All Forum Posts by: Greg Scott

Quote from @Steve Lehman:

@William Vreeland

As a local Indy Investor and RE consultant I have been flowing the IHA development closely to see what kind of developments have been happening. There has been quite a bit of complaints in the past year of IHA mishandling payments or not paying at all and little to no communication. Some landlords have not been paid and some tenants are unable to make up for the rent owed by IHA and have either been evicted or are in the process of. There has been a lot of emotional damage to both sides. 

There is a organization called Mirror Indy who, IMO, has written a couple of great articles about the IHA challenges. The articles show the devastation done by the lack or poor business practices of the IHA. 

Does this mean section 8 is bad, NO, but this can happen in any city or state.

Part 1 - 

https://mirrorindy.org/broken-housing-iha-indianapolis-secti...

Part 2 -

https://mirrorindy.org/broken-housing-indianapolis-iha-hud-s...

I have spoken to multiple investors from OOS and local about section 8 throughout the years. I have found that most have had a positive response to having section 8 tenants. Investors normally get there payments on time, most of the tenants stay for long periods of time because if they move it is a hassle for them, and since section 8 requires that the property stay in certain condition it will help keep the maintenance costs down. The negatives are what you will read in the articles. 

In the end it is about your risk tolerance. 

Great articles.  Thank you for sharing.

Ironically, we have had the opposite impact from the poor management of IHA.

Over a decade ago, one of our apartments was primarily Section 8 vouchers.  They sold and the next owner started phasing out Section 8.  When we bought the place there were about a dozen Section 8 tenants.  This year two more moved out and now we are down to 5. 

The problem we are having this year is that IHA never stopped paying after the last two residents moved out.  The funds are deposited electronically each month.  We've contacted them several times and asked them to stop.  This makes us nervous because we know they will wake up some day and probably try to blame us for their incompetence.  We are making sure we set all those funds aside so they can be sent back immediately.

Usually you hear that when people are talking about wholesaling.  Some title companies are not comfortable with wholesaling, particularly in states with related laws.  If you want to do wholesaling, finding the right title company can be very important.  

Of course, if you are doing a lot of buying and selling, it is always good to know who the players are because there are some that do top quality work and others that do not.

Otherwise, I agree, it is not that critical.  In order of priority, I would put title company after GC, lender, insurance broker, real estate agent(s), inspectors, and several trades.

New construction has a very different risk profile from buying existing properties and fixing them up.  Generally the time horizons are longer and you need deeper pockets.

If you have already had some success in SF rehab, moving to apartments is not as different as moving to development.

Assuming you have already provided the late notice, which is something you should do, I recommend finding a lawyer that focuses on evictions at your jurisdiction and just hire them to do the eviction. 

Why?:
- The costs can be recharged to the tenant. Yes, unlikely, but there is a chance to collect.
- They have a working relationship with the court personnel, which always helps.
- They know the process cold, so shouldn't make a newbie errors.
- They are arms-length.  It is easy to get upset as an owner, but cooler-heads are better.

My experience with Section 8 has been pretty consistent between Indy and several other cities.  Most agencies are slow to process paperwork, have a lot of bureaucratic red tape, and it is difficult to get them to respond to inquiries.

I have to ask this, do they have the right attorney?

I have a special needs son so have worked through issues like this; he can't show any income either.  This is a highly specialized area of law.  You also need an attorney that understands real estate practices. 

I have to believe there is a way to bring this property back to life without impacting mom's care. It may involve creating a trust or moving the deed into an entity.  There is a high probability of a solution, but you need the right team to make it happen.

.that experienced not have I

Quote from @Sunil Kale:

I have multiple grounds for eviction (many late payments, many HOA violations etc.)

Please get some education on how to manage a property or hire a property manager.  You also have misconceptions about how evictions work.

"Many late payments" is never grounds for eviction.  Failure to pay rent would be. 

HOA violations are only grounds for evictions if you your lease requires them to meet HOA regulations, you have properly notified them of the violation, and they have neglected to resolve the issue.

Most leases indicate the landlord can access the property with 24 hours notice.  We do that all the time for inspections or to make repairs.  If you missed the window for completing the repairs, that is on you. Your tenant should not have to pay for it.

Joe:

This is Federal Law from HUD. While it is probably well-intended, it is horrible regulation.

We've seen a ton of this.  It seems to me that almost every time you get an ESA request for a restricted breed, it is probably someone just trying to get around breed restrictions and having to pay pet rent.  About 60% of our ESA requests are pitbulls.  (I just don't see how a pitbull could offer more emotional support than a poodle or spaniel.)

I'd encourage you to google HUD guidelines for Emotional Support Animals. They have a ~15 page PDF that describes the rules. READ IT AND KNOW IT.

We have a fairly simple process at all our properties.  We require documentation that the owner requires an ESA.  The evidence they provide must be from a medical professional licensed in our state and the letter must indicate the medical professional has had more than a one-time tele-health "diagnosis".  If the evidence does not pass all of those hurdles, we have a form letter that they have not provided sufficient proof of an ESA. 

Do not explain. If you choose to explain exactly what proof you need, you will soon get it.  There are plenty of people that for $100 will use their medical license and type up a letter that their patient needs an ESA.

Also, if the ESA exhibits any aggressive behavior it can be removed from the property IMMEDIATELY.  We recently had an ESA Great Dane (with all the proper ESA documentation) that bit another resident.  Dog was gone as fast as we could make it happen.