All Forum Posts by: Dustin DuFault

Good Evening BP!

I wanted to get some other folks' opinions on handling an issue I had this week with a tenant clogging their air handler with debris and the associated repair expenses.

This was a new tenant in September. When she moved in I had installed a new 4-inch thick filter in the air handler. This filter is designed to last for 6 months - but after she moved in I got a call that the filter was dirty and would need to be replaced. I figured there was extra debris from the move. No problem: I came and replaced it with another 6 month filter.

This week I got a call that the air conditioner had ceased functioning. I came and inspected the air conditioner and noted that my filter had been replaced at some point with a trim to fit piece of foam. I also noted that the air handler was completely covered in ice. Having had rentals for a while now I had seen this condition before and knew that the likely culprit was a clogged air handler. I contacted my very reliable and honest ac repair company (Big time recommendation to Chase Air in Jacksonville, FL btw if you are in the area). They came out and confirmed that the coil needed to be pulled and cleaned, an approx $480 bill.

I was mistakenly under the impression that this tenants lease agreement addressed the replacement of the air conditioner filters and stated that it was to be done by the owner at set intervals. That is my normal arrangement, but somehow that clause was left off of this tenants lease. Prior to realizing that I delivered a 7 day notice to cure and explained that I'd be billing the tenant for the cleaning on their air condition. Of course she wasn't happy, said that wasn't right, etc. and when I got home I started reconsidering so I wanted to see what everyone's thoughts are. Now that I'm noticing that the issue of filter changes isn't addressed in the contract I'm feeling less certain that her use of an alternate, albeit inadequate, filter would be sufficient to charge her for the bill... but I also don't like setting a precedent that she doesn't have to handle the house responsibly... 

So all that to say I'm curious how fellow BPers would handle this?

Story speaks for itself. It is Detroit, and their is lots of Monday morning quarterbacking to be done on the decision making of the victims... but that's exactly the point. It's a good read to remember we need to stay vigilant about...

1. Analyzing the deal

-and-

2. Decisions in handling sketchy situations

Stay safe folks!

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-...

Hello All!

I finally got resolution on my issue - and it's a happy ending! 

My title company was able to reach out to the bank, who agreed to provide a lien release. I do not think I could have hoped for a better resolution. 

So, in the end I was only out the $300 I spent in legal research before contacting the bank, and I did lose my sales contract on the house. So now I need to re-list it, which may be the biggest effect of this whole thing, really.

Anyway, I came across this quote this week, which seems to have unending applications in Real Estate, and seems appropriate for my situation...

Thanks to you all for chiming in with your ideas & support. It is much appreciated!!!

Regards,

Dustin DuFault

@Wayne Brooks  

@Chad U. 

@Account Closed 

P.S. Does anyone know what happened to K. Marie Poe??? I had asked her to chime in on this situation at the beginning - when we really didn't have any rapport between us - and she graciously did so. I know she was really active on BP. I wanted to be able to thank her for helping. :-/

Hi Pedro!

A couple of quick ideas (I'm sure you'll get others too)

First - You want to be netting more than the couple of hundred dollars you referenced. Lookup the 2% rule on this site.

Second - If you do not have the 20% to put down you are right this will make things more difficult. However there are creative financing strategies you can look into. Maybe you want to bring in an investor? Maybe the current owner has equity and will carry a note for all or a portion of the purchase? There are many other ways to get there, it takes just takes some strategery :D

But first find a good deal that cash flows quite a bit more than that.

@Walt Payne

I think that's really good advice.

I didn't mention before it but I've had quite the 'terrible' month in Real Estate and to have this off of my plate is pretty attractive right now, LOL. I did consider your points and wrote a contract addendum specifying the tenant would be liable for damages resulting from painting and expressly accepting other liabilities arising from their painting the property (like medical issues). 

I realize that whether I get any capital back on that deal if the worst happens may be another matter though!!

Nice, thanks @Hattie Dizmond  ! I decided to approve their paints.

@Wendy Noble

I considered buying the paint - but truthfully we are pretty far apart on the colors, so I don't think they will want anything I'd consider as suitable for re-renting (which honestly would be in the beige / white category). I was going to need to paint anyway - I'll just use better paint when I need to do the repaint down the road.

I dislike painting so pushing this down the road until next time has is a winning proposition in my book :P haha

Quick Question...

I know plenty of folks (myself included) are not fans of Walmart paint.

However: I have a property that needs to be painted and a tenant who is willing to paint it. With Walmart paint. Does this cheap paint have issues beyond application? I will not be keeping the walls the colors the tenant has chosen, so my thought process is that I'm merely pushing my inevitable paint project down the road when I have someone else in there.

I just want to make sure I won't be causing more trouble for myself down the road with cheap paint to go over. Thoughts?

@Account Closed According to the research I've done - the course of litigation is determined by the right of redemption being foreclosed. In this case since the right of redemption being foreclosed would be that of a junior lien holder, their exercisable right of redemption would be to pay me off as 1st lien holder and take 1st position for a period certain (unlikely to happen since this would cost more than their lien to begin with). In other words the property shouldn't need to be auctioned off in this case. 

There is a link on page 2 of this thread that does a decent job explaining the process. I should qualify all of the above by stating this has never been done in my district court, apparently, so YMMV (or should I say MMMV :-/ )

I need to decide if I want to try and contact the bank myself tomorrow, or contact the banks council that filed the original foreclosure actions... or pay up and have my attorney file for the reforeclosure as a pre-emptive measure. 

I'll post back when I decide, and what the results are!

@Kimberly H. Thank you, I will keep this in mind. Still mulling over my options.

@Account Closed The thread Chronicles my research on a strategy to 're-foreclose' the original action, which would allow me to add in the junior mortgage. There is case law in Florida that allows me to do this as the purchaser at the original foreclosure auction. If I prevail in my strategy I'd be saving tens of thousands of dollars vs. paying on the lien, so that is the avenue I need to pursue. When I first found out about this junior lien I did not think I would be able to get rid of it without paying it off... but a reforeclosure action seems like it may save the day... 

Thanks Joe.... it's not, unfortunately. 

I'm still hopeful about making an appeal to the bank and getting a lien release... seems like it would be in their best interest be done with it.