All Forum Posts by: Jerel Ehlert

 I'm not referring to your post.

I'm referring to charging the fee.

This is not criminal, and not clearly a civil, violation. So "breaking the law" is not an accurate description.  No one is "copy pasting" statements "on every forum..." or whatever you are talking about.

• Continue to use Texas legal counsel (because that's where you live).
• If you think the marital relationship can take the strain, get a separate property agreement for the LLC and all income/assets it has/receives.
• Don't take any advice received here (including this) at face value.

Just a bunch more landlord/property management/listing agent games that turn the stomach. 

Listen up folks: Make your money from renting property.  Junk fees like these will only invite heavier regulation at the state and federal level.  Play this game often enough, and you will be sued.

Junk fees like this violate everyone's notions of fair play.  The credit card industry got hammered for this.  The mortgage industry got hammered for this.  Want the see how the rental industry fairs?  Politicians like to look like the good guy.  This is just the kind of issue that will help their image.

I practice real estate law in Texas (and only Texas), mostly on the LL side.  But if a potential client came to me with this case I would 100% take this agent/property manager/landlord to court on consumer fraud.  And not just state, this would be under federal law.

Good luck out there.

I'm going to call a flag on the play re: AC repairs.  There is 0% chance that 5 months of "no filter replacement" will, in any universe, lead to major repairs to the HVAC system.  You have no evidence of causation - that THESE tenants caused ALL of THIS damage.  Trying to raise that issue 2 months later and only after T moved out early raises credibility issues for any testimony.  As a lawyer, I can easily rip this claim to shreds.

Re: breaking the lease - Yes, T still liable for rent until end of lease, but LL has a duty to mitigate loss.  Make-ready and lease back up.

Final analysis: re-let, cut the losses, do a final accounting (don't charge for AC repairs).  Anything more is throwing good money after bad.

Check that your PM is not padding their bill to you.  You should have a property inspection done by *your* inspector/agent at least every 2 years, not by the PM.  Out of state owners are easy targets for this type of fraud.

Public policy favors home ownership over renting.  Honestly, Texas needs a statute specifically exempting the purchase of a primary residence from breach of lease disputes.

An allonge is the document that transfers the Note.  See, https://content.next.westlaw.c...

@Sam Smith - No rain here, but nothing I posted was misleading. Investors do "outside the box" transactions, which mean their requests will be the oddball cases. Unless their attorney focuses on these REI cases, they won't have experience. The alternative, is that the firm dos SO MUCH in real estate, that the oddball cases pop up enough to get experience (not a one-off). In other words, firms get experience because all the do are oddball cases or they do enough vanilla cases that, statistically, the oddball cases come up.

And, no offense, but the kid of a lawyer doesn't have the working knowledge of a law firm's business practices.  If so, that means someone probably violated Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.

Before you do anything, you better be up to speed on Texas' LL/T law (Chpt. 91 & 92) and evictions (Chpt. 24) of Texas Property Code.  Then you read the lease.  If month-to-month, read the old leases.

Then discuss with a lawyer who practices LL/T law.

The alternative is more expensive.

I work with HML/PMLs. If you have never lent money on REI assets, you probably should talk to a few who have, then talk to a lawyer who does this for HMLs in the jurisdiction where you plan to lend. It is a whole new world. The answers on licensing and entity selection are dependent on the state where you are doing business.

First thing, you gotta know the law, both state and federal, related to lending money on property in the state where the property is located.

As for asset protection or tax liability, don't take advice here.  Talk to a lawyer about asset protection and your CPA about tax liability.  Way to specific to your individual situation.

When I first read the heading, I thought you were talking about title attorneys - as in, one who has a fee office or was an underwriter for title insurance.  There are lots of different areas of practice (and I say "areas of practice" because the Texas Board of Legal Specialization is the gatekeeper for lawyer's use of the word "specialization").  There's residential and commercial real estate law, business law, consumer law, securities law, commercial law, corporate finance law, etc. etc. etc.  Then there's the transactional (deal-making) and litigation (deal-breaking) dichotomy within each area.

There are some basic vetting that apply to all industries and some thoughts that are applicable to only lawyers.  

For the basics: good, fast, or cheap - pick 2 out of 3 but you won't get all 3.  I hope you've heard this adage before.

For lawyer-only: We are paid for our time. On average, law firms are 1 to 4 lawyers ( and most are solo practitioners). These two facts combined mean that every minute spent being "interviewed" is a minute of lost revenue.  Some of us offer paid consultations at a discounted rate to our typical hourly.  Most of my colleagues poorly delegate and rely on themselves to get a task done (taking longer).  Those of us who delegate well have staff and increased overhead (increased costs).  The good about larger firms is you don't rely on the skills/experience/availability of one person.

Best way to find a lawyer is to get referrals and pay for consultation on an active issue.  If you encounter me in the wild (a networking event), I am usually happy to spend 5 minutes to get to know you and you me.  If you start pumping me for free legal advice, I will probably politely disengage.

I hope this helps you find and interact with lawyers.

I work with lots of cases like these. Let me know if I can help.

Get a legal consultation (and pay for it) from a lawyer who practices this type of law in the jurisdiction where the property is located. Everything else is just speculation.

As mentioned before, statues and caselaw varies DRAMATICALLY between states.

If it matters to you, you don't necessarily need to sue to get them to remove 2 feet of drive.  Maybe just a formal easement agreement that acknowledges the encroachment, grants an express easement, and that when the drive is replaced, the easement terminates and they will keep the next drive entirely on their land.

But like I said, check with a local lawyer.