All Forum Posts by: Andy D.

@John Kent Thanks for your reply. But a trustee is not something I'm looking for since I want to stay with my attorney. However, nonetheless good info, especially since sometimes having a lawyer (and the expenses associated with using them!) might be a bit overkill. It looks like that landtrusts are indeed much more common in FL than in other states. Maybe why good 'ol Wally went there to build his park! ;-)

Derrick, first of all welcome. I somewhat hate to be a buzzkill (it's your first post, afterall) but don't you think that this topic might have come up on BP, like, you know, once, possibly maybe even twice? And that would entail that there exist some posts that one could try to look up and read to get some input?

Sorry to maybe come over as a "smartass" but: please use the search function. We have highly knowledgeable, very professional people on this forum that really do not have the time to keep answering the same questions over and over again. It's all here, the pros and cons (and no, no one can answer this in a final manner for you - you will have to decide) for you to digest, debate internally and ultimately make an informed decision. Please do come back with questions about things you don't understand after having digested the already available input. That's where it gets interesting and motivating for those professionals.

Happy investing!

@Ghenia Flewellyn You have done the right thing by involving the police. Any further action I would very much coordinate with them and, important, don't jeopardize their actions and your position by doing something "stupid". That's why I would keep in close contact with them and request their input. In addition you may want to involve a (suitable) lawyer. This is a sale, i.e. some decent amount of money is involved although I don't really see the whole transaction being at risk overall.

I like what @Dave Carpenter mentioned with respect to that woman most likely needing help: that is probably correct. Then again, I would consider this a thing that the police should look into (you know, "protect and serve"). You may want to, however, mention that aspect to them as this is probably not really their focus right now...

Good luck and for all of us here again a lesson learned: check on your properties frequently, especially when in a sale process! Something like this can happen in any neighborhood, really...

@Jacob Passmore Thanks for chiming in and for making this clear statement. Makes perfect sense to me - just wanted to be sure.

@Curtis Bidwell Well, you specifically said "commercial policies for the LLCs". But that is for the property I presume so not really related to renters insurance. I'm currently trying to get a better understanding of the whole insurance topic and am simply curious to learn more about it. But this thread is probably not the right place for it. :-) Thanks anyway.

@Robin Cox last paragraph: That's exactly how the situation is over here and how I'm pretty sure is also the case with every respective policy in the US. It sure is with mine in the US.

@Account Closed As much as I usually agree with what you write, if think in this case I don't exactly see your point. Maybe I'm overlooking something. But: what you describe as being problematic (him moving in "illegally") can happen with any tenant. You don't need a law-school-soon-to-be-supposed-to-get-married young woman for that. Heck, I now have the weirdest picture of older women with some boy-toys on the premises in my head! Goodnees, what are you doing with me?? Ok, back to being serious again (can't always be serious, sorry...):

I have no guarantee that my perfectly fine sole tenant doesn't let, at some point, some person move in that I wouldn't approve (if the proper process had been followed). While this would make me somewhat upset it would also mean that I have someone present on the premises in an "illegal" manner (in the widest sense; tenant let him onto the premises, so technically not squatting).

Assuming that this new person isn't torturing my perfectly fine tenant (pft) to be able to remain on the premises by preventing my pft to get help from me (aka showing that pft is not happy with that situation) this would make my former pft turn into a tenant that I now no longer like because fpft went against the lease agreement. Broke contract. Can happen any time. With any tenant. Steps to follow - which does not necessarily need to mean eviction of my fpft! She could throw him out, after all... ;-)

Or is your main point that you are anticipating with this particular sfst (supposedly fine sole tenant) a 99% chance that there will be this problem? Then - with the further assumption that hubby-to-be would not be approved during the application process! - I would agree with you. For what it's worth.

But also what @Colleen F. said, nowadays any responsible person would not simply quit their job without having something else lined up (unless one is "rich" enough to not care). And depending on the line of work it could be a real problem if the employer knew about a planned move and a person therefore leaving the company. It's almost a bit like a woman being up for promotion but knowing exactly that she wouldn't get promoted if she would be pregnant - and now she is pregnant. I would wait with telling anyone after I got the promotion... But now we're getting into tricky territory - my point is that not every "obvious" red flag is always really a "red flag". But I can tell that you, Sue, must have had your fair share of more than annoying experiences. ;-)

And poor @Rachel Pivonka    who just wanted to get some input (=assistance): Only you know the whole story, or at least as much as you do. Out of experience I can tell you that students who are at the early stages of law school are eager to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test, where possible (wow, they know so much now!). Usually this backfires for them (there is a reason that law school doesn't only last 1 year ;-) ) but that doesn't mean that this can give you a hard time.

Every business has risks. That's why there needs to be a business risk evaluation in relation to the complexity of the issue. We're working with people, as far as I am concerned, the scale more often than not gets tipped to one side bythe weight of the gut.

My personal opinion here: you seem to have debated this in your head way too long. That's never a good sign.

@Joe Splitrock You write: "...Liability is not covered with renters insurance. First of all, there is no way to ensure your tenant maintains insurance. They could send proof of insurance and drop it the next day."

Re "does not have liability coverage": that's not true with the policies I've seen (and also what I've read on BP).

Re "no way to ensure they maintain the insurance policy": yes there is - if you're the additional insured (which should always be the case/demand from landlord). You will then be informed about anything related to the policy, especially an upcoming lapse due to non-payment etc.

Then again, it certainly depends on the individual renter's policy and the individual situation. As always...

@Drew Denham I'm sorry but your reply to @John Chapman doesn't seem an appropriate reaction in relation to your OP. Your question therein was, and I quote: "...What should I do to mitigate the issue?". That is an open question with the possibility of a variety of answers.

And John answered, in essence, with "deal with it.", i.e. take care of it as it's the landlord's responsibility. It is your property.

If this is not something you had wanted to hear then I'm a) wondering what you were expecting as answers and b) you should then not have asked that question (in this manner, i.e. as an open one).

This a place to look for input. You got input. Deal with it, and please don't insult those that do provide you with (legitimate) input. That's just wrong.

And back to topic: I have (thankfully!!) no experience with fleas. But would they really remain in an empty apartment? Assuming that the apartment was rented before and there were no complaints about fleas - and now a new tenant moves in and all of a sudden there are fleas? Well... where would they come from, I wonder...? Oh, right, the newly moved in tenant... or not?

Again, this doesn't change the fact there are fleas and that this needs to be fixed. Any infestation I would have the pros deal with. That's what they do all day and typically are good at, not to mention all the different chemicals and whatnot involved with this. It comes with a price, yes, but better safe than sorry there. Otherwise you will lose rent. And guess what will be more expensive ultimately.

At least that is my opinion. Good luck.

@Karyn T. This is your house. Why do you think that you should let them dictate what you can and cannot do?

As @Mike Hanneman has said: figure out what you want, i.e. either keep it as a rental (and consequently raise the rent; all these matters you should communicate in a proper way, which I consider - especially in that situation - in paperform via snailmail) or you moving back in. In which case, obviously, you want to communicate to her - in writing, see above - that very aspect and have her consequently move out at the given date.

I'm a bit surprised how this can even be a question, really, but we're probably not seeing the whole picture. In any case: you're the boss. Act on it! :-)