accordance with fair debt collection practices. Huge penalties. I have no idea if any of this is for real, but the lawsuit states that I am liable for all of this. It is very possible that my PM did everything completely legal and above board, and this is just a scare tactic. Or maybe not.

I started by making an offer to the tenant through her lawyer. This is against everyone’s advice, but I thought I would give it a try. The offer was:

I will forgive all past rents, late fees and penalties. We will start with a clean slate in March with the current rent (which is about $300 below market). In return, she will drop the lawsuit with prejudice.

The tenant rejected my offer. She wants me to pay her $2500 to drop the lawsuit.

I hired a local attorney who specializes in landlord/tenant issues. He told me that as long as this is handled in small claims court, his one flat fee will cover it.

That is the update for now. I will give another update when this is resolved.

Thanks for your replies.

Here is the TERM section of the lease:

---------------------------

Term: The term of this lease shall be for "one year" (duration) commencing 01-01-2019
(date) and expiring at 11:59 PM Eastern Time 12-31-2019 (date (the “Initial Term”).
Either Landlord or Tenant may terminate the tenancy at the expiration of the Initial Term by giving written notice to the other at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of the Initial Term.
This notice shall contain a definitive move-out date after which the Tenant must have completely vacated the property. In the event such written notice is not given or if the Tenant holds over beyond the Initial Term, the tenancy shall automatically become a year (period) to year (period) tenancy upon the same terms and conditions contained herein and may thereafter be terminated by either Landlord or Tenant giving the other 30 days written notice prior to the last day of the then current period of the tenancy.

---------------

My PM first tried to evict the tenant for non-payment, but she got an attorney who got the case dismissed. My PM then filed to have her removed for holdover. That's when he gave the 45 days notice.

I was startled to see that the contract says an automatic one year renewal. This is my fault for not reading the lease more carefully.

At this point I;m assuming I'm going to be sued for illegally trying to evict the tenant, because she had an actual valid lease in place when we tried to evict for holdover.

Another note: In court the PM said we would just accept the past rent and they would stop eviction. Tenant attorney refused, saying they would sue me.

My SF property is in North Carolina - section 8. Tenant is always behind on rent, so the PM suggested we evict. I said yes. Lease was expired, so PM gave her 1 1/2 months notice to leave at end of January. She tried to pay February rent, but the PM refused saying that she is being evicted. She got an attorney and their offer was: We forgive all past rent/debt and pay her $2500. They are going to counter sue me. Turns out the lease automatically renews at the same low rent and the PM didn't notice. PM now is telling me: 1) I need to hire an attorney 2) I shouldn't contact the tenant's attorney because that would "muddy the water" I am fine if the tenant just pays rent and I can live with the low/under market rent for another year. I just can't afford to go without rent and continue paying mortgage. Right now I wish I wouldn't have agreed to evict. Any advice for me? Before I contact her attorney I want to get some feedback from the BP community. Thanks!

Thanks for your comments everyone. I contacted a real estate agent who specializes in selling duplexes to people who plan to live in one unit and rent out the other. His idea is that they will tend to pay retail price, rather than selling to other investors who are looking for the killer deal.

Has this been the general experience of others who have sold duplexes?

I'm going to sell my duplex in St. Paul MN. I don't live in the area. Does anyone have any contacts for a real estate agent that is good at selling investment properties in St. Paul?

I want to start by getting an idea of how much it is worth, and talk about the best way to go about selling it.

Any thoughts?

My tenant moved out without telling anyone. My property manager finally figured it out when they stopped by to check on things and saw that the property was vacant. They went in and said that the property was in decent shape and that they will clean it up and get it rented ASAP.

Three weeks go by and I start asking questions. They finally send someone back out to look at the property again, and this time they tell me the basement had been flooded and there is mold growing up the walls.

I'm not real pleased with how the PM treated things, but now I need to deal with insurance. I talked to my agent and he is telling me:

1) If it is a sewer backup - NOT covered

2) If the tenant left the toilet running and it overflowed onto the carpet, then it might be covered.

Has anyone dealt with insurance on anything like this? What was your experience?

Thanks.

I have a 2.5 ton air conditioning unit in a property in Charlotte NC that went out. The PM had an AC company come out that wants to charge me $5,000 to replace the entire AC system. He says it is so old it all needs to be replaced. The house was built in 2005.

My question: Can the 2.5 ton condenser be replaced without replacing the entire system? What is a general price range in Charlotte?

Thanks