Alarming group on IG social media posts they aren't paying rent

Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 12 votes

I felt like I had to post this because I couldn't believe that this was a real!! A friend posted this on her instagram and I investigated and responded to the person responsible. I also have here their response. What happens in this situation? Has anyone encountered this situation already?

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Greg M.

Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 5k+ votes

I have a hard time believing this is real. It came from Reddit, a China-owned socialist cesspool of low thinkers. It's probably a circle-jerk of what they want to see happen.

If real, hire an attorney. Send every tenant notice that they are in violation of the lease and that late fees will be assessed and eviction proceedings will begin the first day allowed.

Evict all 32 for non-payment. Let each tenant know exactly what an eviction will do to their ability to rent another place.

If a judge won't evict, non-renew their lease when up if possible. If not, raise rent the maximum allowed by law every single year.

Send the balance due to a collections agency and have them report the balance owed to the credit reporting agencies.

File a RICO suit against all 32 asking for treble damages.

Texas has odd laws regarding collecting debts, but they do allow the seizing of certain personal property to be auctioned. Say goodbye to the TV.

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Jaron WallingPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
I guess we have 4 days to find out!

Didn't realize there was a rent strike movement, what ever that means. I suppose that happens when people don't save for an emergency fund. I checked out that IG page and the people who follow that account are delusional. There's all kinds of stupid posts and hate towards the wealthy.
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Bjorn AhlbladPro Member
Investor · Shelton, WA · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 6k+ votes
6y
@Danny T. That is disturbing especially from a city in Texas. I could see that coming from NY or San Francisco. Like an episode from a crazy TV show. I wish I had some magic advice to offer-unfortunately not. Keep us posted.
2 Reply
Patrick M.
Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
“We’re winning stuff that last week sounded radical,” said Tara Raghuveer, a tenant rights advocate in Kansas City, Mo. “We have to start demanding more.”
From NYTimes article... where are our reps?
0 Reply
Scott Mac
Austin, TX · Member since 2019 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
A 32 unit with everyone signing--hard to believe.
SJW type (sitting in his moms basement) thinking he's clever making up a FAKE STORY to try to encourage this to happen for his own reasons--Highly Probable.
Do owners of larger apartments walk around like New-bees not knowing what to do, and post openly to twitter for help? Perhaps/perhaps not.
Do Landlord hating SJWs stirred up by certain political figures (for their own ends) post to places like this and then make up tons of FAKE response accounts to highlight their own desires ...Highly Likely.
I'm not buying it.
13 Reply
John Teachout
Rental Property Investor · Concord, GA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
Interesting. Do they think they won't have to make up the back rent? That it is just free living?
I wonder how many of them would have success finding another place to live once an eviction has been filed against them. (not now, but later...)

3 Reply
Wesley W.
Rental Property Investor · The Vampire State · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @John Teachout:
Interesting. Do they think they won't have to make up the back rent? That it is just free living?

If they live in NY, they soon won't have to make up back rent. The rent will be forgiven; the loss absorbed by the landlord. (see other posts on the legislative bill moving through both chambers in NY).

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Greg M.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
I have a hard time believing this is real. It came from Reddit, a China-owned socialist cesspool of low thinkers. It's probably a circle-jerk of what they want to see happen.

If real, hire an attorney. Send every tenant notice that they are in violation of the lease and that late fees will be assessed and eviction proceedings will begin the first day allowed.

Evict all 32 for non-payment. Let each tenant know exactly what an eviction will do to their ability to rent another place.

If a judge won't evict, non-renew their lease when up if possible. If not, raise rent the maximum allowed by law every single year.

Send the balance due to a collections agency and have them report the balance owed to the credit reporting agencies.

File a RICO suit against all 32 asking for treble damages.
Texas has odd laws regarding collecting debts, but they do allow the seizing of certain personal property to be auctioned. Say goodbye to the TV.
17 Reply
Greg H.Pro Member
Moderator
Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
This is why you don’t pass these kinds of regulations. Tenants are going to exploit this an not pay far more than landlords would have evicted during this crisis
2 Reply
Greg H.Pro Member
Moderator
Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
@Greg M.
The reality is Texas does not. The list of exempt property is extensive and 99.99% of tenants are noncollectable. No garnishment of wages either. Flipside is.....we can get a tenant out in 3 weeks.....until now
1 Reply
Mitch Harold
Member since 2019 · 35 posts · 87 votes
6y
If you can get ahold of the building owner...see if he wants to sell!
6 Reply
Reginald Ross
Rental Property Investor · Gulf Shores, AL · Member since 2019 · 107 posts · 115 votes
6y
@Greg M.
As a cherry on top, you can file a cancellation of debt form with the IRS so the tenants pay taxes on any unpaid rents and fees. Just saying...
6 Reply
Calvin Lin
Investor · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2015 · 81 posts · 210 votes
6y
There is a call for April 1st as "Rent Strike Day" in the US.

Freeway in Atlanta:

White sheet in front of home to signal rent strike:
1 Reply
Chris Musser
Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 8 votes
6y
Pfft, whatever. I could care less what someone posts on some Facebook or Instagram. If a tenant doesn’t pay rent, I issue notice. Day 5 I have my attorney file. I don’t care about someone who highlights some garbage. Tide pods were talked about a lot too. Refuse to pay your rent, you get evicted. In a few months you’ll have a great tenant who enjoyes the space.
2 Reply
Shiloh LundahlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
To me it seems that the people described in this post want American freedoms with socialist laws. You can’t have them both. I had an opportunity recently to get to know a Russian woman who studied to be a lawyer in Russia. We talked about what the monetary system and political system was like from where she was from. I asked her if the people from where she was from wanted more freedoms. She said that they didn’t. She said that the country was basically people who were in charge and people who had to follow the people in charge. She said that the people didn’t want freedoms, they just wanted to be the ones in charge. What a different way of seeing the world. The people mentioned in this post don’t realize it yet but they are pushing for more freedoms with less personal responsibility and they will end up eventually losing their freedoms to the ones they put in charge.
With regards to our personal rentals, we are fortunate that the majority of my single family properties are on lease options where the tenants have paid 4-6k to purchase an option to buy the house for a certain price. If they don’t follow the lease agreement or violate the terms of the lease (such as not paying rent) the option agreement becomes void. So far we have only had 2 out of around 60 of our lease option tenants reach out to us and let us know that they are experiencing some situations with work and they asked us if they could pay a little late in April. The overwhelming majority of our tenants are not entitled like the ones described in this post.
480-206-1209 Podcast Guest on Show #287
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Greg H.Pro Member
Moderator
Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Reginald Ross:
@Greg M.
As a cherry on top, you can file a cancellation of debt form with the IRS so the tenants pay taxes on any unpaid rents and fees. Just saying...

Be careful with that. Almost every landlord uses the cash method of accounting , so that does not qualify to issue a cancellation of debt

2 Reply
Bill F.
Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
Before this thread spins out of control into opining on the relative merits of various forms of government and moral outrage at "people today".

-Here is the source.

-Here is one of the top comments:

-The account only has 2 posts, that same question posted in r/realestateinvesting and r/legaladvice. The post in r/legaladvice was taken down.

-Also, there has been no independent verification of this from a media source or tenant right's group.

Taking all the facts in their totality make the likelihood this is real pretty small.

Its 2020 guys, I thought we would have all figured out by now that just because its on the internet doesn't mean its true.

Foreign actors are actively trying to influence our society for their own gain. Blindly re-posting something bad you saw and/or commenting on it without even thinking about it is the exact behavior they rely on.
7 Reply
Shiloh LundahlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
@Bill F. the original post was interesting, but the pictures of the white sheets over the freeway and on the houses symbolizing refusing to pay rent was more interesting to me. Is that also fabricated or is that a real thing right now?
480-206-1209 Podcast Guest on Show #287
1 Reply
Morgana Wyze
Nevada City, CA · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 3 votes
6y
I'm not a large property owner as many of you are here. I own a house in California that I rent. The County just passed an ordinance that evictions can't happen until May 1st even if the tenants do not pay rent and then they have 6 months to catch up. I am so angry that my rights as a landlord were just diminished with the swipe of a pen. I wouldn't evict a tenant into a pandemic, so a moratorium on evictions is fine. Six months to catch up just displaces their burden onto my shoulders. That's the part I'm angry about. No late fees, no penalties. California really must think money grows on trees and that it's all interest free to landlords. I've watched the community discussion boards and the tenants in general think that they do not have to pay rent for 2 months and that when the two months are over the government will declare "debt forgiveness". They are probably correct.

I chose my tenants carefully so I do think they will pay. They save their money.
But if they do not then it breaks their lease and I will raise their rent in June. If the County says that I can't raise their rent then the lease is still broken and I will throw that house on the market at a discount to be through with being a landlord in CA. The other fun news is that if I had incorporated I would be limited to a rent increase of 5% annually plus inflation, so about 8.5%. My fire insurance goes up 30% a year. I predict that in 2 years rentals in California will be as scarce as hen's teeth. Apartment buildings will go condo and homeowners will sell, not rent, or do AirBnB instead of long term rentals.
0 Reply
Bill F.
Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
@Shiloh Lundahl

I'm reasonable certain it is a real thing that happened at some point in time, but then again so is the church of the flying spaghetti monster; the world is a weird place.

Is it a real thing isn't the right question. The religion based on pasta, that is also real, but I have yet to know anyone who has been baptized in marinara.

"Is this a movement that has traction, a well organized base, growing followers base ect, which has the potential to impact landlords on a large scale?" cuts to the heart of the issue.

The McGoogle tells me that the hastag #cancelrent isn't doing so well, but I have no idea what the scale on that graph is.

As the saying goes "Never let a good crisis go to waste" and we are going to see a lot of that coming up in the near future. That will make the active consumption of information all that more important.
2 Reply
Theresa HarrisPro Member
Member since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
6y
I think there will always be people who take advantage of a situation. I'd also like to think most people are reasonable and will do what they need to-ie if they were laid off, talk to their landlord and work something out. Also, don't believe everything you read. Lots of people will post things on facebook or instagram, reality is very different.
1 Reply
John Teachout
Rental Property Investor · Concord, GA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
Ten minutes ago some of our brand new inherited tenants left here with a pickup truck containing a bunk bed set (and four twin mattresses total), a dresser, a new burner pan for their range and a toilet flush handle so they can replace the shoestring they're using to pull up the flapper. We also previously supplied them with 5 gallons of paint and paint pans, rollers and a brush so they can freshen the place up. We repaired two broken windows, fixed their ceiling fan and replaced a burned outlet. We have not yet received any rent from these tenants but hopefully, they will soon grasp that they aren't going to find a better place to live for the money. We doubt they're going to join some rent strike movement. If they do, there will be movement. Them moving out of our property.
0 Reply
Henry Lazerow
Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Have a lawyer write a letter to all of them explaining the laws and your position with mortgage/tax liabilities. Inform them you will be suing each tenant afterwards and putting delinquency on their credit and how that will negatively affect their future ability to get an apartment.

A lot of low income people dont understand that we have mortgages and think all the rent is profit. Even though the cashflow looks good on paper I avoid this demographic. My units are in class B area and we have had no issues even with the virus.
1 Reply
Danny T.
OP
Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 12 votes
6y
awesome point!! thank you for this perspective. even if in the event that it's totally false it's a good exercise to practice thinking about what one would do if it were real. i was in shock that this was a post on ig getting reposted by people i know, that's why i posted it.

Originally posted by @Bill F.:
Before this thread spins out of control into opining on the relative merits of various forms of government and moral outrage at "people today".

-Here is the source.

-Here is one of the top comments:

-The account only has 2 posts, that same question posted in r/realestateinvesting and r/legaladvice. The post in r/legaladvice was taken down.

-Also, there has been no independent verification of this from a media source or tenant right's group.

Taking all the facts in their totality make the likelihood this is real pretty small.

Its 2020 guys, I thought we would have all figured out by now that just because its on the internet doesn't mean its true.

Foreign actors are actively trying to influence our society for their own gain. Blindly re-posting something bad you saw and/or commenting on it without even thinking about it is the exact behavior they rely on.

0 Reply
James Wise
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 31k+ posts · 20k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Danny T.:

I felt like I had to post this because I couldn't believe that this was a real!! A friend posted this on her instagram and I investigated and responded to the person responsible. I also have here their response. What happens in this situation? Has anyone encountered this situation already?

There are always yahoo's running around talking about doing stuff like this........Nothing to worry about.
0 Reply
Danny T.
OP
Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 12 votes
6y
Originally posted by @John Teachout:
Interesting. Do they think they won't have to make up the back rent? That it is just free living?
I wonder how many of them would have success finding another place to live once an eviction has been filed against them. (not now, but later...)

Yes! People really aren't thinking about long term consequences with this view.

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