All Forum Posts by: Bob Floss II

@Stacy Schmidt It varies by state and region. Some states require an attorney for every transaction and some states have essentially made an attorney expendable. Obviously I'm going to be biased towards always using an attorney for everything, but I get that people want to save money.

My only caveat is something an old attorney taught me years ago. If they're cheap and don't want to pay for it to be done right, they'll have to pay 10 times as much later when I have to fix the mess they made.

@Collin Chew That's terrible advice. Without properly setting up the LLC with an operating agreement and EIN, you won't be able to open a bank account. By commingling funds into other business or personal accounts and not having an operating agreement, a plaintiff will have grounds to pierce the corporate veil.

@Collin Chew You have to maintain a registered address in the state where you are operating so someone is responsible for receiving notice of litigation within that State. You can have an LLC in any State, but you'll need to file as a foreign LLC to operate in another State. It's pretty easy to file.

@Jay S. Placing the property into an LLC will eliminate some of them. Properly placing the property in a Trust will eliminate virtually all of it.

@Ebony Sheckles You'll need to hire a property manager or project manager. At some point you'll run into a scenario where you'll need to be in court and something happens at a property. 

@Sameer A. If you are holding $500K liquid, I would do some research on buying foreclosures and auctions. Stick with areas you know for your first deal. You should not attempt to deploy anywhere close to your max number. Keep a healthy reserve for your learning curve. 

@Chrystian Tapia You can tack on the cash for keys to your damages. You can't file now, but once the stay at home is lifted, you should file against both her boyfriend and her. The boyfriend for breach of lease and girlfriend for breach of cash for keys agreement. As stated above, cash for keys means you get the cash when you give me the keys on your way out. These people took advantage of you. 

@Marcele Johnson Are you 100% sure it came from seepage? I ask because most of the City got water from the sewers hitting capacity and they backed up into a lot of basements. If you are sure it's from the seller not disclosing a water problem, you'll need to discuss with your attorney.

@Jeff Wright Meet with a real estate attorney to set your investment terms and have your paperwork in order. You want to have your own application, mortgage, and note in line and not use on supplied by the borrower. You can throw a rock and find someone looking for private funds. 

State of Illinois requires 24 hours notice to enter a property, Chicago requires two days notice to enter a property.

The evictions coincide with the Governor stay at home order. We cannot file until June 1st under the current order. There is case law that states filing the 5 day eviction notice is interpreted as giving notice of an eviction action. There is concern among the legal community the judges may throw out any cases with 5 day notices during the stay at home order as invalid and you'll have to start over. Also keep in mind the Sheriff was 4 to 6 weeks behind on evictions orders before the pandemic. After the stay at home is lifted, they can attempt to start removing tenants, but I'm sure there will be stricter rules and the process will move even slower. I'm advising all my clients to communicate with tenants, negotiate settlements or new leases, or even offer cash for keys.

OH, and please don't forget about the CARES Act. If your property was purchased using an FHA loan or "federally backed mortgage", you have a different set of rules. Congress has stated you cannot "initiate" an eviction until July 25th. The Act also requires all tenants be given a 30 day notice. So an eviction action cannot be filed until August 24th.

Unfortunately, the City of Chicago hasn't been updating their legislation website, but I was on a call this morning with an Alderman that stated several versions of eviction legislation are floating around City Hall. They've been sent to committee, which is usually a bad sign for anything to be passed, but there's still time for the City to pass additional eviction measures before June 1st.