All Forum Posts by: James Mc Ree

@Justin W.

It is correct that the town will not enforce the deed restriction. It is a civil matter, not zoning or criminal.

You are building multiple inherent conflicts with yourself in these posts. You are looking at a legal matter and need a lawyer to address it, but you don't want to get a lawyer. It would be foolish to take internet legal advice and just blindly act. For example, you need standing to sue. Do you have standing? You won't say beyond you are as close to owning the property without owning it. To me, that means you don't it and have as much claim to it as I do to my neighbor's property.

I lived in a community in PA that had a deed restriction blocking construction of sheds and other things on all of the nearly 400 properties in the community. It was enforceable by any property owner in the community since it was a restriction on the parent property. Any property owner could sue to make someone remove the shed, but they had to sue to do it. I don't know of anyone actually suing for it, but there were no violations of the deed restriction anywhere in the community.

That example is from PA and might not apply to your situation. If it is relevant, you probably need one of the existing property owners to sue to block the mobile home. Good luck.

Fees/fines vary by municipality. You would be exposed to doing work without a permit, the cost of the actual permit and, worst case, having to rip it all out and have a licensed plumber/electrician do it again.

I've heard most municipalities around my area no longer charge the work without a permit fine. They just make the homeowner buy the permit. I wouldn't think they would require a redo for work that is readily visible, but it seems like your inspector is on the extreme end.

Try asking for forgiveness first since it is a trivial amount of work with low complexity/skill required. Fallback to appealing to the municipality's manager for forgiveness. Last, offer to buy the permit only if they are charging a fee for work without a permit, but that will require a licensed plumber and electrician to inspect which will be another fee on top of the permit. Plead, "I didn't know I couldn't do simple work like this in my own home. It's done all the time!" It might work.

Next time, don't be so chatty showing off to the inspector everything you did. Remember, "You have the right to remain silent and anything you say can AND WILL be used against you." when talking with a government inspector.

@Ethan Bruland I have an initial negative reaction to this idea, but there is a lot more information needed to reach any kind of useful feedback.

Zoning - You can't spot zone. Make sure the zoning change proposal makes sense beyond your personal interest. Your local zoning officer and Planning Commission can help with this on the municipal side. A real estate attorney is also a good partner for this. To be successful, your property very likely will need to abut to your proposed zone.

You should research if the town has a mixed use zoning which may fit your need the best. A mixed use zone can be a good transition between residential and commercial.

Impact - My wife used to live in a dorm with a high speed train going by every couple hours. Her whole room shook and they couldn't have anything on the walls because it always fell off. Is that the experience your residential folks and restaurant guests will have? Get to know the train impact. Slow might be OK. Fast will definitely be a negative.

The only impact I can anticipate with the railroad's presence on the zoning decision is if the railroad divides you from something you want to be part of. For example, you want residential, but residential is only on the other side of the tracks. That would be a negative for you.

Have you discussed this with your eviction attorney? That would be step 1 for me.

Definition of abandonment in PA:

https://casetext.com/statute/pennsylvania-statutes/statutes-...

Repairs are a nuisance,  but an expected part of all housing. It looks like everything is working and available except for the leak. I don't think the tenants would be due a discount unless your lease says otherwise.  Check your lease.

You might want to give them a very small discount since this is the start of a new relationship. If you do, you should tell them this is not something to expect for future repairs. If you don't, I would just apologize for the inconvenience and get the work done.

I only give repair discounts when there is a significant impact on the features or use of the property,  such as no a/c in the summer.

The outcome probably depends on the wording of your lease and any related paperwork.

Example: Thank you tenant for your $X payment for your first and last months of the lease.

If the lease is otherwise silent regarding the last month, the tenant bought a month of tenancy regardless of future pricing. This is the problem with taking payment for the last month when a lease can extend indefinitely.

This arrangement is illegal in PA due to a court decision 10+ years ago. The court found Landlord was holding 2 months of security when the law only allowed 1 month after the first year. The last month's rent was considered undefined since there was no last month in the lease. The way to get around this is to end the lease at 12 months, then start a new 12 month lease.

This is a PA court decision. Your state may be different.

You are getting your rent, but a few weeks late. You have to decide how much of a hassle that is for you and if it is worth a lease termination or eviction and tenant turnover. Turnovers are typically your largest normal expense.

Does your lease charge them a late fee? If so, you have to decide if the late fee fairly compensates you for your aggravation. For example, a $50 late fee once per month is another $600 for the year if they are late every month as you wrote. That might make you more willing to tolerate them.

You would probably want to terminate the lease in lieu of eviction if they are past the initial term. That should allow you to avoid the "pay and stay" rule.

Check your contract to see if you are still in your inspection period. They may have missed their opportunity.

Check with your local municipality regarding their maintenance code. That is what you need to adhere to. A building inspector can quickly clarify this question. Likewise, call the home inspector. If they wrote they "recommend" a change, you can probably ignore it. If they wrote it is required by code, ask if that is today's maintenance code for a home built in 97.

There is almost always a shut off outside for every utility, but it may be in the street. Your shut off is normally at the gas meter or just inside the house for gas and water. Again, check to see if this is a "recommend" or "required" observation.

All great advice above. 

Consider accepting the tenants if they pass your screen, deny the dog, require a certified clean bedbug report for their current home and belongings and a separate bedbug deposit to cover future treatment if needed. Consider requiring them to move in with all new belongings and no current anything to further mitigate the bedbug risk.

The certification will delay their move-in a few months which you can partially cover by requiring a higher rent from them to hold the property. It will be better to choose someone else rather than forego a few months rent, but this will provide you with more security if you are stuck on them.

Check your landlord/tenant laws to determine if you can have a separate bedbug deposit and for how long. An insurance policy is a possible alternative if you or the prospects can find one.