All Forum Posts by: Josh Sandefer

Hello everyone! I am newly licensed in the North Houston area, and I would love to meet any of you who might be in the area, new and seasoned. Can't wait to hear from you!

@Charles Nguyen I’m a little late on this discussion, but could you get me on that email list as well?!

I want to take a second to wish everyone here on BP a happy new year!  I hope all of your holidays were as amazing as mine.

Cheers,

Josh

@Curtis Hill that is awesome!  Be sure to let us know how it turns out here in the forums.  Wishing you the best of luck, Godspeed.

So there is no easement specified in the contract?  If there is not you should look into "easement by necessity."  Basically, if there is no easement built into the property, you have a legal right to access your property.  Therefore the owner of the adjacent land cannot stop you from accessing your land.  If all else fails you could use this to negotiate a contracted easement. I'm sure they would prefer that over you and your tenants driving through their yard multiple times per day.  

Check out this article:

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/easement-by-necessity.html

@Amaeleo Carey like someone said above, you have many financing options available, and even more if you can convince yourself to live in the property for a year or so. FHA loans are wonderful for financing repairs into the lien. If not, you may be able to do something along the lines of the BRRR strategy, which is when you rehab a property using whatever funding you'd like and refinance to withdraw the funds you put into the rehab. If you are interested in the BRRR strategy, try searching it in the forum I'm sure you will get a ton of hits.

@Deanna McCormick @Greg S. @Shawn Ackerman , thank you all for your input.  It is definitely a lesson learned (Although I own a house now, so I won't be dealing with the tenant side any more).  I just wish there was a way to get back at this guy.  Feeling like you've been taken advantage of is pretty rough.  Oh well, Greg is right, this wil definitely help me to be a better Landlord in the future, and I hope to never make anyone go through anything like what I and my family had to endure with these people.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Cheers,

Josh

@Levi T. what do you think about this clause in Virginia Law?  One non lawyer to another.

§ 55-248.11:1. Inspection of premises.

The landlord shall, within five days after occupancy of a dwelling unit, submit a written report to the tenant, for his safekeeping, itemizing damages to the dwelling unit existing at the time of occupancy, which record shall be deemed correct unless the tenant objects thereto in writing within five days after receipt thereof. The landlord may adopt a written policy allowing the tenant to prepare the written report of the move-in inspection, in which case the tenant shall submit a copy to the landlord, which record shall be deemed correct unless the landlord objects thereto in writing within five days after receipt thereof. Such written policy adopted by the landlord may also provide for the landlord and the tenant to prepare the written report of the move-in inspection jointly, in which case both the landlord and the tenant shall sign the written report and receive a copy thereof, at which time the inspection record shall be deemed correct. If any damages are reflected on the written report, a landlord is not required to make repairs to address such damages unless required to do so under § 55-248.11:2 or 55-248.13.

I recently moved out of a rental property, and I just received a notice from my landlord about some ridiculous charges against my security deposit, which strangely add up to almost the exact amount of my deposit (Hmm...).  This guy was one of the worst landlords I have ever experienced and I want the BP opinion on what, if anything, I should do.

First, there was never any move in inspection of the premises, despite the fact that he told us there would be, and my reminding him that it did not happen.  This is terrible because the condition of the house upon move in was atrocious, but my wife and I had nowhere else to go.

Second, after texting him pictures of mold outbreaks in the house he simply responded with a question mark and asked me to take care of it.

I was separating from the military when I moved out, and I think he is taking advantage of the fact that I will be out of state.  He is located in Virginia and I am now located in Texas.  

If anyone has any input I would love to hear it.