All Forum Posts by: Jerel Ehlert

Moratorium only applied for non-payment of rent, not squatters or other lease violations.

Read the Texas Property Code on how to do a forcible eviction and detainer suit.  30-day notice is correct.

Call a lawyer.  No one else is qualified to give legal advice.  You can get advice on business practices and customs, but not law.

When it comes to docs, USE A LAWYER.  Not the title company.  Definitely not something you found on the internet.  At the end of the day, if you need to enforce your rights as a lender, neither the title company nor the internet will back you up.

I draft 1st lien docs (deed w/ vendor's lien, note, deed of trust, attorney no-rep letter, lender's instructions to title, and either personal guaranty or business purpose affidavit) for $500.  I have a doc prep questionnaire.

I'm in Georgetown.  I've drafted and reviewed others' PPMs.

Texas Attorney here. Each state has its own sets of probate/estate statutes. I'm only licensed in Texas so ymmv if you are not in Texas.

I get lots of REIs coming to me wanting to buy property but the sellers have been dead for quite some time.  If you don't have a will, your state has one for you. 

If you have a house and have a complex family relationship, get a will. Texas has a Ladybird Deed and Transfer On Death Deed - both meant to avoid real estate in probate.  Texas disfavors JTwROS, so don't depend on that in a deed.

If you have a business, get a will.

If you have non-family business partners, you AND your partners all need wills.  You probably don't want to run a business with your partners' spouse/kids. Key person insurance might be a good idea.

If you need cash to run a business until it can be wound down, check out ILITs - an irrevocable, non-amendable trust which is both the owner and beneficiary of one or more life insurance policies. Upon the death of the insured, the trustee invests the insurance proceeds and administers the trust for one or more beneficiaries.  This investment trust can cover costs of hiring a business manager while selling off properties without having to do a fire sale.

If you don't want to exist in a vegatative state until your body expires, get a living will and DNR. Appoint a medical POA and guardianship in advance of need.

Got something special you want done (or not done) with your remains? There's a directive for that, too.

For my plain-Jane-vanilla estate planning for spouses is about $700+ hourly after 2 hours.  For complex estate <$5M in assets, I require a $5,000 retainer and bill hourly, minimum 1%.  Over $5M, it is a $10,000 retainer, minimum 2% - this requires advance tax planning because you start bumping into the estate tax.

Probate can be simple or complex, depending on the estate assets and proposed heirs.

If you are going to do sub-2, you better know your stuff.  And by "stuff", understand how all the docs work - their function and significance.  You need to be able to explain what they do to the sellers in baby terms (the legal phrase is "least sophisticated consumer standard").

Next, you better have the capital to float every note for at least 6-months.  There is no "walk away" if the deal doesn't work.  Why? because that is someone's credit and you made a series of promises in your paperwork to make these payments.  (If it doesn't, you have bigger problems.)  Failure to make the payments on time is not only breach, but very likely fraud in your jurisdiction (I'm only licensed to talk about Texas law, specifically).  

I am only aware of 5 cases where investors went to jail related to sub-2:  2 in PA (partners), 1 in FL, 2 in TX, and 1 in AZ.  All  involved multiple loans taken over and those loans not paid as promised.  The actual charges were federal bank fraud and wire fraud.  On some loans, the underlying bank foreclosed and evicted the current occupants (some renters, some were buying).

You need to have a plan for what happens if the bank calls the loan due - you sell pronto or refinance.  If you sold on a wrap, you need to be able to sell all/part of the wrapped note to pay off the underlying lender.

"Specialized" is a controlled word by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization requiring the lawyer to have a certain amount of practical experience and sit another exam.  There are 3 specializations in real estate: commercial, farm/ranch, and residential.  Even then, the "substantial involvement" requirement in the field might not match what you are doing.  This is a long walk to say "specialized" might not be what you are looking for.

I started real estate investing in 2000, had partners, did rehab/flips and buy/hold.  It was after the crash I went to law school and became an attorney.  Been licensed since 2015 and still actively involved in real estate investing.

That is some sketchy details.  Assuming the purchase loan was not a homestead loan and/or you have a homestead in Alabama...and this loan is not a homestead loan - see Texas Constitution Art. 16, Sec. 50(d): 

"A purchaser or lender for value without actual knowledge may conclusively rely on an affidavit that designates other property as the homestead of the affiant and that states that the property to be conveyed or encumbered is not the homestead of the affiant."

Supply a homestead affidavit stating you have a homestead elsewhere.  Without more specifics, it is hard to tell what is going on and/or how to proceed.

See here: https://lonestarlandlaw.com/wh...

@Jonathan LaMonica, might want to check the cite to the TAC.  The numbering is off.

As always, DISCLOSE, DISCLOSE, DISCLOSE.  Never seen nor heard of a case where a party shot themselves in the foot by disclosing materially relevant information.

 

Most every state will have business statutes that define what "doing business" means in their state. Talk to an OK attorney, but most likely if you are running a business in OK you will need to either register your TX LLC in OK as a foreign (not-Oklahoma) entity or form an LLC in OK.

I'm licensed in TX, so in situations like this I hire a local attorney for that part of the work.

Howdy.  Been investing since 2000.