All Forum Posts by: Michaela G.

 YOu are right.  These people are just trying to blow smoke up peoples Butt in the name of Humanity.  Its all self serving . 

Compassion is taking the little dog with a broken leg to the vet.  Writing letters is Screaming i want my money Its Business.

 Do you play chess? That's my gambit - my opening, in which I sacrifice something, in order to gain something else. 

we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I'm also an excellent chess player.

I'm one of those investors and I'm willing to forego my PROFIT for April, not the total rent payments. Yes, I have reserves, but I wouldn't have to touch them, except for repairs. I can hold out for a while. This is my offer for April. I'll see what happens afterwards. 

I believe in karma. It all comes back around

But sometimes it's wise to look at the big picture and help someone in order to help ourselves. Giving some upfront may create goodwill in the tenants. I've had my share of tenants that packed up in the middle of the night and just disappeared, because they didn't have rent money. When people lose their income, not everyone calls the landlord. If they don't have it, they don't have it. So, I dropped my April rents to just above my mortgages to help tenants be able to pay rent with their stimulus checks, instead of just disappearing. We have a moratorium on evictions, so I don't have much I can do. 

Sure, I could be strict and rigid and insist on the full rent, as I would in normal times, but those that can't pay, can just ride it out on eviction. 

It's much harder for a good tenant to screw over a landlord, that has been good to them, than to justify it to a landlord, that , even in emergencies, shows they have no regard for anyone or anything but money. 

This is a huge situation and we're all in this together 

A couple of days ago I sat down and wrote down all of my piti payments and lowered all of my rents to a little above that point. I offered all of my tenants reduced rents for April. I gave away my profit but since the total payments would cover also the mortgage on my own house, I have no car payment no expensive hobbies/habits and have 60k in cash reserves and another 90K I could access through credit cards, I'm ok with that. 

A lot of my tenants are artists/creatives, who work in service industry to pay their bills. Their income stream has been cut off for now. Evictions have a moratorium in Atlanta, so, there's no penalty for tenants to just not pay. 

I'd rather offer them goodwill and have them work with me and pay their rent with the upcoming stimulus, than feeling that they'll just go ahead and wait out the eviction or just move (without notifying me), because it'll be hard to fill any vacancies right now. It's much easier for a tenant to feel righteous and not give a damn about the landlord that appears to not care and only worries about their money, than it is to screw someone over that has been fair to you. 

This is an emergency and I'm willing to give up something, instead of being rigid. 

I"m a big picture person and rather look at the long term than just making enough money next month. 

There's a huuuuge difference between us. I took advantage of an opportunity that was not of my making. I didn't want anyone to foreclose or lose their business and I did nothing to make that happen. I bought REOs that were offered by the banks after the fact.

But you actually wish for all of us to lose everything, so that you can profit of that. That's makes you an absolutely horrible person !!!

@Merritt ,

I believe in times like these, in the big picture of things, those that create some goodwill with tenants will persevere better than those that won't give an inch. When a tenant has nothing to lose by not paying, because there are no evictions, It's better to be seen as a landlord that's willing to be a good person, than to be seen as one that is only out for their money. Because it's so much easier to justify screwing over someone that's only about money than someone that has shown humanity. 

wow! That's a horrible attitude! So, you want everyone to lose, so that you can make money? Sounds just like all of the corrupt people in government today. Who do you think you are, that you deserve to cash out on the backs of all of us who took chances and worked our butts off and bought when you didn't? 

I think that many people, and it seems you as well in this post, overlook that it's not 'black or white' - as in 'pay all the rent or pay nothing'. There's a huge number of shades of gray in between and the decision that I made falls into those. My rental income is my only income as well. No job, no W2. I have 60K cash reserves and I have about 90K credit cards that are clear. I have no car payment and the mortgage on my own home is under $ 800.00. I don't have an expensive life style or expensive hobbies or habits. 

So, for April I offered to forget about my profit. I can live without profit and use my savings for my own living expenses. It won't cost much. If my tenants can pay enough so that I can pay my mortgages, then I think that's a win-win for everyone. Sometimes you have to give some to get some. If you're too rigid and never bend , you'll break. 

This is an unusual situation and we all have to work together. It's not just that tenants need us, we as landlords need tenants. It's not a one-way street. Some tenants don't start the conversation of having difficulties - they will just move out, ashamed or just broken because of the situation. I could survive a long time that way, if my mortgages are being paid. I would not be able to hold out very long, if my tenants move or not pay (can't evict) and just stay. 

I see my name, but BP doesn't send me any notifications for some reason. 

I don't know TN law, but in whatever states I've lived, your lease would still be valid during that time. You mention that the owner sold the property. Did it actually close (I assume it didn't or the notice would have to have been given by the new owner) or is it just under contract?

Your options, if this was in Georgia, are: 

a) stick to your guns and the lease that you signed. 

b) Have him offer you 'cash for keys' - a big enough sum to make it worthwhile for you to move. Consider that you'll have to pay movers, maybe move into an airbnb in between and put your stuff in storage and all of the inconvenience of moving. I know you don't want this, but keep it as plan B

c) if the house hasn't actually sold, maybe you can file the lease in the courthouse, under the address of the property. It would then come up in the title search, which is usually done in the week before closing. The buyer would then know and make the decision whether to go ahead with the purchase, with the tenant in place or to back out of the buy. In that case the seller might take the house off the market, but will probably hate your guts and you'll have to live with that animosity for the rest of the lease. And maybe the value isn't so high and it would still be worthwhile for an investor to buy, with tenant in place.