Sex Offender Existing Tenant

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

Thanks @Bjorn Ahlblad! It's a month-to-month lease agreement that he is on so I believe it would be fairly simple (as any eviction/non-renewal of contract can be) to get him out. So looks like the best bet might be just to not renew his contract the first month I can after I buy it. I'll look into seeing if I can get the current owner to evict him before I close. Thanks!

Account Closed

Rental Property Investor · Central, FL · Member since 2016 · 950 posts · 821 votes

6y

have the tenant moved out as a condition of closing, or have a severe monetary penalty for not having them vacated.

the term sex offender is massively huge, you should be able to look it up and see what it is for. Also the likelihood of repeating. I’d also look in the local area to the park and see what other offenders are in the area. Are you buying in a D type area or what?

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

Hi @Account Closed. The area is 6 miles out of a larger city, somewhat rural. I'd say it's a C class property. Needs some updates/repairs which is why I'm getting for a pretty good deal.

That's a great idea. I'll see if I can get an addendum added to the closing for that. Thanks!

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

Talked with the realtor running the deal and he thinks we should be able to get it signed into the contract that sale is contingent on her getting the guy out. Thanks!

Just to poke further down this topic, I don't see a case where you would ever want to rent to a registered sex offender (even if it was one of those 19 year old and 17 year old relationship type of deals) if you have multiple units on the same property for liability purposes correct? Is there an instance where anyone has rented to someone like that and it turned out good for your? Thanks again!

Olivia Radziszewski

Realtor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2019 · 274 posts · 191 votes

6y

@Ben Nelson from what understand inheriting tenants in general seems to cause unwanted problems, sex-offender or no sex-offender. Considering the fact that you did not screen them yourself. Those are just my 2 cents, hope it helps!

3 Reply

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

I think you are right @Olivia Radziszewski. I was planning to buy a piece of property and start building my own small park from the ground up but my realtor approached me with this off-market deal and we're making it work! It looks like we'll be able to get this guy out, hopefully, before closing so we'll have one vacant unit to practice tenant screening on before moving onto the other two if there are issues there. I'm looking at is as practice for when I buy a much larger unit deal and have to deal with lots of tenants coming with it. :)

Olivia Radziszewski

Realtor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2019 · 274 posts · 191 votes

6y

@Ben Nelson I would read The Book on Rental Property Investing, if you haven't already. It changed my life and still continues to as I set out on my real estate journey as well. Also, congratulations on the property! Keep us posted...

3 Reply

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

@Olivia Radziszewski Will do! I actually get that one and The Book on Managing Rental Properties in the mail tomorrow. I had been doing flips and was planning to get into rentals next year....but this deal fell into my lap a couple weeks ago so I'm doing a little fast-paced learning to get up to speed. Thanks for all the advice! I'll take all I can get. :)

1 Reply

Joseph R. Smith

Rental Property Investor · Carthage, NY · Member since 2019 · 72 posts · 47 votes

6y

1) It is a very important distinction to determine if he is a sex offender in the aweful most often thought of sense, OR did he per se get caught making out with his gf in the back seat of a car parked behind a bar in public. MANY so-called sex offense crimes are only of this 2nd nature. Do find that out threw legal researching methods. 2) In managing mobile homes, I am very strict on few things. But IF god forbid his crime was of the first nature, mobile home parks house many children and families thus can be prone to predators that we MUST screen out. :/

9 Reply

Anthony Rosa

Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2019 · 703 posts · 538 votes

6y

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

have the tenant moved out as a condition of closing, or have a severe monetary penalty for not having them vacated.

the term sex offender is massively huge, you should be able to look it up and see what it is for. Also the likelihood of repeating. I’d also look in the local area to the park and see what other offenders are in the area. Are you buying in a D type area or what?

@Eric C. - I don't know much about mobile home parks but are there mobile home parks in A-B-C areas?

John Teachout

Rental Property Investor · Concord, GA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes

6y

Just the fact that someone is a registered sex offender wouldn't freak me out too badly. I'd want to know what caused the person to make the list. I was looking at a geographic list the other day and noted most of the registered offenders never did any prison time for the charges. So they're not necessarily rapists of young children. (but might be...)

Anyway, if they're otherwise good tenants, I probably wouldn't be real hasty to throw them out. It shouldn't be difficult to discover exactly what charges were against them and then you could make a more informed decision. I would imagine that being on the registry would make it difficult to find a place to rent so they may be really reliable and careful not to do anything that would get them evicted.

Dennis M.

Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes

6y

Well look into the details before you immediately consider the fella a twisted pervert ( and he may very well be )

It’s possible him as a 18 yr old and his girlfriend at 17 got busted fooling around or he was peeing in public and got spotted by a passerby . There’s a few circumstances I’d probably overlook the charge . Have all your facts ..I’m just saying look into it then make a judgment call

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

@Dennis M. Thanks for all the great advice guys! Definitely don’t want to jump the gun. I looked into the guy and he was charged with a Class B Felony for sexual offenses with a boy under 14....yikes. Glad I found out.

Thanks again for all the responses! I’ll keep in mind getting the whole story on a situation like this in the future but for sure don’t think that this guy will be good for the future of the community there as far as attracting future tenants.

Account Closed

Rental Property Investor · Central, FL · Member since 2016 · 950 posts · 821 votes

6y

Originally posted by @Olivia Radziszewski:

@Ben Nelson from what understand inheriting tenants in general seems to cause unwanted problems, sex-offender or no sex-offender. Considering the fact that you did not screen them yourself. Those are just my 2 cents, hope it helps!

Great point Olivia, I’ve implemented that as a process for closing. I re-screen (at my expense) all tenants to ensure they meet the same standard as new tenants. And allows me to enforce my rules not someone else’s. I made a offer for a 8 unit and when I got the leases they were about a 1/4 page that basically said please be a good person and it’s X a month. My lease is slowly growing and is at I believe 18 pages now. There’s always some loophole I need to fill in. And I had a Florida Supreme Court approved lease. It still needed Addendums.

Larry Jonathan Denson

Rental Property Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 11 votes

6y

Sex offenders make the greatest tenants. Making a ton of money helping reintegrate these people.

Brendan F. Nagle

Member since 2018 · 104 posts · 94 votes

6y

@Ben Nelson

Be careful. If you end up with him or not, getting the county to update the list of where they live. That conversation/action can take weeks to months. Sheriffs deputy and clerks can be difficult to work with. Whether he is there or not, it still shows on your property until they change it.

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

@Brendan F. Nagle thanks for the tip Brendon. I will definitely look into that.

Storm S.

Real Estate Agent · Santa Barbara, CA · Member since 2016 · 518 posts · 283 votes

6y

@Ben Nelson the only benefit I could see if renting to a sex offender is that you can probably get higher than market rents on that unit. Definitely does not come without its own risks though. It all depends on your risk tolerance.

Ray A Delfi

Rental Property Investor · Poughkeepsie, NY (Hudson Valley Area) · Member since 2019 · 188 posts · 102 votes

6y

@Ben Nelson this is a great topic, I once had a clean out guy very cheap and no job too dirty. For $350 he cleaned out an apartment of an evicted hoarder, literally had to wear a full body suit and a shovel. My property manager informed me that he was a a registered sex offender after a few years of doing business with him. I did not know the crime but was lucky enough that there were no kids in the building that I own. However, it did cause me to be more discriminative. I read an article that noted the risks of knowing and not knowing were could potentially leave you liable if the person commits a crime in your property, however this would be the case with anyone on your property sex offender or not. They could have be a felon, history of misdemeanors or a pyromaniac. I read an article that basically summed up That landlords should consider only whether the applicant poses a current threat to cotenants, guests, and employees. That analysis takes into consideration the age of the conviction, its nature, and any relevant intervening facts. For example, a recent rape conviction perpetrated on a neighbor's child would arguably be more relevant to a landlord than a 20-year-old conviction for statutory rape followed by a crime-free life. There was guidance published in the "HUD Guidance Memo on Landlords' Use of Arrest and Conviction Records."

3 Reply

David James

Member since 2019 · 32 posts · 15 votes

6y

@Ben Nelson I would say have him move out as a contigency for closing. At this point, dont let emotions and opinions govern how you run ur BUSINESS. Remember, this is a business and if you allow him to stay regardless of what the conditions of how he got on the list, future potential tenants will be looking at that and pass on your property for something else. Good luck on your decisions. Let us know how it works out!

1 Reply

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Decatur, AL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes

6y

Good point @David James. I definitely am moving that way and the realtor is working on it now compiling the addendum to the contract. I did some more research last night and found out it was just this last March that he was convicted of "rape & incest with a 13 year old minor"....so that puts all the "reasonable" reasons away someone could be a registered sex offender (as I know there are some). I'll post back when I hear from the owner if we can make that contingency work and when we close on the property.

Thanks again everyone!

Steven Lowe

Real Estate Agent · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2019 · 448 posts · 320 votes

6y

@Dennis M. Wow, you can be forced to register as a sex offender for peeing in public?

1 Reply

Dennis M.

Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes

6y

Originally posted by @Steven Lowe:

@Dennis M. Wow, you can be forced to register as a sex offender for peeing in public?

Indecent exposure especially in the presence of a child . How true that is I don’t know but there’s stories around of somebody taking a leak at the wrong time and next thing you know you are registered . Obviously in this case it was much more sinister . I would not deal with somebody like that

Larry Jonathan Denson

Rental Property Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 11 votes

6y

@Storm S. It doesn't work that way at all. If you have a three bedroom house with one bath that house houses 6 offenders. All pay $600 per month and they are damn glad to have the opportunity.