All Forum Posts by: Jerry Benson

Hey Andrew, I know this post is old, but it appears to have aged very well.  Very informative and I am trying to understand the structure of all of it.  I understand an investor has to purchase a home for cash, meeting the criteria below:

* Arms-length transaction, no relationship between buyer and seller.

* Purchased as individual, land trust, inter-vivos trust, LLC or Partnership 100% owned by buyer.

* Original purchase amount is documented by a closing disclosure or settlement statement.

* Purchase is recorded.

* Source of funds are documented and traceable, no mattress money. (Track dollar for dollar)

What isn't clear to me is the part where you have the LLC put a lien on the property. Thus making this a refinance and not a cash out, which is awesome. How does that get around FNMA guidelines: "The preliminary title search or report must confirm that there are no existing liens on the subject property."

I started working as a MLO 1.5 years ago and am talking to my manager about how we can add this to our product list. We offer non-QM products anyway, so why not add another to increase our buyer pool.  In addition, I have an investor client that is buying homes for cash and wants her money back fast.  She has been told by many lenders it is impossible to do and she has to wait 6 months, but that isn't correct. I just can't fully explain how to structure it, so my client can accomplish what she wants. Then explaining it in detail to my superiors who have been in the business for 25+ years has it's own challenges.  So any clarity you can provide so I can help my client would be great. Thanks.

Ive asked my PM to tell me what exactly is in the lease to see what my obligations are....legally. 

Eric, you are correct, he will never stop so I am trying to find the most cost effective way to end this, but send a message that we will not keep playing these games for the next 10 months.  He seems to want his way and only his way, no compromise and no negotiation.  He is apparently always right, in his mind. 

Mike, we are trying to get a contractor out there to see what we would've paid and offer to pay that amount since we get much better rates than what he paid.  But he doesn't care, he wants all his money to be reimbursed.  We shall see how it goes. 

Aren't PM supposed to have in house attorneys that they use to handle this stuff or at least have someone they can talk to protect me?  Just curious to see if I am expecting to much from my PM or if they just aren't equipped to take care of my best interests.  I would think that the PM would be advising me on what my options are but it doesn't seem to be that way.  I like my PM, but this situation seems a bit out of their wheelhouse.  Thoughts?

The tenant has been in the house for 2 months and hasn't stopped complaining since he moved in.  I've bent over backwards to keep him happy and have done everything he has asked even if I wasn't obligated to do so.  The house is a great house, the fireplace is a luxury item that provides no heat whatsoever, the HVAC is the main source of heat and air. I even made an exception to allow him to rent my house because he had a little dog and I don't allow pets.  But, I felt bad for him because he had no other options.  I've built more good will with this tenant than any tenant before and it is never enough.  I'm a good guy, follow the law and do the right thing for my tenants.  He treats my PM like garbage and makes threats any time he can.  I've offered to split the difference, etc. he will only accept full reimbursement. 

Scott, the house is in my name, not a corporation and I fully expect the tenant to take this as far as he can. He is just that type of person.  

Thanks everyone for all the input

The contractor is from hearth and patio apparently. The house is habitable and in good to excellent condition. 

I will keep you all posted, thanks for all the input.   

Thanks for all the replies. 

Scott - My PM is keeping me informed as to what is going on so I don't get blindsided.  I have had bad PM's in the past and with this new one I wanted to be "in the know".  I do appreciate the sentiments.

I'll try to keep this brief.  I have a rental property in Charlotte, NC and the gas fireplace hasn't worked for awhile.  While my property manager was in the process of getting an estimate, the tenant (without approval) hired his own contractor to fix the gas line at $360. I am responsible for paying $150 to fix a few other things to get it working. Now that the fireplace is working the tenant is threatening to take me to court for the $360 that he spent, which he was told many times not to do on his own.  I know NC isn't a very friendly state for landlords (in my experience) but I am not willing to reimburse him for something that he did without my approval.  In my eyes he is in breach of the lease agreement, but I am not an attorney.  Is it going to cost me more than $360 to defend myself therefore should I just bite the bullet and reimburse his $360? A precedent has been set with the tenant that when  he acts like a bully, makes threats he gets his way and I want to end this.  But I am not interested in it costing me thousands to defend myself and then perhaps lose anyway.  Any advice would be appreciated, especially if you are familiar with landlord/tenant laws in NC. 

Meghan, just an update. We found an out of town tenant that moved in last weekend. So everything worked out.

Thanks Meghan. We are keeping a watchful eye and will repost when we actually do find a new tenant.  I think it would be impossible if there is no clear link between the parties and I seriously doubt everyone living in the property will be on the lease.  They don't seem to care much about the legalities of renting.  We did not file a police report on them since it wasn't vandalism, they just lived like squatters.  Very unclean, living in filth everywhere and breaking things by just not caring.  Eg. 2 yr old carpet was literally black, wood rot and leaks down the wall because they didn't shut windows when it rained, pretty much the worst tenants you could have.  Unfortunately, if they end up sneaking in, our only course of action is to evict via the courts.  This would take at least 2 months and they would surely destroy the home before they left.  I am hopeful we can spot the red flags if they do decide to sneak in under a friend or relatives credentials. Thanks again for the reply and talk to you soon.

I live in NC, have one house that I rent, my (now former PM) had to evict the tenant which has cost me over $3k in repairs and 3 months lost rent, so far.  Anyway, a neighbor just called to tell me that the tenant that destroyed my house and I just evicted is trying to stealthily "re-rent" my property using someone else.  What can I do to prevent the "bad" tenant from getting back into my house using someone else's name, etc.  I am sure the new applicants will have great references, credit, income, etc. and I will not be able to tell if they are a front or if they are real.  As far as I know, once they are in my house, I can't get them out without evicting them, which takes at least 2 months, giving them plenty of time to destroy my home again.  I informed my new property manager about this, but if they really want to get in and have enough people that will hide their associations, what can I do? Any advice would be appreciated.  I just have no words to describe the deception that people will use to get what they want.