All Forum Posts by: Jovon English

Hello, I'm seeking advice on an inherited bad tenant.  She is nearly $500 behind on the water bill which for the first few months was in my name but now it is in her name.  However, in Columbus the landlord bears the ultimate responsibility of making sure the bill is payed or get a lien on the property. 

My lease does state that it is the tenant's responsibility to pay all utilities.  Based on that, I served a Lease Violation with 30 days to resolve the issue or face eviction.  Just want to check with you all if you had the same situation and to make sure I'm doing this right.  Thanks!

@Matt Clark, good suggestion.  I may have to do that.  @Melissa Nevich, I will look into adding an addendum.  I would like to put in the lease that she must set up automatic draft but that probably won't fly.

Hi Megan, I'm almost in the same boat but I was lucky to get one tenant to setup automatic payment, while the other tenant has been late since she signed the lease and still owes the previous landlord money.  My biggest mistake was locking her into a year lease with below market rent just so I can build up some money for the first year.  I put my best foot forward to accommodate every issue and she still hasn't paid the rent for this month.

My advice is, don't cut them any slack. They do not care and they will step all over you any chance they get (not all renters).  I was very sympathetic to her situation and I thought I could make it work but she took it as a sign of weakness.  I wish I didn't lock her into the year lease since I think it will be harder to evict her if she pays late but right before her 3 day notice ends.  Should have done month to month to feel her out first.

The last thing I wanted to do was to go through the eviction process but since she thinks its a game and knows all the ends and outs, I will play it with her.  Hope it doesn't come to that for you but I've learned my lesson...don't cut them any slack.

I should have listened to @Thomas S. and not locked my tenants in one year leases. One tenant is great and set-up automatic payments, while the other insists on paying late every month, forcing me to send 3 day vacate notices.  

I inherited a late-paying tenant when I bought a duplex in Ohio a few months ago.  I am an out-of-state investor and managing the property myself, so every time she is late I have to send 3 day notice to vacate via certified mail and regular mail with tracking. 

 It only costs me $15 or so but with this type of tenant, I will have to do this every month until I can finally evict her.  Can I legally tack on this fee to make her pay it since she insists on being late every month?  It is not specifically called out in my lease but obviously I cannot post a notice on the door myself.  And if I have to pay somebody to post the notice, can I charge her that fee?

Also, I believe she is running an unlicensed in-home daycare in my unit.  I can send somebody to go and inspect, but I'm not sure how I can prove this in order to be a violation of the lease.  I already know she will claim landlord retaliation if I send somebody to go take pictures of everything inside.  What are your thoughts?

After negotiating a lower price to get more towards the 1 percent rule, I would only buy the duplex if I didn't have plans to move anywhere else for a long time.  That way it would be difficult for it to turn into a bad deal.  Since you need somewhere to live anyway it's not a bad idea to have somebody else pay most of your mortgage.  If I could start over again and if the bank would have loaned me that much money, I would have started with a duplex myself or would have tried to buy a small apartment complex.  I would make sure the apartments would pay for the debt service, expenses, and my rent to live somewhere else.

Good stuff.  I'm originally from Columbus and find this market intriguing but don't see a lot of investor success stories about it.  I'm urging my local SoCal friends to invest with me so it helps to see somebody else going all in, in this market.

Let's focus on getting your credit and financials in order.  This should be done before trying to make your first deal.  You  can start by not carrying any credit card debt.   Even though I buy everything with my credit card, I pay it off every month and have do so for the past 10 years. This builds good financial discipline and will boost your credit score.  While you get that in order, continue your education on BP.  You will then be an expert when you are ready for your first deal.

Sounds like a good strategy and a lot like mine.   What made you want to invest in Indianapolis and are you using a property manager to help out?

@Greg S. Unify CU