All Forum Posts by: Richard Bader

Thanks I will contact some titile companies today. The ex wife has a decent job and has been paying 1100 a month rent for the last year, her lease is up in January. The house is worth more than the 75,000 they owe. She has agreed to pay 800 a month. If she fails to to pay, I would evict her and rerent or sell the home.

I have a friend that just recently went through a divorce and his house is going into foreclosure next month 11/18. The home is around 1200 SQ ft, 3 bedroom, 2 full bath, 1 car garage, nice size yard, fairly good shape but needs all new flooring and paint. They owe $75,000 and rehabbed I would believe the house would easily bring around $135,000. The ex wife would like to keep the house to keep their kids in the same schools but both his and hers credit scores are bad and they are unable to refinace. I have offer them $75,000 cash and a lease for the ex wife for $750.00 dollars a month for a year. Here is where I need the advice. We want to close this cash deal without a realtor, do i just need to contact a title company and let them know the situation and request a closing. I want to make sure there are no back taxes, liens, second mortgages, etc. What would be my steps to closing this deal?

I had a family move in one of my rental homes last November. I had the tenants sign a years lease. Since then they have complained and wanted various minor repairs done. When I would try to schedule someone to come make the repairs they were really difficult, every time was a bad time.. Then they always questioning whether I had the right permits when none of the items required permits. Then they would call the city to verify I did not need permits. They were also very rude to the people making the repairs and would say they wont go back. When a problem arose I responded the same day and try to make the repairs quickly. The couple had 5 children and seemed really nice until the lease was signed. Since then they have had another child and all are in a 3 bedroom home. Today I got a letter saying they are moving in the middle of September. She stated she will pay me a half a months rent for September and she was going to break the rest of the lease because the house is unsafe for her children. She stated that some spindles on the deck were gone and her child fell through them in May and had to go to the emergency room. She did note on the move in sheet that some spindles were gone, but when I said I would fix them she said don't worry about it because they were going to run some netting across the deck. Its hard to believe her child fell 3-4 months ago and she never mentioned it to me until now. They have a contract on a new home and that is the real reason the are moving. She stated she wants all her deposit back also. I fill she is trying to strong arm me. Do I just let them go lose a couple months rent or fight back?
Thanks for any help

Can I require that a potential tenant have verifiable income for a year. So can I say that you have to have had a job for the last year and it has too be verifiable.
Thanks,
Richard

I bought a house that needed allot of work done on it. While I was working on the house a lady approached me and said she lived next door with her grandmother and her 2 daughters and she is pregnant. She asked me if I was going to rent the place and I told her I was after I was done with the repairs. I am now about a week out from finishing the home and she came over again. She wanted an application to fill out, so I gave her one. I told here I still had a week or two before I am going to advertise it for rent. She now tells me that she has been approved for a section 8 voucher and that she will no this week for the amount. She wants to know if I will accept it. I told her I wanted $600.00 a month and s $600.00 security deposit and no pets allowed, and she said that was fine. The home next door looks well kept and clean. I have no knowledge of section 8 vouchers and I wanted to get some input from landlords that do. I know the home will have to pass an inspection and that’s fine, I have replaced about everything. I haven’t run a credit check or background check yet but I plan too.
Should I stay clear of section 8 vouchers?
If I accept it this time and the lady moves can I stop accepting section 8?
If she damages my house, what options do I have?
If she has pets after signing a lease saying no pets, can I do anything?
Thanks for any advice.
Richard

Quick question.. I just advertised my first rental. I plan on doing credit and background checks, along with verifying references and employment and making a visit to where they are living currently and see how they are taking care of the place. My question is: I received an email from a prospective renter “asking does bad credit matter?” I need to know how to respond. I won’t automatically deny someone with bad credit but it depends on what type of bad credit along with the other qualifications I listed above. I do not want to tell here bad credit doesn’t matter and then I run the credit report and its horrible. I also want an easy way out if I decide to not rent to this person. Can someone please give me some advice on how to respond? Thanks so much again.
Richard

I figured he was not being truthful.. He swore up and down it was legal.. Thanks

I met a guy today that said he had a couple duplexes and rented them out. He says he keeps the utilities in his name and just charges extra rent to cover for the utilities. He then said if someone is late on their rent and after serving the pay or quit notice, he turns the utilities off. Is this legal? Sounds like a good idea but I wonder if it’s legal.
Thanks,
Richard from Tennessee

I am just wondering if anyone has tried the $5 a month rent collection method and any ideas if they think it would be valuable.
Thanks,
Richard

Hello, I am from Tennessee and I am starting on my first rental and I have a couple questions:
1. I would like to know the steps I would take if my tenant does not pay and has to be evicted. Tennessee requires a 5 days grace period before adding a late fee. Is this when I give the first notice?
2. I also want to have at least a 1 year lease signed. What would be the pros and cons for doing a week to week or a month to month lease? The Tennessee UNIFORM RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT states:
(a) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a week to week tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least ten (10) days prior to the termination date specified in the notice.
(b) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a month to month tenancy by a written notice given to the other at least thirty (30) days prior to the periodic rental date specified in the notice.

So if I had a non paying tenant which type lease would benefit me most?
Thanks for all answers.