All Forum Posts by: Sean McKee

 @Adrian Miller- That’s the exact issue that would concern me the most with these deals. Investors don’t think they will ever get caught and 95% of the time they won’t. However I had a situation where I was in the process of evicting a tenant. I got an email from the city with some “complaints” from the tenant and her stating the attic wasn’t permitted. Little did she know I had stamped architectural drawings from the deputy building commissioner. I was able to shut that down. I can only imagine the terror that would have come my way had it not been approved by the city. 

That’s all it takes and it’s game over.

 @Drew Sygit - Your advice is spot on and I agree that’s how it should be done. But unfortunately in Chicago this is a very common situation and the truth is there are lots of investors and owner occupants who don’t care. I think everyone else is simply saying that the reality is the seller might simply move on to the next. If he’s ok with that then great, but if he’s not and wants the deal then he should tread more carefully. Ultimately each investor should determine if they can handle the risk associated with the deals.

 I was the buyer. Somehow my team forgot about the zoning certificate during due diligence. When I found out, I checked the city’s site to quickly gauge the status. We were buying a 4 flat, however it said 2 flat. This was obviously not accurate, but still was alarming.

@John S Lewis- I rent to people in this exact situation fairly frequently. You can run a background check based on their name and DOB, some link to ITN and some don’t. Sometimes they have credit and sometimes they don’t. Most of the people have both  W2s and 1099s. I would personally verify bank statements, call employer, and really scrutinize landlord references. If they been living in the US a while, they probably have some kind verifiable information. I can’t charge a larger security deposit for legal reasons and wouldn’t feel the need to. Frankly I would just as likely to lose money the same by a US citizen as an undocumented tenant.

I’ve rented to a decent number of people in this situation over the last several years and have not had an issues yet(fingers crossed). 

@Demetrius Davis I had a similar scare, luckily an old water bill from the 1950s and zoning certificate cleared it up.

The 3 units plus “1” are common and lately it seems a lot of people are willing to pay full value for them. I personally wouldn’t but it’s common enough that you might be ok if you sell in the future.

Good luck!

 It looks like technically, but it probably won’t be worth the effort of going back and forward. If you absolutely feel the need to confront her over it, you can serve her a notice to quit or cure. Essentially she’s violating the lease terms. And if she doesn’t remedy it, she must leave. My lawyer had me serve something like this before. However as of right now I would try and keep the calm. She’s not that late and I wouldn’t want you to cause yourself more issues. I know the exact feeling you are going through. It sucks sometimes to have to swallow your pride.

@J. Wang I’m sorry to read about this. It sounds like you have realized your mistake with this tenant and going forward I’m sure you will up your tenant screening.

As far as paying late, what exactly does the lease say? Your lease sounds like it has standard grace period.

I agree with @Kyle Mccaw. I’ve NEVER had luck with pit bulls. I’ve given up on complete dog bans as it limits tenant pool and people sneak them on anyways. I set a weight cap at 30lbs, $200 nonrefundable pet fee, and $50 dollar pet rent. 

@Kevin Hunter- I’m sorry to hear this. I have unfortunately been in your situation more times than I would care to admit. I can’t back this up with any statistics, but I’d say about 90% to 95% of tenants don’t actually want any kind of derogatory marks on their record. Some might care more than others, but most want to avoid trouble.

You have a few options that don’t involve court, which should be the last resort in a place like Cook County. Cash for keys has already been mentioned and is a great way to get people off quickly and without as much hassle as going to court.

Depending on your relationship you could try and come to a peaceful arrangement. But it sounds like you might be past that point.

You can report them to the Credit Bureaus. There are several ways to do this. But I’ve gotten a number of people to come to their senses this way.

If all else fails, then I would file for an eviction. I had a similar situation last year. I served the tenant  a 5 day notice and filed shortly after. The tenant was gone a few weeks later. She might be just seeing if you will call her bluff.