All Forum Posts by: Rob Beland

I've done about 10 deals and don't have an LLC set up.

 $3,000 for cash for keys??? What kind of advice is that??? You have no knowledge of local landlord/tenant laws. Why would you suggest that?

@Meredith Prinz see if you can put the property under agreement subject to the inspection. 

Good luck with that @Stephan Haas. That line of thinking was probably fine 30 years ago but removing a door to send a message is illegal and considered a "self help eviction" as others have pointed out. There is no loophole you can think of that will change that. You will be the one defending yourself in court while your tenant is living rent free. 

From the state's website...

Tenancy at will. A tenancy-at-will can be either oral or written. Either the landlord or the tenant can terminate a month-to-month tenancy-at-will by giving a written thirty (30) days (minimum) notice to quit that must expire at the end of a rental period. Special attention must be paid to February, which has less than 30 days. Therefore, if the notice to quit is served too late in January, it cannot operate to terminate the tenancy as of March 1.

The key is that the notice must expire at the end of a rental period. If the rental period begins on the first of December and the thirty day notice expires on the 3rd of January since it was served on the 4th of December, it's not a valid notice period and the tenant will have to be reserved.

@Rob Morristhe only scenario where your statement, or that of your attorney as the case may be, is true would be if the tenancy runs from the 5th to the 5th every month so notice given on the fourth of December would be valid. I'd say it's a safe assumption that this tenant's rent is due on the 1st of the month so notice must be given before the 1st of the month for it to go into effect for that rental period. 

@Dan Smithconsidering this is your first investment property and you are unfamiliar with MA Landlord/Tenant law it would be wise to consult an attorney to help with the eviction. It's actually a very straight forward process but there is a process that must be followed. Do you know if the tenants have security deposits? Has the current landlord followed the correct procedures with respect to handling the deposits? Find out if he has statements of conditions from the tenants if he is in fact holding deposits. What about last month's rent? Be sure that at prior to closing you receive estoppel certificates from all tenants stating whether or not they paid a security deposit or last month rent, if they are current on their rent, what their rent is, if they own any appliances, if the landlord has any outstanding maintenance/repair issues that he has been notified of but have not been addressed. Have the landlord and tenants sign so everyone is in agreement (and be sure he addresses all outstanding repair/maintenance issues. 

Be sure if any deposits are being held that you receive a separate check for that amount at closing including the amount of interest that should have been paid all along so you can deposit that in a new account. Don't allow it to be included on the HUD.

If you haven't yet done it, read up on the security deposit requirements for MA. You don't want to hold a deposit and handle it incorrectly. 

Good luck Dan.

This information is wrong. Giving 30 days notice requires giving them a full rental period to vacate. If you give notice on December 4th, as an example, the tenants have until Jan 31st to vacate since you missed the deadline to have them out before the end of December as that notice will have to have been given by November 30th. 

I'd say you need to be sure your nephew is financially qualified to even apply for the mortgage. Also, check with FHA regulations as it's unlikely that if a loan is approved based on the inclusion of his financial situation it's unlikely they will allow you to "take his name off the property". He will be obligated to repay the mortgage. I'm not even sure that this scenario would be allowed. If he is the occupant, you would be cosigning for him not the other way around. Good luck @David Nieman

I think the level of investing I do, along with 90% of people here on BP will be unaffected. Real estate is so hyperlocal. These global issues have little to no effect on local investors including those that invest in other states.