All Forum Posts by: Ron Galli

@Greg H. Asking to see the supporting documents would cost $0.00. When I was a PI I probably would have provided you a nice 5 minute HD video of the tenant walking out of the house with pooch for its morning business for $200. I would have been sure to get good details like the house number on the door, GPS location and clear face shots via 36x zoom just for dramatic effect. The pet policy would net him $1200 in due funds through the year lease if they are just trying to pull one over; which seems probable considering they didn't disclose the pet initially and came out swinging with legeleze. Additionally, if they are going to be jerks with veiled threats about radon; this could give him the ability to send them packing IF he chooses to. How would your maximized profits go if they do try to drum up some charges and sue?  The good old in management says 80% of your headaches come from 20% of your people. These seem to be 20%ers to me. I don't care what they do... just the whole thing is setting off alarm bells to me.

I'm not suggesting anyone spend thousands on anything. The man asked for thoughts and I provided a couple out of the box insights that I hand's seen mentioned yet. Congrats on the track record Greg.

@Cole Fleishour Other thing: to be exempt, that service dog needs to be THEIR service dog. A dog in training, or a registered dog that they happen to own should not exempt them from the pet fee. A service dog 🐕‍🦺 is about $30k, but getting your golden into a training program and calling it your ADA dog could be cheap cover.

@Cole Fleishour A couple things that I thought of reading this thread.

A doctor can not write a script for themselves or their family. You could check their paperwork. Arrogant people often know some niche laws but don't cross their t-s. They may be assuming they can get a colleague to do it for them; but at this point they would have to back date it (fraud)... and prescription pads are numbered for tracking purposes. You can't write 22566 yesterday and 22567 five months ago. If its a legit service animal... why wouldn't they have disclosed it?

Also, if pets are a concern, you don't have to enter the residence to prove their presence. You could have hired a PI to get some nice video of them going out for a morning walk cheap.

Of course consult a CPA, Tax attorney and estate planning attorney of which I am none.

I doubt selling it to you cheap will save anything on his estate taxes. Federal estate taxes start above $10M, so if his net worth is less than that you have nothing to worry about. State and local could be different. (Talk to an attornet) 

If he sold you the $165k property for $1000, and you later sold it for $200k, you would show a capital gains taxable profit for $199k, as opposed to buying it for 165 and selling it for 200 with only 35k being taxable profit. Seems to me like you would get crushed doing this. (Talk to a Cpa and tax attorney.)

If he is willing to give you then property, you could draw up a contract and legally buy it for $165k. The IRS allows a annual15k tax free gift per parent (so 30k from the pair.) Each year they could gift you $30k toward the loan. So in 5.5 years you would own it free and clear and I don't believe their would be any tax weirdness involved. (Run that by a tax attorney.)

I would be interested as well but it is likely dependent on state and county. 

Everyone keeps saying talk to a lawyer; but at this point a) sellers have said they wish to sue you and b) a lawyer has requested your information. If the case never goes any further than this, you don't need to DO anything at all. People like to talk big and sling threats. When they find out what it will cost to follow through they likely will not follow through. (Lawyers may have the legal authority to give legal advice, but that doesnt mean people who aren't lawyers aren't also 100% correct... this is known as a call to authority fallacy.)

When they actually file a case, you need legal representation and should contact lawyers. At this point however, if it were me I would probably invite them to jump in a lake, otherwise keep my mouth shut and go back to focusing on my life.

-As a rule for life remember that anything you say can be held against you and you should never speak to a lawyer without one; but simply say nothing at all of possible. 

-They didn't respond in the agreed upon contractual time.

- You didn't accept the repairs after your inspection contingency. 

- A structural engineer never weighed in which you said you wanted.

- They didn't sign the contract with their own agent. 

- You have 100% of your investment back. 

- They are only 'out' the correction of substandard repairs to a property they retained. 

I feel like this is much Ado about nothing, unless they actually make it something.

I'm not an attorney, but why would you allow your agent to do anything that doesn't directly benefit you? As I understand it, your agent wants to give your information to a 3rd party (some random attorney) not directly involved in this transaction. When in doubt, it is often wise, to keep your mouth shut. If an attorney wants to find you, let them hire a PI to track you down in HI and send you a registered letter. Don't make it easier for the to harass you.