Just got a phone call from a local fencing contractor telling me that he just finished installing a fence at one of my rentals.  Problem is i never told him to do the job.  I got a quote from the guy back in December....

Does the previous owner need to authorize a payoff?

Ok, I am not Dave Ramsey, not a talk show host, no courses to sell, not an author, not a celebrity.

Easiest solution might be just to extend the period of being able to collect that overage before it gets escheated to the state or taxing authority. 

I've reached out to the local housing authority for additional information waiting to hear back. 

Some landlords will not talk to you unless you have a signed form by the tenant authorizing communication or the tenant calls to authorize in advance. 

He has given me a copy of his Accord form for his liability insurance but I'm not an authorized user or additional insured.

The CMHA payment standard refers to the maximum amount that the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) is willing to subsidize for housing assistance programs, such as the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program.

As such, Seller grants Buyerlimited and specific authorization as its attorney in fact to potentially advertise the property and execute any documentsincluding listing agreement(s), disclosures, cancellations, sales contracts and addendums.

Accounting firms typically have nothing to do with this process unless somehow the title company subcontracted the preparation of the 8288 to them (which really isn’t necessary as it doesn’t require tax expertise, only familiarity with the FIRPTA procedures in general, which any title co who’s worked with a sale by a foreign person would likely know).This is indeed a weird situation and it definitely is unsupported by any authority in the code and regulations to send the withholding tax amount to an accounting firm acting as a middle man for the IRS unless they somehow expressly made an agreement to do so.Good luck with that