All Forum Posts by: Raman Bindlish

I recently posted my rental on Zillow (and Trulia, Hotpads) and getting decent responses. I was informed by one lead that there is someone else posing as owner of my property on Craigslist and charging half the rent. He is faking a story that he has to leave the town due to work and want to rent it out to good people as soon as possible. I have flagged it on Craigslist and responded to everyone who contacted me not to send any info or money to that person. But what else can I do to avoid this kind of issue in future. Do I have any liability if someone else takes money against my property address posing as owner? Or can some angry victim come and damage my property? I am worried about various aspects related to this and want to know if someone has experience dealing with these issues.

@Franco Li I agree that it is not a problem if she leaves as she says. But she does not respond to any message or phone call recently and I am kind of paranoid as we just went through another eviction in the other unit last year. I am looking for advice on how should I cover my bases while the 30 days play out. Should I send her email that I do not agree with her non-payment of rent and should I give her 3 day notice now? There are some open issues in the unit and I am just hoping that she does not use that to keep staying while not paying rent. I want to take care of the issues but she just does not respond to anything.

Hi Landlords,

I am looking for some advice from experienced landlords on tenant problem I am facing right now. My tenant has given me 30-day notice (lease is expired and we had agreed on month-to-month tenancy till the tenant finds a new place to stay - this was as per original lease terms). During the 30-day period, the tenant decided not to pay rent for last 30 days. The excuse is that there are problems in the unit and there are code violations, she sent me an email saying "I am invoking my right to withhold and/or deduct rent. (Civ. Code §1942) Green v. Superior Court (1974) 10 Cal.3d 616"

Some background 

- The home is pre-1970 and I believe that it is not necessary to meet the building codes for older houses. So, we have not fixed up everything but ensured there are no specific issues.

- Tenant reported plumbing issues 3 months back which we fixed within 24 hours

- Tenant reported electric issues last month and we sent an electrician who took care of immediate concerns (power outage) but he suggested there may be some sockets that need replacement and we are in process of taking care of any safety issues.

- Tenant is not responding to emails, calls, etc. regarding the situation and just decided to send the note that she is not going to pay the rent.

My situation

- I just passed 5 day period after rent is delinquent. I plan to send 3-day notice to pay or quit to her.

- We have 1 month deposit that can cover the rent for 30 days. We do not want to go through the eviction process as long as she vacates as she says in her email and as per 30 day notice. But we want to ensure that we are doing everything to protect ourselves in case she changes her mind.

Our opinion is that she is under some financial duress and looking to avoid paying rent so that she can use the deposit as her last month rent. Of course, this is optimistic scenario as you can never be sure. Through the lease, we received the rent on time (actually her boyfriend was on her lease and he paid most of the time). His boyfriend has walked away now on lease termination and she is staying for 30 days till she finds another place.

What do you guys recommend?

-Raman

Hi Landlord community,

I have an interesting situation and would appreciate suggestions on how to handle it. I have 2 tenants on my lease which is ending on January 15th. One of the tenant (lets call him T1) wants to go on month to month while other tenant (T2) has already vacated. T2 is ok with me keeping the security deposit on the lease while he wants his name to be off of the lease after the current lease gets over on January 15th. T1 can not pay me a new deposit. T1 and T2 are not on talking terms anymore and want me to handle everything with minimum interactions (specifically financial). Now I am wondering how to handle the situation with minimal transactions.

Questions:

1. Can I create an extension of existing lease and remove one of the tenants from the lease? Or do I need to create a fresh lease document?

2. In either condition, how do I roll over the security deposit? Can I ask T2 to sign some simple document saying that he is waiving off right to security deposit and it can be paid to T1? Can I apply the security deposit from old lease to new lease or I need to show actual transactions in bank?

-Raman

All,

I am looking to understand the markets where the land is fairly cheap and rental demand is good. But maybe new development is not happening due to high cost / labor shortage or other reasons. Any pointers would help?

PS: When I say good rental demand, I mean B+ / A class neighborhoods with high demand. I am looking for an area where high end units will rent out fast. But there are just not enough rental units.

Thanks

Raman

@Jeff B. I guess politicians do not understand that they are doing a disservice to the tenant base here. I invested in B/B- neighborhood and I try to accommodate tenants that have good credit but borderline on income etc. Now I would have to make even credit requirements stricter as threat of eviction is not going to work anymore and you need really good history on on-time payments.

For handling vacancy expenses, I guess just plan for better rehabs and quality product so that good qualified tenants come to you faster. I learnt it hard way this reality of Sac area.

@Leonard L. @Nick C. It looks like this legislation is going to make it difficult to get housing for the borderline cases. Now landlords will be stricter with their qualification requirements now. I had an eviction case earlier this year in Sacramento and I am surely going to double down on my qualification requirements. This is a lose-lose for both sides. 

Hi @Jenny Bayless

Thanks for your response. 

So, you are saying that cash-out from refinance is completely ignored when you file taxes. Or I got it wrong? We do not have to show it in our tax returns as any income?

-Raman 

I have a question with respect to Cash-Out Refinance.

Background and some context

- We bought a duplex last year and put in some money into it.

- It lost money this year due to an eviction and we ended up doing a major rehab (putting in more capital into the property). We have net negative cash flow in both financial years of operation.

- Now, we believe we should be able to refinance and get some cash out to pay ourselves back for rehab money and deploy the capital somewhere else.

- We do not plan to sell the property in short term and just cash flow it for longer term and build equity. 

My questions:

- How will the cash out of refinance seen from tax purposes? Does it adjust with losses due to investment into the property? What if the cash from refinance comes back in a different financial year?

- Or does it reduce our base for capital gains when we sell as we are taking the money out from original investment?

- How is any rehab budget accounted in final capital gains if we sell the property after a long time?  As in reality we are just taking our rehab budget out of the property and adding it to loan value, how best to show it in tax paperwork to minimize the impact overall?

Look forward to advice from experienced investors on how to best manage this situation and maximize the tax savings. I do not care if we save tax now or later when we sell after let's say 10 years.

@Lee Brewer I am working with @Dawn Brenengen for my property in Raleigh and her company is doing a great job for me. I am out of state investor and I can vouch for their effectiveness in handling the property with zero involvement from my side.