All Forum Posts by: Jay Libowitz

So I spent $3.5k on painting my rental unit before a tenant moved in. House is in perfect condition. Tenant moves out and there are scratches on the walls. Nothing crazy, but definitely noticeable. I get a quote to do the touch ups and it’s $1,050 with no guarantee it’s going to look perfect. Going to have spots, etc.

The next tenants have a two year lease and are 4 male college students. Do I charge the outgoing tenant’s deposit and save that money towards a complete paint after the college students move out (who are sure to destroy the walls themselves)? Other suggestions?

I’ve owned a 4-plex near Dallas, TX, for 10 months now. Class D, but the tenants were friendly enough. Now there is one unit that is attracting all kinds of “activity” at all times of day behind the unit. The other three units complain constantly about their safety.

Police have picked up patrols in recent months, but it picks up in the summer when the weather is good.

I believe I need to install a security system, but not sure how to do it. There seems to be a ton of options. Do I get something connected straight to a company like ADT? It’s a large cost and tenants pay for this is similar units. I want them to handle paying the security company directly.

I could get something installed myself, but that wouldn’t be connected to the local police, so I do t think that’s the way to go. Does anyone have any advice on this?

Tenant left the place trashed and it took a week or so to get broken window repaired and stolen stovetop range replaced. I have a new tenant ready to move in, but needs to have inspection with full utilities before move-in. Problem is the previous tenant had utilities turned off by now. Now there is no electricity. What do I do ? Set up electricity for two days? Or do I ask prospective tenant to turn on electricity?

So I bought a class D property in June 2019 with four inherited tenants. One tenant will not pay on time (monthly rent of $775). I serve notice to vacate once, then allowed them to try to catch up. I serve again the next month, then actually file at the Justice of the Peace. Right before court date, tenant pays $775 to catch up on rent, but is still a few hundred short. I get a judgment for $380 plus court costs (which wasn’t clear to either tenant nor myself). No attorney hired, so no legal fees.

She appeals.

Takes close to two months to get a court date in the County Court. I don’t get a lawyer because I thought I could do this myself and I knew I’m not seeing another dime out of this tenant. Trying to get them out ASAP. At this point, with $50 a month in late fees, amount owed is up to 2,221 including $141 in JP filing fees. A few questions:

The judge reset my court date because she deemed that I wasn’t prepared for a trial (which I wasn’t). I accepted that at this level, I need a lawyer which would cost $1,250. Assuming I would obviously win, this fee would have to be paid by the tenant, which has no means of paying? So how should I get a lawyer in the first place?

The judge stated that I can’t not return the security deposit because that’s illegal. That’s wrong, correct? For non-payment of rent, I can of course keep the deposit.

Since I have another tenant lined up, and I just want these people out, I agreed to give back the $600 security deposit so they could afford a uhaul to get out. Should I hire an attorney now to get a judgment against my tenant even though she will have moved out by then? Would I have to pay given the low probability that the tenant will never pay?

How would I collect once the tenant moves out?

The tenant’s fiancé lives in the apartment, but isn’t on the lease. Is there any way I could get a judgement against him?

So I've had a SFH for 4 years that I've house-hacked and now I've bought my second property. I will be renting out my first property for $700 above my P&I, insurance, and taxes. I made the mistake of using a realtor for finding a tenant, which will cost me $3,600, or $300 per month over the 12-month lease. That leaves me $400 to work with. I had a scare where one of two A/C units might have gone out. That would be $6.5k expense to replace. They are said to last 15 years, and both of mine are 14 years old. How do I possibly plan for both of them going out in the next few years?! My $300 monthly cash flow can't possibly cover that.