All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I really think you need to respect the fear of the tenant who called you and asked you not to let the other tenant know it was them.  

Just blame it on a neighbor.  Write to the offending tenant and say a nearby property owner you know contacted you that the police were going to one of your units and tell them if it happens again, they will be asked to vacate as this is a material breach of the rental agreement.

First, they won't likely know what their lease really says on this subject, so even if it's a bluff, it should still work.  But, I'm sure there is something in a BP lease that says something about not bothering other tenants or causing problems or something along those lines, and that will do, anyway.

People really misunderstand the term "quiet enjoyment."  Legally, this term refers to landlords not unreasonably bothering their tenants.  In other words, if a landlord kept showing up on the property without notice or was abusing the notice by giving 24 hour notice every week to just walk around in the unit - stuff like that.  Which, could be why it's not in a BP lease LOL.  And quiet enjoyment is presumed, normally, even if it's not in the lease.

Sorry you're dealing with this.  

Can you afford to just kick them all out, do your improvements and then list it for rent?  If so, I highly recommend doing this.  I realize you can't do this immediately, but...

In my experience, when you raise the rent significantly on a tenant, even after they look at their options if they decide to move, they will start seeing all the things wrong with the property.  They will start complaining about this and that, and expect you do upgrade everything and just be a drag to work with and give you a lot of work.

Whereas, if you fix the place up a bit - not saying you have to do major stuff - just even paint and clean and make it smell good and clean and freshly painted - and then you advertise it - you will then get tenants who are happy with it the way it is and with the price.  It's a whole new world entirely when you do this.

You could always tell them you will need their unit vacated in order to do the renovations, but they're welcome to apply to move into one of the newly upgraded units, including credit check and vetting, etc.

I'm sure we all know why the place was sold - it was the easiest way to stop dealing with the relatives.  

Congrats on your 4-plex.

I'm not an accountant, but what my understanding is - you can deduct any out of pocket expenses.  Some you have to depreciate like new appliances.  But, in simple tax returns that I've done, I put down how much money came in from a rental, and I put down everything that went out, and depreciate the things that require that.

So, short answer, in my opinion - yes, you can list septic costs as a deduction.

Is it a matter of the screw came loose?  Can you post the photo?  If the screw was loose and thats why it became a problem, I think that should be the landlord's problem.

I'd just have to look at it.  The reason I'm wondering if it's not that big of a deal and maybe not the tenant's fault, is the fact that the tenant let you know about it.  Tenants don't usually contact the landlord if they do damage.  And, you want a tenant who lets you know when there is a problem.  The problem I could see by being a hard a** over this, is that then maybe there's a leak under the sink and the tenant is afraid of calling you about it, assuming you'll charge them for a plumber or something, and in the meantime, your floor is rotting.

 LOL.  Touchdown!

I thought of another one - some places require you to get a license for a rental that allows so many tenants to live in it, or they may have limits on how many unrelated tenants can live in it (to prevent some rentals for being used for student housing, for instance), and there are additional inspections and hoops you have to jump through and additional costs associated with them.

Be aware of occupancy limits - the term "occupancy limits" can be kind of an oxymoron, as you may have to allow more tenants than you thought.  Here, we have to allow basically 2 persons per bedroom plus one.  I saw once somewhere like NYC has occupancy based on square feet and it's nuts - like for every 5 square feet you can have a person live in the unit (don't hold me to that number, it's out of thin air), but it meant a crazy number of people could live even in a studio apartment.  The reason this matters is for things like utilities - they may use a lot more water, if you're paying for water, they may fill up the garbage cans to overflowing, may put a strain on septic systems, parking problems, noise, etc., etc.

Sometimes, you can get around an occupancy limit if your building just can't handle a large number of tenants, but you will need to be ready for fair housing to call you on an ad or rejection of tenants and have your reasons clear - age of the pipes, size of septic, size of parking lot, whatever.

 Of course, an attorney needs to identify whether or not there is a conflict of interest - but - there is no need for an attorney to refuse to even talk to someone before finding out the problem.  I worked for attorneys for years.  Potential clients can talk to the attorney about a case before finding out if there is a conflict.  Other attorneys would be willing to answer generic questions, at least, prior to finding out who she wanted to sue.  Otherwise, every time someone called an attorney for help who might be representing the person they want to sue - could then simply call their client and say - did you know so and so is calling around looking for an attorney to sue you?  In my opinion, the attorney she called is trying to do just that.  Trying to avoid being in a position to have to turn down the case for a current client, because someone who may be suing them called for advice.

It was a weenie move, no matter how you couch it in conflict of interest rules.

@Tina Dupart I think you need to look at what's being offered here.  Right now, your tenant owes you $10K.  You are in the power seat.  Your tenant is acting like they are in the power seat - I'll give you the 10K, if you let me stay 90 more days.

This, "I'll give you what I owe you, if you let me get into more debt with you," isn't any kind of deal.  

Do you have their offer in writing? First, I'd ask for that.  Then, I'd tell the lawyer that the lawyer just offered you a deal which was offered knowing you were under duress, which no judge is going to like.  So, tell your client to pay me the 10K and get out on time with zero damage. That kind of deal is against the ethics required of the bar association and in my opinion, this lawyer could get into some deep doo doo.

If you still want to make a deal, which I wouldn't do - I'd tell them to forget it and pay me - but - you could tell them you'll take the $10K, but the rent going forward will be double.

A question - isn't there rent control there?  When does that kick in?  Do they have to be there 12 months?  This also might be why they're trying to extend the lease period - maybe some laws kick in that protect the tenant?

You really just need to get rid of this tenant.  Really, just tell this lawyer they just admitted they have the money they owe you and they need to pay you and get out on time.

And I really think you need to get rid of your property manager.  You're doing all the work here and not collecting the rent from a tenant they shouldn't have rented to, because tenants who need co-signers are a bad risk.  Why pay them?  Fire them and tell them no, you aren't going to pay them a termination fee, because this is all their fault for not getting you a better tenant.

I'm really sorry you're dealing with this. But, sometimes you need to be tough. You have all the power here.  Fire them all.

I second educating yourself on everything you can. But, one of the pitfalls people fall into (hmmm, how do I know this) when looking for an affordable property, is buying something with a homeowners association or looking at mobile homes with space rent. I highly highly recommend that you never buy any property with a HOA or space rent. It's an additional cost that can change dramatically over time, and you rarely get your money's worth for whatever it's supposed to cover, and you lose complete control over your investment. You just really don't want someone else telling you what kind of plant you can put on your porch when you're the owner, or choosing some god-awful color of paint for your building, on and on and on.

I'll add another one - be sure and look at the property taxes.  Don't get lured by a low purchase price without looking to see why it's affordable.  It might be because the tax base is insane.  Learn about that - can the county keep reassessing the value of your property and then taxing you to death year after year, keeping you from getting decent cash flow.

I'm actually curious as to the maintenance on a solar system?  Would a tenant have to be trained in how to use it?  Do they require extra maintenance?  These are reasons I just assumed I wouldn't want to deal with solar on a rental, but you know what assuming does - I really don't know, so I'm curious as to others' experiences.