All Forum Posts by: Patricia Lashley

@JohnUnderwood. The electricity is in his name. The water/sewer account is in mine. Can I legally turn the electricity off? Thanks.

Thank you guys for your comments.
I did not do what I did with him, that is, be nice, out of ignorance, or because I did not understand the risks or do not know how to manage my rental property. I did what I did because I CHOSE to be nice then, because of his 4 young children, who have been having a really hard time of it.
My son does not manage the property, and has a full time job, to which he is tied until 6pm every day so his filing the paperwork is not an option unfortunately.
I have done evictions on my own in the past, including filing all the paperwork in the courts, and even showing up in court when one of the tenants decided to respond and a hearing was set. I can handle all of that. I have done so for many years, all by myself.
What I specifically wanted/ want to know is *IS THERE A QUICKER legal way to get him out without going through the eviction process as I need the income to restart as soon as possible.
I was not sure about applying the deposit to back rent, as this is the first time the house is in as immaculate a condition as it is, so under normal circumstances I would probably be returning most or part of his deposit, and wanted to know could I legally apply it to the back rent. I have since found information on that, so have the answer to that question, even though it is not in the lease. I am adding it to my future leases.
I also would like to connect to a landlord or real estate professional in that area, to discuss a mutually beneficial relationship, so asked about that.
I am still trying to find out if I have to re-issue the 3-day notice before I file the eviction paperwork.
I absolutely understand the value of having a property manager but this is not typically or normally the house or the type of situation where one is required.
I was just too nice this time, but will never let anyone else change my character or my personality so cannot promise to not be nice in the future, but I will definitely be more cautious, particularly with people like him. There were a couple warning signs that he was a user/abuser.

If anyone has the answer please. Do I have to start over with the 3-day notice?

Thanks!

I need help.

My tenant in FL is still in our house even though the lease ended Jan 31, and he has not paid rent since Sep 1, 2023.

I served a 3-day notice at the beginning of Dec but did not follow up with eviction as I was way too nice and decided to allow him and his 4 very young children to live out the holiday season in the house.

I sent him a letter at the beginning of January, telling him I was not renewing the lease because he had not paid rent in forever, owed money and he needed to leave by Jan 31. I never heard from him until late on 31st, saying by text that he would be out on Sunday night (Feb 4th).

I live 2 hours away but our son who lives only an hour away, drove there Sun night to find that some stuff had been moved but there was a ton of stuff all over the outside, lots of stuff still inside and the tenant not present. A phone call determined that the tenant was "in the process of moving" and planned to sleep in the house that night but would have his stuff all gone by the next day. Somewhere in all his talking I heard the phrase "most of my stuff" by Monday/Tuesday. I was firm and said I needed him gone by Monday. Our son called him on Monday to arrange for final walk through, and when he mentioned that he would be expecting the keys and planned to change the locks, our tenant got a bit upset and then said he would not be out until Tuesday. We told him we would give him an extra day but would be there on Wednesday to walk through, collect the keys, secure the house etc. He agreed to meet up at the house at 7pm.

At 7pm, he was at his children's practice he said, when he finally answered the phone 90 minutes later, his stuff was still all over the inside (seen through the windows) and all over the outside. He was not even pretending by then. He announced that he planned to sleep at the house with his four very young children that night. My son sat in his car in the driveway letting me know what was going on, and our tenant walked up to the car said he was not playing games, his children were hungry, he was hungry and he was leaving with them, to get something to eat. And he drove off.

I called the sheriff but of course the officer that was dispatched never showed but called me up on the phone instead to say he was not going to intervene and I needed to evict.

Here are the facts. Tenant is a vet, has a temper, has 4 young children. Moved in Aug 2021 on a year's lease, renewed in 2022 for a year and renewed in 2023, only for 6 months because when the lease expired, he owed 3 months rent. I bent over backwards to work things out with him, gave him time to catch up etc. He was caught up in July/August because he got help from a vet org that paid his back and current rent. At their urging, I renewed the lease at that time, but only for 6 months because of the poor history of paying. He paid September's rent on time, then excuses, stories, not answering the phone, not communicating etc. I stuck a 3-day notice at the beginning of December and did not follow up because he spoke to my son saying he had nowhere to go etc. and I said I would allow him to stay because of the children, until the end of December.

He is beyond taking advantage of my "niceness". I am 69, if that makes a difference and husband is 69. House is in both our names.

My questions:

Since he is there without a lease, is there anything I can do to get him out as soon as possible besides going to the courthouse (2 hours away) and filing eviction paperwork? Frankly, I need this house rented as soon as possible and bringing in income. It has been beyond difficult paying the mortgage without income all these months.

If I am going to have to file in the courthouse for eviction, do I need to serve the 3-day notice all over again?

How do I file for eviction (which I know how to do) and also file to get all my back rent (which I do not know how to do)? I had intended to let it go but not now that he is still there and does not appear to care, was rude to our son, keeps breaking his word to get out and now we are well into February - yet another month without rent. 

He paid the last month's rent when he moved in as well as a deposit of $1400. Rent is more than $1400. He also pays a pool care fee every month and $50 for water, as he could not get the account in his name when he first moved in. I have been paying those, along with the mortgage, out of pocket and it is really hurting us financially.

If there is no or little damage to the house after he is gone, do I have to return his deposit or can I apply it legally, to the rent due?

Is there anyone in the group from the Pt Richey area, where all this is playing out?

Thanks!

@Scott Trench @Jonathan R McLaughlin Thank you guys, for responding. I guess in my brain, I know that we should sell but I have this thing about selling... Before all this political stuff, this property actually paid for the total renovation of another house, left in a mess by a long term tenant. That house is cash flowing in its 2 year of rebirth :) to today. This house is a real money maker, normally, and I keep hoping to have a miracle revival of the good old rental days! I checked with other owners' groups and most everyone is having similar experiences, and one owner told me their goal is to break even every month and look to the equity in the future. I a too old to even think about that as a strategy. We need the rental income now. At least a couple months from now and I need to stop bleeding $3000 on this house, in addition to paying the mortgages of the 2 I am rehabbing with no rental income to offset.

I just now have to let my heart catch up with my head, or harden my resolve to do what I always said I would - move how the numbers dictate.

Thanks, guys!

Well, gentle people, I find myself up a creek without the proverbial paddle.

And PLEASE FORGIVE my apparent ignorance about such a basic topic as my questions below.

For reasons, which I won't go into here, I found myself 10 months ago, having to rehab 2 houses instead of one, and both turned up with issues not previously known or planned for. In fact, lots of stuff happened, which I can use to justify what may have been bad judgment on my part or just a series of unfortunate circumstances.

In the long run, matters not how I got here, but how I get out of HERE. Right? :)

The short version of this post is: If I sell a property and do not reinvest in another, am I paying taxes on ONLY previous purchase price minus sales price, on the profit, after taking into account money I may have put into it for improvements, or on the entire sales price?

If I have to reinvest, am I having to reinvest all of the sales price, to avoid taxes, or only the difference between what I owe on the mortgage and the sales price, or what I paid for it and the sales price?

Long version:  I am now out of cash. Have used practically every last dime, and am 99% done on one house - just have to find cash for locks, a plumbing fix for something that happened yesterday, a sudden electrical problem (no juice in any outlets in the kitchen), a general clean up, and I will be ready to rent and have money coming in, after paying the mortgage, on time, for more than a year.

On the other house, I need 2 new AC units, for which I do not have the money, new carpets in 6 bedrooms, which I can swing, fixtures, ceiling fans, shower doors. And I am done. The contractor for everything except the AC units, has been paid, with only $1k owing so I really need to just find the money for the AC units, and I have none. :)

One of the properties we own, is a STR in the Disney area. It is not bringing in consistent money. Lately, it is not bringing in any money at all and while I have bookings late this year, and a scattering next year, there is no guarantee that I can turn this around. Conventions in the Orlando area are canceling left, right and center, because of the immigration laws just passed, because of the tension of the whole LGBTQ thing and whether you are a supporter of the present Governor or not, is really irrelevant to this, my problem, because this is what is happening in this area.

In 6 years of owning this house, I have never NOT HAD the house booked for July 4th weekend, labor day weekend, Halloween weekend. Yet this is it this year. And I just got a 3 night booking for Thanksgiving weekend at a rate so low, I shudder to think about it. :) This is the one house that is not easily converted into a LTR as it is 8 bedrooms, SF, with a private pool, in a gated STR community, with an HOA, and limits on how many long term rentals there can be. And I do not foresee being able to rent it long term ever.

If we sell, we can walk away with approx. $300k, which would allow me to finish that one other house, give me a cushion, just as my husband thinks about retirement. Plus free me of $3000 in obligations every single month, with no money coming in.

I tried to get a second mortgage. Was not successful and a refi would put us further in the red every month, if the rental trend continues.

Between the properties we own, we have over 1.3M in equity, conservatively, but that does not really do me any good because refi-ing is out of the question.

Anyway - thanks for reading all of this - it did me well to vent, even if only by typing up this stuff and I really want to know about the taxes so I can consider my options.

God bless.

I am willing to pay the higher (current) interest rate on the 2nd mortgage. I just don't want to refinance the entire loan.

Every single lender I have talked to (and I get solicitation emails and calls daily and I contacted others) wants to refinance the whole property and I won't do that. It will not be worth it to me. Our interest rates on all 7 properties are 5.5% and under. I don't know how to find a lender willing to do a 2nd mortgage that is not a conventional lender.

Hi Erik. We own 6 rentals both LTR and STRs. We own a 7th property which has been our home since we bought it just under 6 years ago. So no, we do not live there.

The house in question is a brick/block house on a double lot. We have owned it since 2009. Immediately after purchase we rewired the entire house, gutted the kitchen and did it over from the floor up with new appliances, painted the entire inside of the house, and switched out most of the original plumbing. In the years that followed added a new roof, new water heater, new AC. Last month we put in a new kitchen floor and new floors in the 4th bedroom suite. Additional work is needed to fully restore the house after a tenant move out, including painting, adding a shower to an existing powder room etc. This house has approximately $250,000 equity. I do not want to refinance the mortgage. But I need funds to execute a proper rehab. Unfortunately our CPA disappeared sometime during the pandemic and I have not been able to find a new one to bring our taxes current (we do not owe taxes - just have not filed yet) so that excludes a conventional HELOC. I am looking for a HELOC that will not require tax returns. My credit is good and have never had a bankruptcy or foreclosure. I own other rental properties and our home (with my husband). Any advice /help would be appreciated.

What does everyone think about buying mortgage notes?

Is there profit in doing this?

I understand the concept but cannot figure out how to find and negotiate the notes themselves?

Is there a forum where notes are sold? Do I just start calling up banks/credit unions?

Any advice would be appreciated.