All Forum Posts by: Jack Forester

I just want to follow up on this.  @Rich Baer is saying that there is nothing you need to worry about, regarding liens, if buying from Auction.com. In a chat session with Auction.com, they said that they cannot guarantee all liens are erased. Especially, if it's a foreclosure auction, rather than a bank owned (REO) auction.

So, in the title document above, if it's a primary mortgage auction, then the Capital One Bank lien gets wiped out, upon sale, correct?   However, if there had been an IRS tax lien, that becomes the buyer's responsibility,  correct?

In the case of above, is Birmingham Bancorp Mortgage Corp the primary lien or is that now Ocwen Loan Servicing?   Or is it the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development?

I don't recall the name, but maybe you can answer, does the fire Marshall require residential rental properties to be inspected before they can be rented? It's rented now. 

Update!  Rather than buy a net, the tenant is removing it from the property.  I think I'll also follow up with a trampoline addendum, specifically prohibiting it ;)

Thanks for that link.  I think more things need to be classified as “inherently dangerous.”  

@Andreas W. , you are certainly right. Even with a trampoline addendum, they can still sue you. Will it be easier to defend, yes. Will you still have to pay to defend yourself, yes. Oh, and if you are running under an LLC, you are required to have an attorney represent you, since the LLC is not "you".

Guess I need to add a trampoline clause to my rental agreements. Our tenant setup a trampoline, without my knowledge. My guess is that it is a used trampoline, because it has no net or spring cover. 

Well, it just so happens that I was also changing insurance companies, and the insurance company sent out a representative to take pictures. They then contacted me about the trampoline, stating that it needs to have a net installed or be removed from the property. I relayed the same to the tenant, who said she was ordering one (as suspected--they are great tentants). 

My initial thought was, "It'd not my trampoline. I didn't provide or install it, so why would I be liable?" 

@Account Closed, can you do cash out on a residential rental which is spot zoned commercial?   The zoning allows for the residence to be rebuilt in the event of fire (which was asked by the bank who originally did the mortgage).  

You can also start claiming depreciation for your soon to be rented house, but (someone correct me if I'm wrong), you need to determine the market value of your primary residence at the time it was converted to a rental. You can only claim depreciation for the structures and not the land. 

Oh, and I did find that it's actually 2 parcels (parking and a shed sit on the second parcel, which is mostly a storm/sewer easement and valued at $10 by the tax assessor).  Going to have to update the contract to include that.  Seems I always get the properties where they don't seem to know what they own...

The zoning guy said that IF the buildings didn't meet the setbacks, I'm still fine (grandfathered).  Only if I wanted to increase the footprint, would I have to ensure compliance with current codes.  I have no intention of changing the footprint, so I think I'm fine.

One lady in the office made reference to a Fire Marshall inspection, but when I called the Fire Marshall, he said that was only required for commercial buildings...

@Robert Herrera, and all, it was a standard "Lease/Purchase Agreement".  While I agree this should be pretty simple, at the time I was using a Seller's agent, so she wrote the contract.  Here was the specific, special stipulations language, which seemed pretty clear.

"Buyer shall pay $1600 rent per month.  Seller agrees to apply $500/mo towards a reduction in the final purchase price"

This was quite generous, since the going rent rate is easily $1600/mo in my area.

So, if you don't buy, there is no price to reduce, but I guess it should have stated that it was forfeited altogether.  That said, the judge ruled that it was forfeited.

Live and learn.   @Brian Gibbons, I like the ROFR method, maybe I'll try that if I ever do this again.