All Forum Posts by: Kyle J.

@Nina Marie  There may be help on the way and I just posted about it the other day:

$2.6 billion in federal rent relief headed to California

It's actually rent relief designed for small landlords with low-income tenants.  (And unlike the stimulus checks, this money is paid directly to the landlord.)

@Kim Hud Like Wayne said, it’s done so tenants can’t lock themselves out of their apartment. But it should be a deadbolt lock on top, with a non-locking but functional door handle (usually called a “hall/closet” knob) on the bottom.

When I first became a landlord, I used to install keyed/locking knobs on the bottom, until I had a tenant lock themselves out. Then I switched all the bottom entry knobs to the non-locking hall/closet knobs, and have never had a tenant lock themselves out since.

It’s a less expensive knob and it eliminates lockouts. So win-win. :)

If you just want to report the debt on the ex-tenant's credit report, without having to invest much time/money into it, so that you can warn future landlords (and possibly get paid back yourself if the ex-tenant ever wants to have the blemish removed from their credit report), there are services you can use to do that.  They are very inexpensive, and don't even require a court judgment.  Here's just a couple as an example:

Rent Recovery Service

Mr Landlord Debt Reporting Service

Yes, leases transfer with the property. So if they’re in the middle of a lease, you’d need to wait until they expire and then you can have them sign yours.

On the other hand, if they’re just month-to-month tenants, you can go ahead and give them notice now that you’ll be switching them over to your rental agreement. 

@Tim Samples Never heard of him or that company, but just did a little research for you and here's what I found. If you go to his Facebook page, you can see that he lists his name as "Joseph Walter" and his title as "President/Owner at Walter Built LLC". However, when you pull up the official information with the State of Nevada where his business is registered, you can see that there is a company named "Walter Built LLC" there, but there's no mention of a "Joseph Walter". Rather, the managing member is listed as "Walter J Wolanske". Does that seem odd? Seems like a red flag to me.

Also, if you read the (few) posts closely he has on his Facebook page, they seem as if they're not written well or by someone whose English is their first language.  (Example: "You own little resort at home" instead of "Your own little resort at home".)  Perhaps that might not be a big deal, except when I look for other clues, I see that the ONE and ONLY person who commented on his photo was some young guy named "Shamim Hossain" in Bangladesh who said "NICE":

Makes you wonder how these two would have crossed paths if this was a real profile.  Not likely they'd be running in the same circles.  Anyway, red flag number two. 

Lastly, I've posted about this numerous before, but it's risky doing business with strangers on the internet.  However, I realize some people still will as evidenced by these posts and countless others like them. So, before you do business with anyone on the internet, you should at a minimum learn how to do some basic sleuthing.  I've also posted about how to do that before, and won't be re-posting it all now.   However, here's an actionable tip you can use right now....do a simple Google reverse image search on their website/Facebook photos.  And see what you find. 

I'll give you an example.  On this guy's webpage, he brags about how he's done $200M+ in successful deals, and posts pictures like the following one as if it's an example of a successful flip he's done:

However, when I reverse image search this photo, I found that he just copied this image from Pinterest:

How about one more example....he again posts a series of photos for what looks like a multi-million dollar house with the hashtags to insinuate that it's yet another successful flip project:

However, I also found the source of these photos (again using reverse image search) and discovered he just took these photos directly from a MLS listing in Coral Cables, Florida (Miami-Dade County):

What's more interesting, the property is a custom-built home, built just a mere 10 or so years ago and has never been "flipped" (nor does it need to be....looks amazing inside).  

Anyway, I think you get the point.  Do your due diligence because there are a lot of scammers out there just trying to take your money.  Don't just take what they post as truth.  Does what they post even make sense?  Dig into it further and see what you can find out.  And ultimately if you remember nothing else, remember this...real private lenders are NOT "popping into Facebook groups" trying to get strangers to borrow their money.  I promise you that. 

Yep, agree with the others. Real private lenders are never going to blindly email you out of the blue and beg you to borrow their money at 5% interest. It just doesn’t work that way. Don’t even bother responding. It’s a scam for sure. 

@Jonathan Feliciano It’d definitely be easier if you got the pre-approval letter first. Not sure how quickly homes are moving in your market, but I know in mine, it’s so hot that a property would already be under contract if I waited to get a pre-approval letter until after the property came on the market and everyone else already saw it and put their offers in. 

Also, some (not all, but some) Realtors won’t even work with you unless you have either a pre-approval letter (if you’re buying with a loan) or proof of funds (if you’re buying all cash). They basically just want to make sure you’re a serious buyer who’s capable of closing so they don’t waste their time (or their client’s if they’re the listing agent). 

The first thing I'd do is contact the tenant who is reportedly moving out and attempt to confirm the information.  You could be worrying for nothing.  However, if they are in fact moving out, I would just deal with it.  After all, it happens.  Tenants move out for any number of reasons and you can't stop them.  Here's a few things I would then do:

I would confirm with the tenant exactly why they're moving out early (since there can be some legal reasons to break a lease early - like military deployment, victims of domestic violence, etc).  However, more than likely, they just want to move.  

I would then confirm exactly when they plan to be out and arrange to pick up the keys and do a walk-thru on that date.  

I would make sure to get their new address.  Tell them you need it to forward any remaining balance on their security deposit to them, any mail or packages that still come addressed to them (remind them to forward their mail by the way because they likely haven't done it if they're moving last minute and you don't want to deal with all their mail), or whatever else will convince them to give you their new address.  While you do need it to refund any remaining balance on their security deposit, or an accounting of any deductions if you end up keeping the entire thing, the real reason you need it is because there could be monetary damages and additional rent they're liable for (since they're breaking the lease).  And - if you end up having to sue them - you need to know where to serve them.

After you get the above info, remind them that they're still responsible for the lease/rent until you find a new tenant and begin renting the property again.  Have some agreement to stay in contact with each other so they know the rent payments need to continue, and you need to be sure to let them know when they're off the hook so you don't "double dip" the rent (collect from them and the next/new tenant).

Don't get angry.  Just be professional and wish them well.  After all, things happen and you want to stay on good terms because you want them to keep making the rent payments.

Lastly, get the unit cleaned up and rent-ready, and get it rented again!  

@Anne Jenkins  The laws vary state-to-state as far as what methods/remedies are available to you for collecting on your judgment.  For example, in my state, I can levy the debtor's bank account, put a lien on their personal and/or real property, garnish their wages, etc.  Of course, this requires you to know the laws for your state (or research them if you don't know them), and also to know information about your previous tenants (which is why I collect a LOT of information on my tenants way back when they first apply - including bank account info, info on their vehicles, employment info, nearby relatives, etc).  

I've personally used the wage garnishment process before with great success.  However, it's not available in every state.

You didn't mention how much money is at stake here, so only you can decide if this is worth your time/effort.  But if you do end up pursuing this, here's a couple links that discuss the options that appear to be available to you in your state:

https://www.pghfirm.com/blog/5-steps-how-to-collect-a-judgment-in-pennsylvania

https://www.palawhelp.org/resource/sheriff-sales

Good luck.

@Kevin Diesel  What kind of property are you referring to?  I get the impression it's a single family house.  If so, no - raising the rent is not going to result in you getting a better/higher appraisal.  The appraiser is going to value the property based on recently sold comparable properties in the area.  Not what you're charging in rent.  Again, this is assuming this is a residential single family house type property.  If, on the other hand this is an apartment complex, my answer would be different.  But I'm guessing that's not what you're talking about.