All Forum Posts by: Wil Pace

@Omer Ashkenazi thank you!

Looking for recommendations for appliance repairmen/service in Frederick Maryland.  I fix the easy stuff myself (thanks YouTube) and usually replace if the appliance is more than 10 years old.  But often, the situation is in between - too hard or time consuming for me to fix and the appliance is too new to just throw out.  I had 3 different tenants call today with appliances needing repair in this in between category!

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.

-Wil

I thought the statewide moratorium was for increases in excess of 2.6%?

Frederick Maryland's Board of Aldermen passed legislation back in July that prohibits landlords from increasing rents or charging late fees until 180 days after Maryland's coronavirus state of emergency is lifted.  Thankfully, all of my tenants are more or less up to date on rent (more are paying late than usual, but I'm not complaining given the circumstances).  But I do have several units that are rented for well below market (most in a multifamily building I bought back in February). Some of the units are leased for 30% below market (all MTM). The inability to increase rents even modestly is frustrating to say the least as I'm pouring a lot of money into the building on capex projects and addressing long deferred maintenance items.

Can anyone recommend a good resource for legislative info/updates specific to the Frederick market?  I literally stumbled across the info by doing a basic Google search when I was preparing to draft my annual rent increase letters (thankfully I never sent them).  It would be great to have a single information source to rely on for stuff like this.  Also interested to hear how others are dealing with this.

Thanks.

I would be interested.  I've been a commercial broker in downtown DC for 27 years.  I started investing in small multifamily properties in DC in 2004.  I shifted my focus to Frederick, MD in 2010 and currently have 23 units that I self-manage with my wife.

I have not.  Though they have contacted me about some of my rental apartments in Frederick, MD.  I'm also curious to hear others experience with them.  I have passed on these types of groups so far, but am intrigued.

Thanks James.  I appreciate this helpful info. I'm just going to keep documenting the situation for now and hope he pays at some point.  If not, I will file as soon as the courts are open again.

Thanks for the advice.  I will definitely file when I'm able (assuming the tenant hasn't paid up by then).  I hear you on the security deposit and dealing with it at the end - probably the only realistic option right now.  But I only hold a 1 month deposit and I can easily see this going on for many months.  Oh well, I guess many are in the same boat.

Has anyone tried filing for eviction in Maryland during the state of emergency?  Thankfully I only have 1 tenant out of 23 that is taking advantage of the situation.  The tenant is refusing to pay any rent during the state of emergency despite the fact that he is still gainfully employed and continues to earn his salary while working remotely.  He says his roommate had his hours cut and is therefore not able to pay "his half" of the rent.  I offered to defer 1/2 the rent or draw it from his security deposit, but he will not agree to pay anything.  I expect he is going to work this angle until the state of emergency is lifted and then simply move out to avoid paying the rent owed.

Contemplating filing for eviction now and see what happens...

Thanks all for the feedback.  I will try using the brush from the outside with just the dryer running to see if that is sufficient.

Much appreciated!