All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

 First of all, I completely disagree that it's normal to give an attorney the name of your tenant before the attorney and you have an agreement.  He can always back out if he finds out there's a conflict after he's talked to you.  And after he has spoken to you, then he can't represent anyone against you in the matter.  Sounds to me like he's trying to keep his options open.  

But, you don't need a lawyer - until you need a lawyer.  Personally, I'd tell the property manager - no.  And not say another word.  The answer is simply - no.

If you allow them to stay, in my opinion, it will be harder to kick them out later.

The fact that they're offering to pay back pay tells me that the co-signer is concerned about their credit.  That's good.  They're also trying to not have the tenant move in with them, probably LOL.  They're no doubt used to the tenant making promises, etc., hearing their sob story, for some reason wanting to help them when they should say no.

Don't borrow trouble, though.  Don't say yes to some deal because you're afraid of something happening later.  I'd say no now, and then if they don't move out, then find a lawyer.

You can find a lawyer through the bar association referral program.  All states have them.  You can just Google it.  Normally, they have a program where you pay a cheap amount for an initial consultation, then you can decide if you want to hire them or not.  There are usually lawyers who specialize in evictions.  Nowadays, they probably don't do an eviction for a flat rate, like in normal times (at least you can find flat fee eviction lawyers in CA, normally).  

But, I am betting that the co-signer isn't going to let this go into an eviction.  They're just hoping to keep this person from moving onto their couch.  So, I'd say no.  Wait to see if they move out at the end of the lease.  If they don't, then find a lawyer.  Why pay for one, when you may not need one?  Just because they have a lawyer, doesn't mean anything.  Having a lawyer doesn't mean they don't owe you the money and don't have a lease that's ending.  Plus, he knows he's not likely to get paid for any lengthy legal battle.  He probably just agreed to write you a letter and try to negotiate this deal for a fee and if it goes beyond that he named a fee they can't afford.

I was able to just use Amazon seller direct deposits for a promo one time.  See if you can get ahold of the full terms and see if it specifically limits certain types of deposits.

I vote that the PM was wrong.  There should have been communication.  Because of your surprise, I'm going to assume there is nothing in your contract that says the PM can take money from one property to pay fees on a different property.

In law, if for instance your contract wasn't clear on this, a judge would ask what sounds reasonable to a reasonable person.  This doesn't seem reasonable to me, especially since there was zero communication or agreement.  I would never do something like this without a clear agreement that it was okay to do so.

Another thing in contract law that's great, is that if the contract is vague on something, the court rules against the person who wrote it.  The reasoning behind that, is that it discouraged people from writing vague terms in contracts that they can then profit by.

I fired a PM one time for doing something similar, only worse - taking money without communication, abusing terms in the contract.  The contract included a clause that said I'd have to pay them a fee to break the contract and they tried to force that issue.  I said if they don't agree to simply break the contract, then I'd be suing them for my losses and asking for punitive damages.  So, their choice - we call it good and no contract break fee, or they take their chances in court where they were possibly going to lose a lot more, including their reputation.

Some business people are shysters.  Not saying here that all PMs are crooks, but it does happen.  Personally, I'd fire this PM and find a better one or self manage, if you can.  I don't think this is a Covid issue.  I think it's an integrity issue.

The problem with trying to get a current tenant to sign something new - is that they might not, or they keep delaying.  Then, you're in a position to have to be a hard a**, which is never fun.  I learned it was better to just avoid any situation like that.  I found it easier to just give them notice of new terms, as was mentioned by someone above.  With a M2M, you usually can just give them 30 days notice of new terms.  So, what you can do, is just write them a letter like:

Dear Tenant,

As you know, I'm the new owner of the property at __________________ (or some other intro that works for you).  As the new owner, I took over the month to month rental agreement that you signed with ____________________, dated __________.  

This is your 30 day notice of some changes to the current rental agreement, which are attached.  Let me know if you have any questions.

You

Congrats on your deal!

 I used M2M agreements because I could get rid of a problem tenant with usually just 30 days notice.  A lease gives the tenant all the power - they break a lease if they need to, but it's really hard for you to kick them out until the lease term is up.  Tenants who want to leave, will leave, regardless of having a lease, with very few exceptions.  Might as well keep the power to kick them out.  That way their "no, this isn't our dog...what dog?" "I don't smoke, what smoke smell?" "what boyfriend? nobody moved in who's not on the lease" only works for one more month.

 I'm just so impressed by you.  You are so successful, yet so humble about asking questions - which is probably why you're so successful.  

I wouldn't add them unless you're sure you'd make enough additional rent to cover the hassle.  Yes, tenants stuff disposals with junk and clog them and they can add too much soap to the dishwasher, not tell you it's leaking, etc.  

I like the idea of adding the electricity, etc., for adding them when you decide to sell or if having them at a later date is important to get renters.

As an example: I rented a 25 unit building in Santa Clara to techies and students, mostly, and I never once had a prospective tenant ask about a disposal or dishwasher.  They were clean but bare bones small apartments in an old building.  Our tenants just wanted a good deal in a safe and clean building in Silicon Valley and didn't care about luxuries.  They could easily find expensive places, if that's what they wanted.

The one thing they did lament was not having hardwood floors.  They also didn't care about having tubs.  The owner had also removed all tubs and just had shower units installed to also avoid overflowed tubs.

So, depends on your target tenant.  But, if you don't have to install them, I sure wouldn't.

It doesn't have to be fancy.  Just write what you're agreeing to.  I'd also be sure and put in it that the tenant refuses to give you their new address, so any notifications required by the court will be sent to their last known address, which is your rental address, and tenant agrees to file a forwarding address with the post office.

If they actually do file a forwarding address with the P.O., you can then send them a letter and put on it "Return Service Requested" above the address, and then the P.O. returns it to you with the yellow sticker on it with their new address he he.  

Just an example of an agreement could go something like this:

Tenants (names) and Landlord (your name) agree to terminate the lease dated __________.  Tenant agrees to forfeit the security deposit in the amount of _____________ in exchange for early termination.  If the security deposit does not cover all out of pocket costs of Landlord for such things as cleaning, repairing and re-renting the unit as quickly as possible, using reasonable means and effort, then Tenant agrees that Landlord may sue Tenant for these additional costs not covered by the security deposit.

Tenant agrees to vacate the premises and return keys to Landlord by ____________________(date)  and that if Tenant has not done so, that this entire agreement is void.

Tenant refuses to provide Landlord with their new address, but does agree to file a forwarding address with the U.S. Post Office, so that any notices will be forwarded to Tenant, and that Landlord will address any mail to Tenant's last known address, which is the rental address above.

Signed & Dated by all parties

There is no need to have anything notarized.  Just print out two copies and everybody signs both of them, so you both have an original copy.  

Give him a pay or quit notice for materially breaching the terms of the lease.  Not sure if it would actually fly in court, but it might scare him enough to pay you.  If not, then find out if you can evict on those terms in Dade County.  If not, file a small claims court action for the money he promised to pay you and didn't.  It's a breach of contract, and you can at least sue for that.  Legal notices are usually pretty effective.  Some tenants check the waters to see what they can get away with.  When they find out paying rent is the priority, since they'll get kicked out if they choose to get a new tattoo instead (yes, been there), they will usually decide to pay you and use their credit card for the tattoo.

Just need to let him know you mean business.  Odds are good that he's planning on just using it as a short term rental, anyway.  Live and learn.  Everybody here has made mistakes, so don't feel alone in that.

You can charge them for all of your out of pocket costs for breaking the lease, and you just need to use "reasonable" effort to get it re-rented.  

As mentioned, be sure you send an itemized list to them and what you're keeping their deposit for, etc., within the correct time frame, and let them know how much they owe you if it doesn't cover everything.  You can use that as your demand letter, if you decide to take them to court.

I liked month to month agreements. As mentioned, tenants leave when they want to and if they can't afford to wait for their deposit, they'll leave on the hush hush so you have to use their deposit to cover their "last month's rent."  With a month to month agreement, you can kick them out when you want to.  A lease really only benefits the tenant, as you can't kick them out - but they'll still leave when they want to.

Take a look at your lease, too.  I have a vague memory of learning that in Florida, landlords have to give two options on the lease on how a tenant wants to handle what happens if they break the lease.  It's called a Sunshine clause, I think?  Too lazy to Google it, but check it out and see what they agreed to in the lease, too.

Good luck in your new venture.  I'm happy they didn't trash the place as bad as some horror stories.