All Forum Posts by: Sharon R.

Quote from @Steve K.:

You're smart to be diligent. Covid made remote closings a lot more common, perhaps before the proper protocols were in place for them. In my area title companies are making changes due to the recent uptick in wire fraud and identity theft. I also prefer closing in person but it's getting rare. Here are some ways to make virtual closings safer:

1. Be sure your security software, web browsers and OS are updated.

2. Verify everyone involved. Get contact info for everyone in the transaction at the beginning and verify that any info anyone shares with you is accurate. If someone emails you with a change to their contact info during the transaction, be suspicious and call the original number they gave you to check. Also check their website and make sure it's the same number. Check public records to make sure the seller is who they say they are. You can skip-trace people and use reverse-lookup software to see if the contact info you find that way matches what you've been given. 

3. Avoid using email as much as possible, beware of attachments, get any wiring instructions over the phone and verify those wiring instructions by calling the bank back at the number on their website. Always check the sender’s email address for irregularities or changes. When responding to an email, use “forward” instead of “reply.” This lowers your chance of accidentally replying to a cybercriminal that sent you a spoofed email. 

4. Be suspicious of these red flags: any last minute changes just before closing, anything sent via email, anyone insisting on using their own title company or notary, any title company or notary that your closer/agent hasn't used before. Anything that seems amiss like someone who needs to close from out of the country, anyone needing to close quickly or insisting on a cash purchase, pricing that is out of whack with fair market value for a property, anything off market, anyone sending the wrong amount of money (one fraud is to send more money than they should, then ask for the difference back, the money going to them is good but the money they sent is not), any buyer that makes an offer sight-unseen, or seller who can't meet at the property or doesn't want a sign at the property, anything that seems "off". 

5. Make sure everyone involved has double or triple checking everything. 

6. Make sure everyone has real ID. 

7. Never email financial info.

8. Beware of incoming phone calls. Scammers can even spoof voices now making it difficult to tell whether a phone call is a scammer or your agent/title company/ closer. You might use secret passwords that you've agreed upon previously in person to tell if it's a scammer, or hang up and call them back at the number you know is right for them. A scammer might call you and tell you that they have information for you but they need to confirm your identity first then ask for sensitive info.

9. Avoid closing on Fridays or before Holidays. Fraudsters prefer these dates because it's the easiest time for funds to disappear before anyone notices. 

10. Always get title insurance and pay more for extra coverage (it's usually cheap for the extra coverage).

10. Consider closing in person using a cashier's check if possible. 

 LOVE your tips. especially "use “forward” instead of “reply.” This lowers your chance of accidentally replying to a cybercriminal that sent you a spoofed email." good one! 

Will defiantly use some of those, although most parties (who got used to the remote/ virtual way) will mostly use emails...I hope the SAFE protocol will catch up with the need. I do not feel it has yet. 

Again, thank you for that. I think these are most useful tools and tips for us all.  

When you do million dollars deals and closing is done virtually (which one side picked as part of their terms and that firm normally does their closing online) how comfortable are you? I may be paranoid but it really feels safer to me to see buyer / seller in front of me with the attorney in charge, for some bizarre reason, when a person who had an online $100 or less class to become a public notary has the seller / buyer sign legal documents, I don't feel it's a safe way of verifying their identity and generally speaking I feel conducting these large deals with a table closing when all parties are present is way better.. or at least choose an agreed third party to verify identity of all parties (like a different law firm) is that just me being paranoid or is it a legitimate scare? what is your opinion? 

Quote from @Bjorn Ahlblad:

@Michael L. We manage our own properties and have not formed a PM company. Generally to form a PM company and manage properties for others you need to be a licensed realtor. All the best! 

yes, IMO, you should set a company to manage it not because of RE license since you don't need one being the owner BUT you should get one for liability protection reasons and I recommend an having an umbrella insurance as well.  

Quote from @Tim J.:

Look into what IJ (Institute for Justice) and Cato Institute have published and championed about unconstitutional searches/warrant-less searches.  

Any warrantless search violates the constitution.  You may or may not win a court case in your local jurisdiction.  

As others have said, if you are getting housing assistance payments then the inspections are part of that process, but if its just for general rental units then its a overreach.

Yes, I was very much leaning into this direction, however, I feel it is much more than that, if you had a chance to look at the screenshots, I've sent, this it is actually conditioning, connecting the tenets with utility bill on their name with that inspection done prior. 

Also, it is obvious that no one has explained the Landlord side of this, only one aspect of it is that you may stumble on bad tenants that don't pay the rent and need to be evicted after only three months, or may just have been able to French for a short term not because you wanted to just because that sometimes the condition in the market, does that mean 4-5 inspections a year ? 

this ordinance is unreasonable from so many angles. 

Quote from @Bjorn Ahlblad:

@Sharon R. You might join a local REI or LL Association; I have found them to be great for networking, support and education. Ours has lawyers on staff that deal with property stuff daily. The folks in your are no doubt familiar with your issue. All the best!

 Thank you 🙏🏻

Quote from @Azeez K.:

Hi @Sharon R.

Firstly, I am sorry that you are going through this annoying situation. I have experience with several MF properties here in Atlanta (Fulton) included and never heard of this inspection you state. Unless the property is subject to LURA (Land Use Restrictive Agreement) or your tenant is using AHA (Atlanta Housing Authority) or Section 8 voucher. 

If its LURA property then you have to unfortunately comply with inspections as stated in the LURA agreement. You need to read the fine print if there are any restrictive covenants etc. If it's section 8 then they typically do an inspection at the start and there is a video here https://www.atlantahousing.org... that explains this process. I feel your pain trust me as there is a lot of unnecessary bureaucratic red tape in the city so much so that I no longer feel like dealing with Fulton/Dekalb counties because of the harassment mentality and poor management of resources.  

Firstly I would do is to figure out the exact ordinance in question. You can find list of Fulton county ordinances here https://library.municode.com/g... under section 14 

Once you are able to find the ordinance then read through the same thing cuz it may clear some doubt or cause additional ambiguity 

I would then contact an attorney to draft an email to the city if you feel that you are being charged unreasonably. I did this step for the Atlanta Watershed as they were trying to force us as the owners in paying tenant's water bill. Let me tell you once the attorney sent an email and said this is against the law I never heard anything back.  Hope this provides some direction and wish you best of luck dealing with the city (you will need it). Good luck keep me posted as I am curious to see what the end resolution ends up. 

 I'm happy you mentioned these two options 

since I was actually asked by two friends if that 

might have been the case. It's not. I don't rent to 

sec8 or any housing assistance program as I believe 

It's some type of exaggerated socialism which I'm 

Not in favor to say the least... 

i'm not familiar with the other option you mentioned, 

but I will read about it . 

The ordinance has about 15 pages where the city 

Extends its reach not only to the apartment itself 

but also tells the owners that they need to ask for lighting 

Inspection every 6 months! And it's our job to request it! 

and if you don't, you will be severely penalized,

up to $1000 or Jail time. 

It also states of the HOW Will they enforce you 

to comply... so if case we were all wondering of 

"how will they know? (that we have a new renter.)

The answer is simple, and it is actually inside 

that ordinance - they will refuse to connect utilities 

to that apartment when the tenant attempts to 

do so with their new lease. 

(yes, some of those small cities are actually 

handling, water AND power bills.) 

No, I'm not a lawyer, although I do have 

Some legal education, but this is a blunt use 

of institutional power. 

if I don't hold the apartment to your standards 

You can take me to court, You can penalize me,

but you cannot prevent my tenant from getting 

utilities on their name. 

so  I don't know what is the principle in the 

American law that prevents the kind of action, 

but I'm sure there is one and I'll be more than happy 

to get a recommendation from you to speak to your 

attorney . 
i'm attaching some of the "highlights" of that ordinance. 
and thank you for your feedback and advice

. 

How can you bypass/ avoid (legally!) an older  o r .d i n. a n. c e (2018) imposed by the city (not Atlanta) but still in Fulton county that demands MF to pay an inspection every time before a new tenant enters their apartment?
Not only that but you also need to pay them as owner  $50-$80 each time and if you don't pass with 90% then you need to pay again. 

Forget the money for a second, it feels like a total harassment especially when most of those apartments were inspected when renovated in the last year. 

Was it even constitutional to create such an ordinance? It feels like a blunt bureaucracy overreach with sole intention of money grafting. 
it's only done to multi family properties while I'm sure they were very much aware that the amount (if paid each time to the city) will ultimately be rolled over to the tenants...) 

We can add to that a 'business & privacy invasion', if it's your property and it had passed an inspection after renovation, why do you feel that the tenants cannot decide if they want to rent an apartment which is basically a business deal  we should have nothing to do with the city.  Pushing them self into that deal is nothing more than harassment. This is like a bakery owner, who has a yearly inspection for health certificate, and then the city coming to a bakery and insisting to inspect the place every morning before customers come in. I mean, what's the difference?  

In both cases, they are "concerned" with the customer being served rightfully, no?

Which brought me to ask another question- what is the legal definition of a private property? I'm interested to know 
it for more than just this specific city issue. 

I would somehow accept it if it was a request to do an inspection every three years, to make sure that the condition the tenant is given makes sense. But I believe this is about gentrifying the area and getting more money to the city budget. 

This is a two stories (low rise) multi family under 30 units. 

For those legal professionals who are knowledgeable and kind enough to ponder on this issue I'd like to state that I'm not interested in starting a dialogue with the city about it, but searching a legal stand to oppose it, finding a good one might also mean initiating a legal sue. 

I would also like to state that it was only lately sent by the city, after a year of flipping this mini piece of sh#% property that all the neighbors around it (with really beautiful expensive houses) have suffered for a very long while from it, for being crazy neglected having 3 drug dealers living on the property ... 7 non paying tenants and poor looking place in general... so they waited a year seeing how I cleaned it up, renovated the apartments and beautified it in general. 

Thanks in advance to those who answers. 

Quote from @Sharon R.:

I'm thinking of creating a small roller skating rink in an area that was used as a pool about 40 years ago. 

At the beginning I wanted to create a big pergola with a seating area but after seeing the kids skate on the balconies  (which made me crazy scared!!! And issuing a warning obviously...) I found that idea to be more useful . I couldn't find anyone who did that before, so I was wondering what's the present cons about it ? I see a lot of playground in multi family  that look much more dangerous to me, but I'm not sure that should be the only question. Any thought?  (The area around the filled pool is already somewhat prepared for it , see upper right in the picture) 

Please forgive the typos, walking and typing doesn't work so well... apparently 
no way of editing, SMH 🤦‍♀️ 

I'm thinking of creating a small roller skating rink in an area that was used as a pool about 40 years ago. 

At the beginning I wanted to create a big pergola with a seating area but after seeing the kids skate on the balconies  (which made me crazy scared!!! And issuing a warning obviously...) I found that idea to be more useful . I couldn't find anyone who did that before, so I was wondering what's the present cons about it ? I see a lot of playground in multi family  that look much more dangerous to me, but I'm not sure that should be the only question. Any thought?  (The area around the filled pool is already somewhat prepared for it , see upper right in the picture) 

Quote from @David Lilley:

@Sharon R. this is very common and typically accomplished by forming an LLC.

As far as loan docs are concerned- these are absolutely negotiable to some extent. Have an attorney who is experienced in real estate transactions review this. An experienced attorney will likely have dealt with this lender before and will already know which points can and can't be negotiated.

You also need to read them and note important dates and terms that you will need to remember and refer to later. 

Thank you for that, 
will do for future deal, Closed on this one yesterday.