All Forum Posts by: Arnie Guida

What a day... The tenant hadn't make any effort to move. The Sheriff and movers arrived and began boxing things up and moving.., I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the apartment. It's hard to believe anyone could live so filthy... And I mean filthy...and they've got little kids. I feel so sorry for the kids. They're the ones who'll pay the price. Lots more work to get the apartment ready. Haven't had one of these in a while... .

Just got out of court, the judge ruled in my favor. Sheriff is scheduled for tomorrow... In a way, I'm not proud... It's the dead of winter, A young couple with kids is scrambling for a place to live... But this is a business. I try to have a heart, But to quote Al Capone, " Don't mistake kindness for weakness..." This is a business . My tenants don't wait for repairs, And I don't wait for the rent. Now, to do a better job of screening.

Originally posted by @Daniel O.:

I don't know what the laws in your jurisdiction are, and a lot of folks here are also based outside of Wisconsin. This might be a good time to spend a little extra $ and talk to a lawyer. If nothing else, it might help you avoid an expensive mistake, and it will give you peace of mind as you are moving forward that you are on solid legal ground.  

That said, I think you also need to really look in the mirror and be honest with yourself about how your own behavior is creating this situation. It sounds like you are training this person to be a bad tenant and to walk all over you. I say this not to criticize, but to help you to recognize the pattern so you can change it.

I was being a businessman.

It's still winter here, and while it's possible to find quality tenants in winter, usually the good ones move when things warm up, and being a 3br apt, it's going to attract people with kids, and no one wants to upset the schooling of their children.

So if I could get a couple months more out of them and put me in the prime time for quality tenants, I was going to do it.

Yes, the Sheriff has the writ. As of yet, he has not evicted.

The tenant went and got a "Motion to Reopen Small Claims Judgement and Order".

Well... the plot thickens... Just got a certified letter, the tenant went to court and is challenging the eviction, claiming they had the rent but I wouldn't accept it. Court is Tuesday morning. So what if the sheriff evicts them before or on the court date? That would be interesting...

I've been using PayPal to collect rents for years, there are no fees if the PayPal account is linked to s bank account. Do it.

I'm not good at telephone pre-screening...I admit it...

So, from what I've read, it's important to emphasize your requirements, whatever they may be....

for example, income 3xrent, no evictions, no felonies, no pets, 2 most recent pay stubs...

again, these are just examples.

I'm going to have a vacancy and I think it's time to admit my short comings, even though I've been doing this for years...since '94.

I feel it's easily the weakest part of my landlord skills.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Arnie

It's been over ten years since I've had to do an eviction.

Tenant has been with me just over one year, rent has rarely been on time, late fees paid other times... I knew an eviction was coming...

My biggest mistake?

They had a cocaine arrest...red flag. It was just over five years ago... They checked out otherwise...I have a heart, and figured people make mistakes, and I went against my gut. I now see many landlords don't rent to applicants with evictions within the last 10 years, and no drug arrests at all.

Lesson learned.

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Random thoughts looking back:

I gave the 5 Day on the 5th.

6 days later I went to court to get a court date, earliest was the 27th @ 1:30.

Tenant was served the next day.

Tenant wanted to stay, offered to pay court and serving costs (99+35) plus my time for a total of $200 on top of the rent and late fee.

Because of the late court date, I offered to vacate the eviction if I also received March rent.

Tenant agreed. No further contact from tenant. 

Sent text this past Sunday reminding them of the court date the next day and giving 12 hour notice to enter apartment in the morning to see if they were still there.

Went to the apartment in the morning, no tenant, but all possessions were still there.

Went to court, tenant didn't show.

Got the judgement, got a writ, went to the mover for the letter, gave all the paperwork to the Sheriff.

Informed tenant, politely encouraged them to move before the Sheriff and movers get there. (7-10 days).

Now to keep an eye the apartment to see if they move before the Sheriff and movers get there ( usually they do) so I can cancel and not incur the big expense... 

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Now to get the apartment ready and rented. I've put the word out about the vacancy and already have received some interest and phone calls.

I replaced them all at once and am glad I did,

it looks great...4 matching water heaters...

Very professional

No, I haven't been burned.

I hadn't bought a property in years, and bought a 4plex in Sep of '14.

The realtor seemed complicit in this scam..."oh, I've got a good guy for the home inspection"...implying he'd find plenty wrong to get the price down...call me cynical. I thought it was unfair to the buyer, and just seemed like another industry trying to get another slice of the real estate pie.

Home inspector? Do you know how little it takes to get that designation? And do you really think that guy is going to know more than an HVAC guy who does it for a living? An electrician who does it for a living? A plumber who does it for a living? Etc, etc, etc...

Home inspector...that's funny...