Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2018 · 29 posts · 11 votes
Hi, I got a "criminal complaint" (misdemeanor) from Cleveland Municipal court because my property in Cleveland has "High Grass and Weeds".
I pleaded Not Guilty because the PM confirms it is the tenant's responsibility, and I want her to be accountable.
The Cleveland Court said I have to get an attorney because the home is owned by an LLC. The only reason it's in an LLC is because I used a Self-directed IRA to buy it.
If you know a good and reasonably priced RE attorney for Cleveland, please provide his/her contact info.
Or if you experienced this before, please let me know what you did or wish you did so the outcome would be best for us landlords.
@Mary Paras in my city the property owner is liable for mowing the grass and meeting other city ordinances. This holds landlords accountable for maintaining their property. We usually get a courtesy notice the first time, then are given a few days to remedy. If we don't remedy, the city does it and charges the owner.
Looking at Cleveland city ordinances, it appears they have a similar policy of requesting the owner to remedy or they will remedy and charge the owner. They also mention criminal action, but it seems logical that would be an escalation. Meaning if you were sent notice and didn't remedy or if the problem became reoccurring.
Either way, you are fighting this with the wrong approach. Legally speaking the high grass and weeds are not your tenants responsibility. According to city code it is your responsibility. Your lease may make it their responsibility, but ensuring they fulfill that responsibility is your responsibility.
My advice, at first notice of any city violation, remedy immediately - that day. Contact the city, apologize and let them know it has been remedied. Put the tenant on notice and check up on them to ensure they are not letting the problem happen again.
Misdemeanor is pretty harsh, so it leads me to believe this is not the first offense or they are trying to crack down on out of state investors. You have a right to invest there, but not a right to let your properties go to crap in the process.
If your PM hasn't dealt with it, call someone to cut the grass and then invoice the tenant. Tell them if they don't pay, they are in violation of the lease and then get a new tenant. Also tell them they are responsible for paying the fine (you pay the city, but the tenants then pay you back).
@Mary Paras if you are looking for a local attorney I would check with Lieberman, Dvorin and Dowd. Google them or PM me. Now the real life advice is that if it is in the name of an LLC it is not against you personally. How is the complaint/summons written? If it is against the LLC just pay the fine and assess your tenant. You should be able to pay online, no attorney needed.
However, as a Realtor I must advise you to consult an attorney.
Get it cut immediately. If you do not and the city cuts it they will put a large fee on you property tax bill. Postage size lots get fined 200.00 to cut the grass. They once hit me with a 700.00 fee on a double vacant lot. Was not even my lot.
If the tenant does not cut the grass reliably,hire a landscaper and add the cost to their rent. Because most of my younger urban tenants do not want to maintain a lawn, I use what I fondly call urban landscaping. I put mulch and or river rock over the entire front yard.
Thanks Bob. The fine for me may be $500 because it's under a single member LLC. I'm still willing to pay $500 fine and get reimbursement from tenant, as long as I don't get a criminal record. Based on court documents I've received so far, seems like if I pay the fine, I have to plead guilty to a criminal offense. Hopefully, I can just clean-up lawn, pay a fine and just move on. But the criminal record is concerning because it might show-up and cause major issues for me in my future.
Not a lawyer, but … Property is owned by LLC and the fine is based on LLC. It is the LLC that is being charged and not you as an individual. The criminal record should not be associated with you as an individual.
Thanks James and Joe. I am trying to find an attorney. If I do not get recommendations from Bigger Pockets, Google has some I can contact. I am planning to add lawn care in the rent when the tenant's lease is due for renewal end of this year as James said, and I am already paying for water and sewerage directly. I'm also thinking of not renewing her lease. She pays rent but does not take care of the property, even the interior. I also got multiple nasty letters from the gas company because she is not giving access when Gas Co needs to service meter. Of course I tell the PM to tell her. Anyway as people say, we learn something new everyday!
Sounds to me that your bigger problem is that you need a better PM. He should know ALL of this and make sure the property stays in compliance with City codes or gas company requirements. What else are you paying them for?
@Mary Paras the fine will be reduced and you will not have a record ,,, i am not speculating as I have many years of dealing with 100s and 100s and 100s props,,,,,
@Bonnie Low Ok, this has happened to me in Cleveland before and I know a fair amount about how the city operates. First of all, they ticket first and then process everything later. They don't give warnings. Some smaller cities do, but not corrupt Cleveland, which is all about collecting fines. Secondly, it's true you need legal representation as an LLC. A lawyer (I have some referrals for you) will charge a couple/few hundreds dollars for the appearance. However, the attorney will tell you it's a waste of money as the city will find you guilty and then you have the fine as well as the legal fee to pay for the lawyer being there with you. In my case, I submitted a bunch of evidence why the overgrown grass was not my fault. They city wrote back saying they didn't care about my excuses, just pay the fine. They did reduce the fine since it was a first offense. They should have a phone # and instructions on how to contest/submit evidence down at city hall. So that to me is your best bet. I would assess the fine to your tenant and any other repeat offenses.
This is probably a municipal code violation. That’s not the same as a criminal violation. Most municipal courts are not a court of record. Certainly check with your municipality, but if your main concern is your record, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Thank you, everyone! 🙂 I read all your feedback in detail (including ones that I did not confirm with a reply). I think I have what I need to move forward.
One thing is for sure right now, the lawn has been maintained! I sent someone there to check and send me a photo.👍
I'm late to this thread, but I note that no one has mentioned the IRA aspect of this. It looks like you established a "checkbook IRA" for the purpose of making the investment. This means the IRA account is the owner of the LLC that owns the property. You are a non-compensated manager of the LLC.
You want to be very careful about separating your personal involvement and expenses from those that should be paid by the LLC.
I suggest that you also speak with both the custodian you are using for the self-directed IRA as well as the service provider you used to establish the LLC to get their input on how to proceed when your IRA account is subject to legal action.
Thank you, everyone! 🙂 I read all your feedback in detail (including ones that I did not confirm with a reply). I think I have what I need to move forward.
One thing is for sure right now, the lawn has been maintained! I sent someone there to check and send me a photo.👍
Hey Mary, I've got to go back to the property manager question. All my holdings are single-family and small multifamily and I self-manage. I'm just a few hours away from Cleveland.
I've never lived in LA, but I have lived in Greece, which has a similar climate to southern California. One of the weird things about Pgh's and Cleveland's climate is that grass growth is simply not as EVEN or REGULAR as it is anywhere else I've lived. During periods of heavy rain and high heat, this place EXPLODES in growth rate, just a massive difference from what you get with less precipitation and cooler temps.
So even though I make arrangements with my tenants to cut the grass at my places, as the self-managing landlord, I still drive around every week and more frequently during rainy/hot periods and and monitor what's going on. That your property manager wouldn't have inspection drive-bys built into her/his schedule is just crazy. Not because of the grass, really, but because you have to do THE SAME THING in the winters, monitoring for dangerous snow and ice on walkways and stairs that hasn't been taken care of.
This property manager sounds like s/he's never even thought this sort of thing.
Now here's something else: I've received multiple warning from multiple municipalities in my time doing this. I always jump when they say jump. Because the guys who issue these citations are code enforcement, and they also do things like inspect my rentals for certificates of occupancy. I work HARD to stay on their good sides, because being on their bad sides isn't worth the hassle and the cost. You either build trust with local code enforcement or you buy trouble. It's that simple in property management.
How your property manager let this get to this point, given the realities of Cleveland law, the climate, and day-to-day code enforcement interactions, says nothing good about him or her.