All Forum Posts by: Mat K.

Hi John, 

I was looking at the eviction option however wasn’t quite sure due to the cdc eviction freeze ! It’s confusing what takes precedence the courts or CDC order! So just avoiding that confusion! Additionally want to work with the tenant! So thanks for the advice . Will get with them and see if they’re under that 45 k cap you mentioned and go from there. Will likely file in small claims court and have him served just to put some fire in his behind to know I’m being serious about the whole process ! It’s time consuming and frustrating but that’s the nature of landlording I suppose 

Sounds like prudent advice ! Thanks a lot for your time and advice. As a new landlord these are all learning lessons ! 

Understandable Greg. I feel as though landlords got the short end of the stick of this whole deal. I’m ready for the eventuality of losing money but at thesame time want to keep the tenant accountable at the end but because of the statement he made about paying his credit card bill instead of rent. Meaning without the pandemic he wouldn’t have been able to legitimately use a cop out excuse. Not being mean spirited but I just wouldn’t do that to a landlord in my history of renting a place ! Thanks for your time And advice

Greetings and thanks for reading !

I’ve got a major decision to make about a tenant who hasn’t been cooperative about paying rent during COVID-19 /much of 2020.

He currently owes 6700$ from back rent and just gave me notice about wanting to leave. I sense his doing that to skip town and leave me with an unpaid rent bill. I’m a small time landlord and I’ve tried to be reasonable with him all of last year during The pandemic. Our agreement was he pays as much as he can and Up to half of the 1020 a month as regularly due! Unfortunately he missed 3 months and barely made payments the other months.

Since we live in Texas and due to the moratorium in place and no evictions I was limited about options and I sense he took advantage of that . I’d sent him many areas he could apply for help and asked for documentation he was struggling with rent to document but he didn’t follow up with the request and to document he was having trouble or met the requirements for aid.

Regardless, what got to me was a statement he made that he was able to start making payments after catching up with his credit card debt. Which was puzzling as it seemed he was focusing more on that instead of making rent as due !

Recently, he mentioned he will be leaving and wanted to see if he could only pay 3200 and I could take off 2 months worth of rent and keep the 500$ deposit . Basically trying to see if I would take the bait.

I was firm and told him i could not do that as it would be unfair to the other tenants who paid rent somehow. Also mentioned I could take off the security deposit depending on damages if he moves out, and can give him an 18 month extension to pay rent free. I’ve already taken off close to 100$ late fee which he owed in addition to all of this. Really trying to empathize with him. I believe in giving him a break since he has a family and we’re all going through tough times hoping he would redeem himself when things got better but he doesn’t seem like I can trust his words.

Is there any general advice anyone can give to solve this problem more amicably or would I have to end up in small claims court to recoup all lost rents ?

Thanks for your time again

Mat

Thanks Patricia ! This seems like sound advice ! I’m new to this and only seeking to make sure it’s an amicable end to it all! But also want to be fair in landlording. Thanks again for your perspectives again. Feels like advice from a mom. Well taken. 

Greetings to anyone reading this.

I’ve got a recent situation with a tenant regarding a leaking toilet bowl. And wondering how to handle it as a novice landlord.

I got a call from the city water department regarding high usage in one of my fourplex. I immediately sent out a text to all tenants to check for any overflowing taps, leaks in the apartment and instructed them to shut off any overflowing toilets. I only heard back from 3 out of 4 tenants.

I Had the plumber go to apartment the next day and check all apartments. He determined that the only tenant I did not hear back from had the issue with a leaking toilet bowl. Fast forward a week later and I get a bill of 420$ from the city. Triple the regular amount for each months water bill. Wasn’t too happy about that to be honest.

Not sure how to address it with the tenant since she failed to notify me about the leak. She’s been an exemplary tenant up until now. Always pays on time, even during covid. Regardless, most likely the leak Came from her apartment.

I’m considering paying for it this time but making all tenants sign a note I have to be alerted to any leaks within 4 hours of any leaks if not they’ll be responsible for any additional usage. Thanks for any feedback.

Cheers Mat

@Remington Lyman Hi Remington I’m in the Columbus area and looking in multi family units and also studying at hondros ! Would love to connect and find a local real estate agent and possible learn from you on purchasing future deals.

I'm a new investor into real estate and I've just owned my property over two years! Bought it under my name with an FHA loan. I'm currently looking to go conventional on my next property and start buying more properties, I was wondering if there's a possibility to transfer the fourplex from my personal name into an LLC I just created ?

Also, are there any pros and cons to moving it into an LLC instead of keeping it under my personal name ? Thanks to anyone taking their time to reply. Really appreciate it.

Thank you Robert for vetting hondros as well. I was looking between them and Columbus state community college, but it seems I’ll likely go with hondros. 

Would I need a broker to take the license exam when done with the process ?