All Forum Posts by: Steve Morris

no, it just means cya from any potential lawsuits

 Yes Kate, the attorney is from the law offices of Pessin Katz Law in Towson, and his name is Mr. James Benjamin Jr, Esquire. Pklaw.com is the website. The retainer fee is substantial but well worth it. He's very ethical and I highly recommend him. Believe me, this is a lawyer that goes against tradition in the sense of trying to put a strangle hold on your pockets.

Now, the first thing you need to know is that LEAD SAFE doesn't mean a thing and all of those lead safe certs that we have registered down at MDE does nothing to stop a lead based paint claim! In order to combat these claims you need for your properties to be LEAD FREE. In Maryland, I highly recommend Susan Kleinhammer and the firm of LEADTEC for this service, they use the xray gun to measure lead levels in the property.

The courts recognize the xray gun findings, just make sure the gun has been serviced and calibrated by a service professional. So, if you had the inspection done with wipes and a visual consider it money gone.

Two things to consider. If you purchased your property and it was insured for lead, you can breathe a little easier because the insurance will foot the bill, they have funds set aside for this and the lawyers hash it out with them. But, if you are like me , an accidental landlord who's insurance does not include lead paint in its rider, it gets stressful because, now they want to come after your assets and possessions.

I'm sorry if I seem like I'm all over the place, it's just so much to say and I'm not good at typing.

Now, if you receive a claim brought against you, first thing to do is get lead free certified. Do not let the plaintiffs lawyer send there lead detection firm in your property unless there is an order in place through the courts, this normally takes some time. So , if you get a court summons with you and 6 other parties listed, retain a lawyer asap. Have an lead free inspection done, shouldn't cost more than 300-350. This will inform you of what areas of your home would need to be addressed. Address those areas. See the lawyer for the plaintiff has to prove there is lead present in the home and show through documents and expert testimony that the child or children may have received high lead paint levels from your property while living there. They do not care about Lead safe certs, they will say things like you rehabbed or gutted the property and things of that sort.

Listen, I have alot to say but I do not type and my job has wore me down for today.

If anyone wants to know more, just send a connect request and I'll give you my contact number cause its easier to do it like that for me. This is only pertaining to Baltimore City

Steve

Yes, I did and I can tell you that it has been one for the records. First, let me say that an investor needs to find out if he has insurance that covers this or they'll be taking on all costs associated with the claim. I don't think at the present I can divulge everything. I'm still involved with the claim but I will do for you guys what a so called investor guru couldn't do for me. 

Give me a few moments to clear my head and I'll let you know what you may need to do to protect yourself and give you peace of mind.

I plan on attending to see the highly active poster in person

Thank you Ned for the clarity I needed and Thank you Nathan for the post. I always figured there wasn't to much in place for investors in the Baltimore market

Steve

What is the criteria for getting money from private lenders and what are most terms like

Thanks Steve

I'd like to thank Wanye G. for the input that caused me to give it a try. It was very informative, however, I left without asking the questions i should've asked. Sometimes when you are in a new surrounding you kind of lose you bearings a little bit. I can tell you that these meetings are like social gatherings for friends, they all know each other and exchange information freely. Overall it was worth the price of admission which covered the food. Thanks again Wanye G

Steve

Would this be the chapter in Owings Mills

Had a roofing contractor come to property with insurance adjuster to assess roofing problem. I had one contractor come and give a quote beforehand the adjuster came in under what the initial contractor had given for a quote. Now this is where it gets crazy. The contractor who came with the adjuster so she could access the roof had said he would do the job at the adjusters price. He came back two days later trying to fast talk and not agree to do the work in the scope, finally he agreed to the complete scope of work and was set to start the work the following day and wrote a proposal up. He rushed off and I over looked the proposal and the was no license number. This guy claims he's been doing the work for 20 years, I asked for his license number and he says he left it home. Red Flag!! And would bring everything to get the contract signed. He then called the next day and said he didn't want to take the job because I was telling him how to do his job. Once i asked for the license, he backed away.