All Forum Posts by: Patti Robertson

This is what the VRLTA says about how notice must be given.  In my area, we just note the date we mail them regular USPS mail, and we also e-mail them (because our lease gives permission for electronic notices).  Never one time, have I ever seen a Judge question how notice was delivered.  We are not 

"Notice" means notice given in writing by either regular mail or hand delivery, with the sender retaining sufficient proof of having given such notice in the form of a certificate of service confirming such mailing prepared by the sender. However, a person shall be deemed to have notice of a fact if he has actual knowledge of it, he has received a verbal notice of it, or, from all of the facts and circumstances known to him at the time in question, he has reason to know it exists. A person "notifies" or "gives" a notice or notification to another by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform another person, whether or not the other person actually comes to know of it. If notice is given that is not in writing, the person giving the notice has the burden of proof to show that the notice was given to the recipient of the notice.

Hi there.  For furnished rentals I'd recommend you reach out to @Dezmon Robertson.  That is his specialty and he is a wealth of info.

Find out what your state law says for this scenario and follow that.  We have a Requestion for Mutual Termination form on my website that a tenant can submit. Essentially they have to agree to abide by all lease terms until we find a new tenant, and pay the commission we pay to an agent to find the new tenant. We require they put up 2 months rent in good faith and sign the doc before we will start advertising.  I am attaching a copy of the form we use.  Feel free to plagiarize it.  Example of a Request for Early Lease Termination Form

With todays interest rates, investment returns and market insecurity, we are buying with cash right now.

There are a couple of important points to be aware of when buying a property with a SEC 8 tenant in place.

1) Have your closing attorney prepare an "assignment of lease" document with your closing package that is signed by the seller, assigning the rights and responsibilities of the current lease to your buying entity.  This will make your transition to the point of being able to receive the earned rent faster.  If you don't do this, you will have to submit all new paperwork, not just amend for a new payee.

2) Right after the last payment will be received by the seller, the seller or the seller's PM should notify the Housing Authority of the pending sale so the payments are "put on abatement". This just means they are put on hold until the property changes hands and you can submit the info as the new payee.

3) Contact the Housing Authority to ask for new payee paperwork.  You can't submit this until you have closed.  Attach the Closing Document to the new payee paperwork when you submit it to the HA, because the change of ownership won't show up in your city/county tax record fast enough for them to verify it that way.

4) Ask the case worker what the tenant's rent portion is.  While it will take a payment cycle (they pay on the 1st and 15th) to get the SEC 8 portion of rent, the tenant should start paying their portion of rent to your or your PM on the next rent due date after the sale.

Good luck on your closing!

Am I seeing this right that someone replaced white siding with beige?  Anyone looking at this photo is going to come to the conclusion that whoever does these repairs bandaids and doesn't do quality work.  

The Hampton Roads Landlord Assoc April Lunch & Learn

COMMERCIAL INVESTING 101

Most residential real estate investors plan to eventually add to or convert their residential portfolios to commercial real estate. LT Caplan, our April lunch & learn speaker's family has been investing in diversified commercial real estate projects in Hampton Roads for decades. LT will introduce us to the different types of commercial investments, and will share some of the pros and cons of each. He will also be able to share how leases and lease compliance differ from residential. Bring your questions, because LT is a wealth of information and will be ready to answer them.

LT Caplan is also the owner of LT Caplan Law, many title companies, and Asset Recovery, one of our regions largest landlord tenant enforcement and collection agencies.

THIS IS AN IN PERSON MEETING, AND ACCURATE RSVPs ARE CRITICAL TO ENSURE WE HAVE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF FOOD! Sweetwater Cuisine is a catering company known for their amazing culinary skills and will be serving us a buffet lunch for an all inclusive price of $25/person, which includes the space, meal, tax and tip as long as you RSVP. If you attend without RSVPing you can pay $30 at the door.  

To RSVP, first join the Hampton Roads Landlord Assoc (it's free) at this link: https://www.meetup.com/hrlandl...

@Richard F. - That's a great point that makes this scenario even a larger potential risk.  I don't think it solves the issue though. If the funds aren't in the account they would just coordinate it with the next deposit.  It would slow down the claw, but wouldn't stop it.

Congrats! Going forward you can do your CE classes with Mosely for free. They offer free class for VA, GA and FL.

I have been housing SEC 8 tenants for 15 years, and have about 120 voucher holding tenants in my property management brokerage. Last week the director of the Norfolk, VA HA told me that if a voucher holder tenant tells them that they vacated a property sometime in the past, the Housing Authority will go claw back rents paid, with zero proof from the tenant. This seems OUTRAGEOUS to me. Has anyone ever seen this happen? The HAP states that rent stops when the tenant vacates, but it also states that the tenant must give notice to both the landlord and the HA. If no notice is given, how can rent be retroactively clawed back? I would love to hear other people's experiences.