All Forum Posts by: Brandon McCombs

I don't know which jail he is in and have yet to speak to the chief interactively to get more details. He hasn't returned my calls and he hasn't attempted to call me again even though in his voicemail he said he wanted to enter the rental unit to see if the tenant had anything in his possession that came from chief's town. Little did he know at the time that the tenant had moved out and didn't leave anything behind. 

The tenant won't be getting all of his deposit back anyway. I'm looking for a *good* (read: legal) reason to not return it. Extra income always helps but I'm not going to do anything illegal to accomplish that. I also don't want to have to just sit on it either while waiting indefinitely for him to come back for it. Short of sending it to him in jail (or he gets out before the end of the Dec) I don't see a method for getting it to him wherein I'd still be obligated to give it to him based on my interpretation of the Ohio code.

thanks for everyone's advice and suggestions. I appreciate it.

The opinions only considered part of the equation though. They disregarded the legitimate reasons for needing to inquire about the mystery truck.

I see 3 reasons for needing to ensure the mystery person is or is not using that unit as his/her permanent residence alongside the signed tenant:

• Criminal -> eviction
• Add'l wear and tear -> rent must go up
• If the signed tenant leaves and the other person stays behind they aren't on the lease -> no legal recourse.

Hi @Benjamin Timmins I hear what you are saying Ben. Thanks for your response. However I don't agree with everything you said. Regarding your first response after my last one, security deposits *are* counted as income if they end up being used for damages or rent or simply can't be returned because the tenant never provides a forwarding address. 

I'm not a bank so he shouldn't be able to expect to get it back anytime he wants. As a landlord I have 30 days to give it back to him and I read Ohio law in a way that suggests tenants have 30 days to give me a forwarding address so there are limitations on both sides of the equation, on side more explicit than the other of course. I know some states favor tenants over landlords and Ohio does lean sometimes toward the tenants but in this situation it isn't clear which way they would lean. But I can't just keep the money indefinitely (I have no idea at this point how long he will be in jail for; he violated his parole from what I hear) and not know when or if it will ever have to be returned. Surely there is a statute of limitations per se' for something like this, and to me it's 30 days for him to provide some way to receive it just as it is for me to return it.

@Kathy Johnson The unit is a garage apt next to a house on the same property. I own both units and have a tenant in the house. I spoke to the house tenant last week and she said my apt tenant had told her to keep his mail for him until he returned on Dec 4, which he never did. And his parole officer showed up Dec 7 and took his mail from my house tenant. Plus, since he didn't give me a forwarding address (yet) because he didn't know where he would be then it makes sense he didn't setup any forwarding with the PO for the same reason. The Ohio law doesn't mention any obligation on my part to send the remaining deposit to his last known address.

@George P. Actually the Ohio law page I linked to doesn't indicate any time limit by which the tenant has to give me a forwarding address but it does state if the tenant fails to do that then they forfeit being able to sue me for damages for not returning it on time or at all. Since it isn't explicit I would place the same 30 day limit on the tenant as is placed on the landlord but that's just me.

@Benjamin Timmins You say that like it is obvious. Care to elaborate as to WHY? If I can't send it anywhere then what else do I do with it? I can try Jerry's advice but short of that, what else is there?

1. @Mike Cumbie I think you may be going to the extreme here. I have a feeling Jack isn't planning a full on interrogation. He will politely find out who the person is who owns the truck. He has a vested interest in verifying whether the person is living in his unit because the person could be a criminal for all he knows, which is a scenario you are ignoring. If anything, the way I see it is add'l occupants cause more wear and tear on a unit and therefore the rent should increase if the person is an add'l permanent resident.

Hello,

I have a tenant and rental unit in Ohio. My tenant moved out Nov 30 and said when I'm ready to return his security deposit he will give me a forwarding address at that time since he doesn't know where he will be by then. I had told him I have 30 days per Ohio law to return his deposit. Well, on Monday of this week (12/14) I was called by the police chief of the next town up the river who left me a voicemail stating that my tenant was now in jail (I don't have all the details yet). The question is how long do I have to wait before claiming the deposit as income or do I have to keep it in my security deposit bank account forever until he contacts me given the circumstances?

The relevant Ohio law is here http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5321.16 It only mentions I have 30 days and that's assuming the tenant provides the needed information to me. I'm assuming that I can wait 30 days and then count it as income. I'd like to hear others' thoughts on the matter though.

thanks

My theoretical profit is $164/door/month for a SFR that has a garage apt so I have 2 rents for the same mortgage in eastern Ohio.

I pay water/sewer/garbage utilities each month. The property cost $87500 and I rolled closing costs into the loan. I had to put 20% down. I retain 10% in gross rent per month for repairs. Currently gross rents are $1450; class B. Any large capital expenditures can reduce that $164/door but I haven't had any yet that can't be paid by the 10% in repairs that I reserve given enough time to get that reserve collected in rent each month.

I have a 7 unit apt building (plus 2 commercial units) that is undergoing casualty repairs due to a fire earlier this year. Once fully rented (and with 1 unit donated to a non-profit organization) my theoretical income per door per month is projected to be about $270. Prior to the fire we didn't have every until rented (we were still working up to that point since the purchase in oct 2014) but income per door was about $180. I expect higher rent with the renovated units after the fire, hence the higher income per door. I pay no utilities for this bldg. It cost $243k, financed 100% of it. It's in north central WV.

My commercial loan from a local bank wasn't as large as the one being discussed here (mine was for $190k) but it was for purchasing a 9 unit bldg. It's a 20 year amortization, no balloon, the rate is 4.99% for the first couple years then it adjusts to something like the prime rate + 2% (I forget the interest details). So the good thing is I don't have to worry about a balloon payment. My lender is a small bank in the northern panhandle of WV called Main Street Bank. This was only my 2nd rental property with them and I don't have any other accounts with them. Maybe the principal amount of the OP's loan is the kicker here for causing balloon payments?

Hi, 
I'm in Fairmont. Good to see someone on here who lives nearby :) I have a house with garage apt in Shadyside, OH that I've owned for about 2.5 years now. Last year I bought a 9 unit apartment building in Fairmont. It would be nice to break into the Morgantown area but it's hard with Metro Property Mgmt and Premier Commercial owning/managing everything. I'm sure you agree.

Feel free to contact me. I'd be glad to share my experience and knowledge. My wife handles our business finances and is also a real estate agent as of last December so she is my agent for stuff. I'm sure she wouldn't mind being yours as well to help you find your first investment property.

With the 9 unit apt bldg I bought last year I found out by doing some research that the sellers would do owner financing. I wasn't looking to do 100% financing though with them. I just needed enough to pay my bank the 20% down payment. So I asked the sellers if they would be willing to do that. They were, but they wanted 1st deed of trust, which wouldn't work for my bank. They eventually settled for 2nd deed of trust and for the loan itself it was for $60k amortized over 10 years with a balloon payment after 5. They weren't interested in the interest. They just wanted to ensure they got their money back because they had been burned in the past so I offered up the balloon payment, which they accepted.

So, in my opinion each seller financing situation is different. Do some research to see if you can find out whether the sellers have done any type of financing before with buyers or just flat out ask them. You have nothing to lose by asking.

I'm looking at a parking lot right now to purchase but need seller financing again to help with the down payment. My wife is my agent so I asked her to ask the selling agent whether the sellers are amenable to owner financing. If they want to do 100% and have better terms than my bank then all the better but otherwise I'd just want enough to pay my primary lender the down payment they require. Mix and match like that if you have to.

Good luck!