All Forum Posts by: Michael Lamando

@Casey Powers

I agree. I think the simple solution to help the tenants is instead of giving them all the money directly they should have figured out to direct some directly to the landlord if the intent is to prevent evictions. Say 30% of it.

@Aleejandro Dela Vega

Thanks for the info. I hope this happens in Massachusetts. I have 11 out of 12 tenants paying fine. The 12 two female roommates always late are telling me they have the money but one is claiming she is waiting for a debit card in the mail 2 weeks now, and the other is afraid to pay until the first one pays. They owe $5327 and they are making more money than they ever had. One is collecting unemployment plus 600 per week and working under the table for her boss, and bought a car. Its just criminal that the government overcompensates with stimulus to these people, and then lets them live free for 6 months. Just criminal to have no checks and balances. Landlords should have the right to have a judge hear the evidence of every tenant on a case by case basis to see which ones are really suffering from the pandemic and which aren't. 

@Colleen F. I agree they are pitiful. They need to at least put warning language into the law to deter abuse, and the media needs to mention this when they publish news and commentary about it. Something like, tenants will be on the hook for owed funds to the landlord when they are evicted if they have received ample unemployment and stimulus to have paid the rent.

Here is a link to the lawsuit article:

https://bostonagentmagazine.com/2020/05/29/lawsuit-challenges-statewide-eviction-foreclosure-moratorium/

Thank God.

The blanket moratorium without care and detail leaves landlords holding the bag and provides no checks and balances for tenants to abuse and lie about their situations.

I think that the total lack of care, accountability and specifics when creating the eviction moratorium is gross negligence regardless of the state of the emergency. They could have at least gone back into session after the initial passage, and refined the terms of the moratorium and amended it.

For example, the tenant should be required to notify the government of their previous salary before they were laid off, and their new income under the unemployment benefits, and also the name/address of their landlord. 

The government should then analyze this, and notify the landlord of the income increase or decrease. Things should be discoverable out in the open and this will prevent abuse and deceit of tenants to their landlord.

Only the tenants that have truly suffered income loss should be protected under the eviction moratorium, and furthermore if the government really cared they should provide direct rent assistance to the tenant by paying the missing income amount to the landlord directly for the rent until the emergency is lifted and the tenant has found employment.

I think the government has no leg to stand on other than to say they were acting out of emergency. 

Just my opinion...

Here is a link to the docket:
https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/docket/SJ-2020-0442

I'm not sure how you would shift to month to month leases except for new leases or expiring leases. I think it would be tough for an attorney to argue that you just decided for no particular reason to end the lease and by the way the tenant is behind on the rent. My strategy has been to communicate to all tenants what the government is doing to assist them mentioning the 600 extra per week they are getting and the stimulus checks for them, their significant others and children. Helping them check on their getpayment status, asking if they need help applying for or resolving unemployment issues and delays, and recommending for some that they apply under the gig status or self employment status for the unemployment. So far being proactive has helped me collect ALL rents from all tenants and they have been pretty cheerful and cooperative for my assistance. Letting them know proactively from the beginning what the government is doing and all of its programs to provide for lots of assistance to tenants. No pressure, just helping the tenant understand how much the government is doing financially and even mentioning that the stimulus checks are going to people regardless of whether they lost their job or are still working. As long as they know that you are AWARE of all the assistance they are receiving they are less likely to pretend they aren't getting all of this extra money. The unemployment is retroactive for all the missed weeks during the delays. One of my tenants got a 3600 check making up for many weeks of delayed unemployment with the 600 per week extra. At this time any pressure put on a tenant in a negative way will result in a complete halt to them paying you rent. Tenants need that caring personal touch right now. They can screw you so easily right now if they are pressured or fearful. Also you might mention to your tenant(s) that are behind, that the other tenants have all thankfully paid, or that several other tenants are behind depending on the situation and how it will spin things in the right direction to motivate that tenant to pay. The direct approach doesn't work as well as figuring out the right indirect approach. I have 12 units, 16 years. Is anyone else employing similar strategies?

Just got  a text from my cousin in FL. He says Senator Rick Scott says it’s DOA in the senate. Thank god. Maybe if they just get rid of all the red tape and stimulus and unemployment boost and forbearance and just pay landlords directly for tenant rent and homeowners mortgages so long as they can prove covid policies or the disease itself has taken their job income away. 

This is the most complicated insanely written piece of garbage with respect to handling the housing situation ever written. There is nothing written to prevent people from freeloading. With the stimulus checks and the boosted unemployment, the tenants that had any rights of complaining that they don't have enough to pay the rent are making more money than they ever did in their lives. If they want tenants to have free rent then the government should pay the landlords directly for the rent No documentation required, rather than pretend that forbearance is the solution.

Forbearance doesn't pay for the plumbers to auger out paper towels being used as toilet paper. There needs to be language that clearly requires "Proof" that tenants are not receiving enough income from the stimulus checks and boosted unemployment with comparison to their original job. There must be documentation requirements. To say that tenants are at risk of losing their housing, while simultaneously saying that tenants can not be evicted for not paying rent is insane. 

If they are going to let tenants live for free in buildings that are owned and maintained by real people and not the government then they need to take away the stimulus checks, and the boosted unemployment and tell tenants that they can have one or the other, but not free rent, AND stimulus checks and an extra 600 per week, my God! 

When all is said and done, the tenants that have saved up money freeloading for a year should have to pay the back-owed rent as a lump sum or have the judge stop the pain cycle immediately and give the landlord his unit back. The administration of this bill will cost a fortune and take months to implement. I can't imagine how a 1000 unit apartment building could survive without rents. Stop the cranes.