All Forum Posts by: Robert D.

hey ladies and gents, so ive been very busy with life, kids etc. ive been ready to pull the trigger on LLC'ing my properties. i was trying to get all my ducks in a row in preparation. My insurance company hit me with a whopper and i wanted to see if this was standard across the board or atleast california. perhaps there may be a work around the issue. my agent has told me that if i LLC'd my properties that the rates would double seeing as how if properties are owned by LLC's that i would have to go under a commercial policy. im thinking it would not be worth doing now. im just not feeling the double your yearly policy premiums. this has made me wonder if there were a worse case scenario what would the typical payout be but that would have too many variables to answer. ie how much i own, severity of accident... what are the typical payouts you all have seen or rather a prosecution be awarded? with premiums ive been quoted im thinking now perhaps just a large umbrella policy or liability of 1 mil, 2-3 mil???? i could use some advice. i can see and hear my bubble bursting....thanks all

@jon i speak as spoken to. Im from back east what can i say :p that was my attempt at humor. We all have different ways i suppose. Me, i like my properties taken care of. Like Jack said the way a tenant cares for the exterior is an indicator of how they are taking care of the interior. Truer words were never spoken. Yea i dont think i would evict the tenant over a simple oil stain which one would think is a 2x2" stain. Ha ! I wish that were the case. Try to picture a 2x2" stain( ill refer to this as a dot) , now take that dot and multiple by 200 all within an area of about 4'x6'. There are two of those areas. It is an L shaped driveway. So im pretty sure any landlord might raise an eyebrow if they would have seen this. If not then i would assume you are perhaps a landlord that doesnt give a blank about who you get into your property nor how the tenant will take care of your property as long as that cash rolls in. Hey not everyone can be a landlord that cares about their property going down hill. I protect my investment but to each his own i suppose. To steer this back in the right direction, i have written her a notice of violation of contract. Just to let her no im serious. Will i evict her? Unless it gets horribly worst ie looks like the exxon valdez washed ashore on my driveway, no i prolly wont evict her. Btw concrete is porous, you might be able to make it appear as if its gone but i guarantee it will come back much like a stain on a carpet comes back after a steam clean. If anyone was offended by my harsh words, you really need to get thicker skin. :D <-- thats a smile, that means its supposed to be taken with a bit of humor

Wow a couple of harsh words. I guess there may be a couple of slumlords on this forum. While i agree it may be nitpicking i dont see anything wrong with DESIRING to keep the place well maintained. It is a business afterall i understand. If you owned a storefront business would you let some one walk in and soil your carpets? I wouldnt like that. Apparently some wouldnt mind that. A line must be drawn sometime. My properties are my money makers. Ive been doing this for quite a while now. Always something new to learn. Thats why i come here. For those that have given me good advice i thank you. For those that wonder if i should even be in the bizz, you can go back to your roach infested, slumlording properties.

thanks for the replies. property may not be immaculate but it sure looks purty as all heck !! :P i dont want oil stains to be an eye sore. and yes it already is in the contract :) Jack well said. this is a business. no need to grow slack. John i believe concrete is porous and oil will not permanently come off. kind of like shampooing a carpet, it may look clean for a short while but that stain is guaranteed to return.

hi gang,

once again i turn to the pros and this great forum. i have a rental property leased out. not to sound nit picky but this property had a near immaculate clean driveway. i told the tenant that it needed to be cared for and what was expected she agreed it would be. i noticed one day her car had a small engine oil leak. she said she would park the car in the garage which she has not done. there are various small oil stains in the driveway now. i dont want to lose her as a tenant but a crappy driveway doesnt quite make the cut either. im thinking about writing her a notice of violation letter stating she is in violation of contract. yes it is in the contract that tenant shall keep clean of oil drippings. and perhaps the notice will keep her from allowing her car to continue to drip oil on the driveway. any advice?? thanks again

so i have a section 8 tenant in one of my rentals. she is a good tenant. about a month after she moved in we had the plumbers come out and roto rooter the main line leaving the house. i didnt mind. the cause for this instance could have been anyones, not to mention it hadnt been cleaned out in a few years. no biggie. 5 months later i needed to call out the plumber again. this time the main cause of the plug was someone was flushing down those sanitary wipes, which are not biodegradable. this is purely the tenants fault obviously. bill totalled $300+. she has no way of paying this as she stated. housing authority has her locked in for 2 years from begining of the rental contract. i dont necessarily wanna give her the boot, but this is a business.

my real question is: she wants me to take it out of her deposit, then she claims she will replenish the deposit once tax time comes around, around feb- march 2013. is this legal for me to do? i live in california if that helps. thanks in advance once again! you guys have been an enormous help to me in the past.

David,
i have something in the works similar to what you said. in regards to the lawsuit i should have mentioned i was referring to outside liability lawsuits. not inside. i will have to look it up but to my recollection i believe in the case of outside lawsuits, the laws of where the LLC was formed take precedent. ill post when i get to reread that section.

Steven, thank you for your reply. i have read that the state where the LLC is domiciled laws are what takes precedent over say california law in the case of a lawsuit. ill have to look that back up again but i believe that is correct. if you are correct it would make no sense for me to form my LLC in another state.

i agree, taking a seller's agents word for anything is like talking to a car dealer. he will do what it takes within reason to make the sale. he covered himself by telling you fairly. we have to be one step ahead of them to close things out correctly. its akin to children sometimes they choose their words so they dont get into trouble but once you ask for specifics, they are busted ! ask me how i know ! :)

Thank you all for the great replies. Can anyone recommend a good tax/asset protection lawyer in southern california? this is a great knowledge bank but in the end i must consult with an attorney as you all have stated.

one question I would like to get some opinions on. In regards to asset protection, is it true if i start the LLC in another state that that states laws would govern if there were to be a lawsuit here in california? ie charging order protections etc would be a biggie....after all they do call this place commifornia. :/