All Forum Posts by: John Mead

Hello everyone, Sorry it's taken me a while to post an update... hopefully, this information may be useful to someone in the future.

So - the Mechanic's Lien. I had a very long and interesting and informative chat with Kushnick Pallaci. Filing can be done for very little cost if you do it yourself. However, filing yourself is not recommended because there are very strict rules and procedures in place. I was told you really need to know your stuff to do it solo. The cost for a professional to do it for you is ... LOTS ... and if a foreclosure is forced it'll cost thousands and can take years to fight out. In my case, a crappy little $500.00 claim means it's simply not economical (unless the filling body has a s-e-r-i-o-u-s grudge and money to burn) to pursue. To date I have heard and received nothing from the PMC. Well, that's a lie - I received a Christmas Card from the naughty PMC. Nice.

I want to be clear. If the PMC actually did the work they claimed to have completed, I would have paid them. They have had thousands out of me over the years.  Because I have evidence that they did not do the work they claimed I felt I had no choice but to stand up for myself and then confront them. They had no choice but to reply angrily and threaten to sue me or plonk a lien on my house - what else could they do? I feel that I cut a funding stream. They certainly would NOT have agreed with a "...yes, you're right, Sorry, let me refund you.  I've been fleecing you for everything I could because you are 4000 miles away and will do nothing to stop me", would they?.

@Account Closed  ..The company in question is DASA Properties on South Park Avenue, Buffalo. The owner, Lisa Fucina, was the one who was throwing the insults and threats and for some reason always copied her sister, Teresa Ruggerio in to the emails. I'll never know why she did this, not that I really care.... From personal experience I would NOT suggest getting into bed with this company! (Obviously!) The relationship started nice and lovely but as soon as I started asking questions about the work they claimed to have completed the relationship moved south and they refused point blank to send even basic photos of before and after any repair invoice they claimed - the invoices were always their own letterhead and sometimes simply did not make sense. The repair bills became more frequent and expensive and I had to do something because they were out of control. The rest is history and ended up with me starting this post.

Since my last post my partner ( Sarah Godbold , she just registered on BP ) and I have set up the necessaries and have taken control of the property ourselves. Sarah deals directly with the tenants and feels that she can work with them.  There has been only one instance when a call came in at 1am to report a problem - a problem that was resolved with a couple of phone calls and a relatively inexpensive repair bill.  The rest of the time she deals with US stuff from mid afternoon and so far things are progressing as planned. Sarah's a qualified Accountant and has always dealt with our tax affairs, in the US and in the UK, so it makes total sense for us to take back control... Interesting and exciting times ahead!

Hello, Thank you so much for the information.  I suspect it is a mechanics lien (I've been googling) because the PMC said they don't need an attorney and I don't have to live in the area or have a local mailing address for them to apply it. The PMC Agreement says nothing about jurisdiction for disputes. So, I live in the UK, my rental property and the PMC is in Buffalo NYS.  I am trying to speak to the PMC (on email because I know it'll turn into a huge argument over the phone) because I have gathered information that one of the recent charges was for a repair that was well above the limit set in our agreement for a non emergency repair - they now (not surprisingly) claim it WAS an emergency repair. This charge came about because of the annual HQS inspection from a rental assistance company for one of my tenants and they have just confirmed it was NOT an emergency repair that needed sorting out and that is why is was listed in the inspection, it was a minor repair for which a 30 day notice to fix was more than adequate.  These repairs I speak of were all done 'in house' by the PMC so no payment was made to an outside company. They set their own (very expensive) prices for repairs, tell you very little and then get moody when you question why they're throwing enormous invoices at you on a very regular occurrence.

Back to the threat of the lien - if they ignored me querying their invoices and went ahead and applied a mechanics lien to my property, how do I contest it (or return the favor to them), when or how will I get to hear about it, do they have to re-apply it every year to stop me selling the property (which I do not intend to do for another few decades, if ever), can they put extra costs & interest on the lien and can they apply to the courts, at any time, for a foreclosure to settle what they say I owe? I know it might seem I am a little paranoid but I want to explore this subject and I cannot seem to find the right words to use in a Google search....  If any clarification is needed please let me know.....Any more help or advice really is most welcome!

Hello all!  I'm looking for a little advice.  I've just terminated my property management company and now they are saying I owe them $500. Long story short, I've been told to pay up or they'll put a lien on my property.  They said I do not need me to live in the same state (or country) as them, they don't need an attorney, and they said because I gave them permission to do work via email that's all they need to place a lien on my property. I've just started digging through what I have and I have found one very recent invoice that I did not give permission for them to do. Another quote I agreed for them to do because they detailed what needed to be done.  The invoice for the quote states LESS work was done.  Between the quote and the works allegedly being carried out by the PMC I paid for a home inspection. The major 'repair' the PMC said needed doing did not actually exist, it was only a tiny repair. Since I terminated the PMC my tenant also confirmed that a smaller repair was done on something but the PMC told me in their quote more work was needed for that specific item. I just wanted to check - is the property management company correct in what they are threatening? Can they just run to a court and slap a lien on my property because I disagree with what they have charged? If they did run to a Court (which one is it likely to be?) and how would I get to know about any hearing that might happen? Or is it just a bullying tactic to try and pressure me into paying? Any suggestions? Thank you in advance!

Hello!  Got a bit of a fight on my hands at the moment with my property management company (PMC) based in Buffalo NYS.  For years they have been charging me with a lawn cutting service starting in April and ending in October, a full six months of the year.  The cost is going up every year as are the "repairs" that I am being charged for.  I have two seperate paying tenants, both S8 and both seem reasonably happy (I have not heard otherwise).  Something recently happened (unrelated) that made me dig out the leases (I have signed copies provided by the PMC) and I found that both tenants have signed their leases prior to moving in agreeing to take care of lawn duties - lawn care is specifically and clearly detailed as a clause.  So my problem is this: the PMC want to continue charging me for a lawn service and have told me that neither tenant is prepared to take responsibility.  The PMC also informed me that the leases they provided are standard and if I get a fine from the city I am legally obliged to pay it and they will not charge the tenants. (there is another clause in the leases that states that the tenant will follow all Federal, State, County & municipal laws, regulations & ordinances that apply to the property & walks adjacent etc). I have read the property maintence code of NYS but I feel maybe the PMC found a way to make extra cash and now does not want to lose it?  Where do I stand legally? I don't want to lose the tenants but at the same time the PMC has made ALOT of money from me and I need to pair it back a little. It's worth mentioning that there is not a 'lawn' at the property - it's a small patch of almost dead weedy grass at the kerbside. Appreciate any advice!

oops things and thumbs today ...new keyboard

Thank you both very much for your swift responses back to me, I will look into contacting Michael Sherwood in due course.

The company I currently managing my property called Dasa based in Buffalo NY.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with them?

* should read company not conpany

Hi, first time on Bigger Pockets came across the site purely by accident.

My problem is this I currently have a property management company in place and have been with them for over 4 years over the last 3 years we have not really made a return on our investment due to what can only be described as a high volume of repairs which are carried out  by the conpany and not with external contractors.  Does anyone know of a good and trustworthy property management company? I live in the UK and so far i am on my second management company.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

many thanks

John