All Forum Posts by: Randall Brown

our leases (California) have a paragraph about storage:

"STORAGE: Lessee shall have no right of storage hereunder and the Lessor shall not be liable for any loss of property by theft or burglary or otherwise from the Premises or the building, or for any accidental damage to person or property in or about the Premises."

Do you have such a clause? If their new bed got damaged from mold or whatever, they can make a claim on their renter's insurance. Not your responsibility, unless they can prove that you acted negligent.

(We also have a clause requesting that the tenants carry renter's insurance and add the landlord as a beneficiary.. of course nobody ever does that.)

if it was easy/ cheap to legalize, why did the seller convert back to garage?

Strict m2m

@Rob  he didn't say that he has no money. Maybe savings from a W2 job.

I think if the landlord refuses to give out the tax ID (SS#), then the tenant can still report this as a business expense.

On the 1099 they will report landlord's name, address etc and check a box "refused to provide tax ID"

Not sure what the IRS thinks when they see it.

Is it legal to limit a place to 1 person?  It is not a fair housing violation?  (Family status?) 

I was in a similar situation.

Bought a not livable house on large lot ($600k). Had a displaced tenant .. who owned an RV. I offered him the lot as a place to store his RV. We signed a "storage agreement" for $1000/mo. Which is not much on a $600k investment. It was supposed to be short-term until we got the map recorded and ready for demolition.

Well, the guy hooked up his RV, and started to fix up the house (without telling me)

One day, we got an environmental report done which included interior photos.

I could not believe my eyes. The bath had now a toilet again, the missing backdoor was installed, kitchen cabinets etc etc

He lived in a $3000/mo house and paid me only $1000 !

I raised his rent to $1200 :-)

I did not think it would be ethical to ask for market rent.

To those who think the guy won't pay or harass me.. he always pays by the 3rd, cash deposit in our bank account, never a phone call.. in.. a too long time!!!

Yeah :-( we bought the property in 2012, and still wrestling with the city.. demolition may not happen in 2017 either.

Property has appreciated $400k+, but as a rental, it looks bad on the P&L sheet. 

 Luckily I am a very messy person. The vast majority of tenants live cleaner than I do! It's great!

Timely question. A quit-claim deed from you to your LLC could trigger the due-on-sale clause (lender calls the mortgage due). You did not specify what kind of financing you obtained. If it is run-of-the-mill Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac loan, then you are not supposed to transfer. I cannot say how high your risk is, that the lender finds out. I think they would find out when the insurance policy changes. (You would want to add the LLC as a beneficiary to the policy.)

FHA loans are assumable, but I doubt for LLCs.

Commercial loans with a small local lender... good chance that the lender agrees (get it in writing).

LLC has to have the same members as who is on title/ loan.

*************** EDIT ******

I recall now a trick from some "guru". I think it involves moving the property into a land trust and then name the LLC as beneficiary of the trust? This avoids the due on sale clause. Maybe someone else knows more??

Application for variance around here costs non refundable ~$6k.. takes 2 months.

They have an incentive to approve because of additional permit and later tax revenue.. 2 units make them more money than 1.

Being polite helps around here.