All Forum Posts by: David J.

Interesting @Jim K. Your profile says you manage tenants. So you are ok then to pay someone else's housing with money you earned? Would you be open to paying mine? (worth a shot to ask)

I budgeted for any and all risks. So your claim about me is false. What I am against here is Government making bad policy that hurts both landlords and tenants. The very nature of how a tenant landlord relationship functions depends on the landlord having (at least) some kind of fair, leverage. 

@Account Closed Very enlightening and true history. I wish more folks understood these facts. Property rights are incredibly important and foundational to our very way of life. 

@Greg M. I was thinking about the exact same thing. I was just asking myself if I just put a 3 day notice on this tenants door and let her stay free until I can evict again how much would I have to raise the rent to be made whole in a year.

I imagine so many others will be doing similar math equations. 

@Todd Powell You get it, This is exactly my point here. We need a system that gets us through the difficult times, not one that deconstructs the entire fabric of our system.

I agree, this is a whole NEW type of risk that nobody even knew we had. I really think long term, seeing what happens to us here and now will be in the history books about what it means to be a landlord.  It will no longer be people saying, "do you want to repair toilets?"... It will be people saying "Do you want to risk the government allowing your tenants to stay without paying rent while you pay the mortgage?"

@Frederik Young I do believe you've missed something here. This isn't a plea to evict anyone who can't pay. We get some folks have hardships due to the virus. Nobody that I've seen is advocating to evict these people.

I specifically have a tenant who would pay if I could drop a (meaningful) 3 days to pay or quit notice on her door. Because I can't she won't pay.

This is why the system falls apart if landlord rights are completely stripped. (as they are)

@JD Martin

I appreciate the kind words and thank you for helping me think though this. I don't know anyone in real life who can even come close to relating to my situation. I have one friend who has a single rental property but even he says that he can't imagine what I am feeling trying to hang on to 9 through-out this pandemic.

You're right I am concerned about my business. It's my life's work. I've gone through so much struggle to get where I am. I started out living in a tent, and went months without a car so I could save for my first house. (my history is off topic but you get it)

Now, I find myself with at least one tenant who outright admits she's got money but won't pay me because I can't evict her. It's such a helpless and frustrating feeling.

If you figure out how to spin this into a win for yourself, please share because all I can see is myself paying to house this person for months with no end in sight.

Worst part is I am scared next month there might be more who catch on to the fact that landlords are helpless suckers about now. 

@JD Martin

All good, thought provoking questions. (much appreciated)

Minor point, The seller lied to me about these tenants.  I'll admit I wasn't thinking to my self "I wonder how these tenants would perform in a worldwide pandemic situation" Your point is taken though, I suppose I share some onus here.

I think the rest of your post is very interesting though, and even laden with some wisdom.

Specifically about what have I done: I have sent email to our Governor, both senators and both of my legislature representatives.

Beyond that I am going to be the first one here to admit I am a bit bewildered. Partly I came here to commiserate but also I came here to seek inspiration from others who are in the same situation. Candidly neither of these things have gone very well so far. LOL

I really don't know man, I think I am at my wits end. I am not a big fan of "welp that's how it goes" but it doesn't seem like landlords hold any other cards at the moment. :(

@JD Martin

Thank you for providing a thoughtful reply.  Allow me to respond to a few of your questions/points

1. Yes more than zero (one so far)

2. This tenant was inherited when I purchased the asset. Thus "improving my screening" process is irrelevant.

3. I don't need to pressure test my enterprise. This isn't about that. In fact I never made any claim relating to being unable to handle a few months unpaid rent. I would love to partner with honest tenants who have a REAL hardship and bear some of the financial burden. In fact I am doing so with 2 other tenants.

The point is the current policy is lopsided and unfair. You say nothing can be done but that just simply isn't true. Policy makers can change this and make it workable. The mechanics of the market cannot function like this and private property RIGHTS are part of the fundamental fabric of our society. To simply tell a landlord they must accept theft is a crime and a gross abuse of public power. All the talk in this thread about being able to bear risks shocks me. We aren't talking about regular vacancy, repairs, rent controls, market changes or even natural catastrophes... we are talking about a naked violation of our property rights that compels property owners to accept tenant abuse with no recourse.

I can certainly respect that we all have differing opinions, and that's great but understand I am merely defending mine.

To sum it up, It's not that I can't afford the abuse, it's that I don't want to. Theft is not OK under any circumstance even if some bureaucrat says it's OK. I have worked to hard for what I have to let someone steal it away. I would much rather use it to feed my family. 

“Sometimes things are fair and sometimes they are not” is a non sequitur fallacy. Regardless If things tend to be fair sometimes and other times not, it doesn’t mean a bad policy shouldn’t be fixed. 

I maintain that government should not be allowing rampant tenant abuse with no landlord recourse. 

Apathy is not a solution!

Unfortunately summing this up to landlords should "take one for the team" or "that's the risk you take" does not fix broken policy. 

The existing broken and unfair policy is throwing a GIANT wrench into the market place that will cause landlords and tenants alike to both lose.

It's not unreasonable to expect foreclosures if landlords can't collect rent and have no recourse to correct. 

We cannot fix one problem by creating a second problem.