All Forum Posts by: Larry Bowers

@Chris Seveney

The water department just said it "posted to the account and there is nothing they could do", so the benefit would accrue to the new owner of the property, and that's that, "that's our policy". It's a negligible $60 amount. But that policy of no refunds seems dishonest to me. But back to the insurance, seems it's nothing that will come into play unless we have an egregious error. 

A tenant abandoned a junker car. Rather than just give it away to a scrap yard , someone might pay me $100 or more for it.

Some of you veteran landlords have surely dealt with this before. Any recommendations based on experience?

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Larry Bowers:

All I have is her name, phone, and email. 

Wait - you have her name, phone, email and address.....that's enough info. Besides, what has she done?

She's done nothing yet. However, a lease that's ~$200 below market for two years, no security deposit, and then trying to dictate terms to me on how the lease will go didn't get us off on the right foot as landlord and tenant. And she's more or less implied she is not going to pay me. The real shame is, I was prepared to work with her but she doesn't understand she's got a awesome deal going, even though I tried to explain the big picture situation. So since I can evict without cause since I foreclosed, I feel I am dodging a big bullet just getting her out straight away. Section 8 is at least $1100, and more with utilities...that's where I am headed.

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Bruce Woodruff

Exactly

You have name email and address. Not sure what else he needs

To original poster are you sure there is not an existing lease in place? What due diligence did you do before buying the property ?

Chris, I have the property with a trustee's deed from a foreclosure (I was the lender). I needed the building back, so the due diligence didn't matter. Yes, there was a lease, but the lease should be wiped out by the foreclosure. I figured I would need SSN, place of employment, a ton more information to see this judgement sticks and the world can know about it...have this affect the tenant's credit reports, background checks.

So what I want to know how you would handle the art of letting this tenant know. Do nothing, send a text message, write a letter, and what to say? This is more along the lines of strategy rather than legal procedure. Let's say the tenant's name is John Smith. There are thousands of them around. How can I make the judgement stick to the right John Smith? Something to disambiguate between all of them out there seems like it would have to be a part of what is needed, like SSN for example.

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Is she breaking the existing lease in any ways? Is she MTM or is there an end in sight to the lease agreement? 

No, she is not breaking the lease, but I see that coming soon for non-payment anyway. She thinks I am obligated to honor the original lease with the old owner. I foreclosed on the house, therefore the lease is wiped out, so I could, but am not required to keep her in the place. I have another thread asking if foreclosures indeed wipe out leases or not...and turns out they do. I feel ashamed I didn't know that already. :) I am just preparing for the art of dealing with her. A little bit of strategy and stoicism here may preempt a ton of turnover cost and time.

Quote from @Dwayne Poster:

The notice of action, addressed to the 'tenants on the land', give them more time than most any other process. Court process, redemption, court orders. It can take many months, as I'm sure you've experienced. Your attorney may even had requested monies slated for tenant removal, as many banks will have done. The court ruling supersedes any agreements. That's why it's done, to resolve an unworkable arrangement. 

Seek legal advice though, as I only speak from my experience as a layman.  I have seen several court directives where rent tenancy is maintained, but the rent payments are redirected. It all depends on what you asked for in resolution, and what the courts final declaration were.

I wonder now if I would be entitled to collect anything from the occupant at all during the time they are there before they are evicted.

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Larry Bowers

I believe your attorney is correct - tenant had a contract with the prior owner and the foreclosure removed them from property and all interests. You could keep them in the property but are not required too.

Also any deposits they provided you would not be obligated for

Again speak to your attorney but I believe they are correct

Seems like you have been down this road before. Is the length of time any different than any other eviction?

I need some help to pitch this to my uncooperative, inherited tenant. This tenant has a steady job, a single mother, and has a kid in private school. In a nutshell, I want her to leave ASAP, possibly use cash-for-keys. I need help from the BP community about how to let her know that I will pursue a money judgement against her if she follows through with intentional destruction or make other problems. 

The thing is, I don't have her personal information, and if she moves out at some point, I might have trouble tracking her down. If I asked for her personal information, she won't give it to me, so I see this as a problem with getting the judgement. All I have is her name, phone, and email. She has an unusual enough name though, so that's a plus.

What would you do?

I've recently foreclosed on a property in MO as the lender. The inherited tenant and I are butting heads about me enforcing the existing lease and for now we're not communicating. The lease is poorly written, and with this tenant having a two-year lease (signed just before the sale date, probably intentional) with no security deposit and a rent around $225 below market, there isn't any reason to keep her other than put off some repairs and paint the interior.

I went to my attorney to see my options. She told me that a foreclosure wipes out a lease and I could evict her. What?!? I thought the lease always stood and my only options would be to hope she doesn't pay or there is some other lease violation, then evict on those grounds.

I am just confirming and want to get some advice beyond what I get with my attorney for evicting after foreclosure. I am assuming that the best practice in most cases with inherited tenants that look to be problematic is to evict straight way. If the old owner couldn't pay the mortgage, he's probably not a good landlord either.

Thanks!

@Joe Splitrock Yes, I did set up the account with my current email address & phone number and verified that before making my original post. I am not denying I owe the money or trying to weasel out of it. The rub is that both BGE and the collection agency didn't make any serious effort to let me know there was a bill and they way I had to find out about it is on my credit report. If someone owed you money and you had their email address, wouldn't you use it to see about getting the debt settled? Wouldn't you do that before reporting the credit bureau? 

Stuff happens. 😀 I called and settled now. Just a shame, it didn't have to go like that. 

@Matthew Paul yes, they were very courteous @ BGE with me. I am surprised they never reached out to me, but the bill was already out of their hands by the time I called, I had to deal with the collection agency only.