All Forum Posts by: Jeff Willis

I am assuming US Government. Ask who the Government agency is, ask for a copy of the original award and the name/email address of the Contracting Officer. All federal rental/leasing requirements are spelled out in GSA form 3516

The US Government DOES NOT directly rent any real property unless it goes through the GSA and there is a contract issued by the Government. It could be a Prime contract that received the award, and if so, they will be able to tell you who the prime is and then you can check if it a valid contract through FPDS https://www.fpds.gov/fpdsng_cms/index.php/en/

The Government does not issue checks, they use ACH

This whole thing sounds like a BS SCAM

Before you start running numbers, I would check with the local government to make sure it is legal and if so, what are the requirements for the conversion. 

My 2 cents. 

Once a ghetto, always a ghetto.  In my 40+ years of doing this, I have seen good neighborhoods go bad but never bad neighborhoods go good. You can't demand high rents and low rents will attract the riff-raff 

@Roy Lam

Welcome to the world of shared utilities. If you are in Monterey Park and are saying $200/mo electric is high for this last summer, I will have to disagree with you, $200 is cheap! It was a hot summer, and in my opinion, I would just collect what you normally collect from each tenant. I would not push it. It is not worth the aggravation of losing a tenant over.

And why would you want to see their pay stubs? Assuming they are on a lease, you inherited the lease and the tenants and regardless of the pay stubs, they have the right to the tenancy as long as they pay the rent. Even if a month-to-month, as long as they pay.

As a side note: If I was the tenant and paying without issues and you asked to see my pay stub, I would tell you to FO.

If they are current and not in violation of their lease, you can try "cash for keys" or you are stuck with them. 

Those are standard "indemnification" clauses used is all contracts. I am always more concerned in jurisdiction/choice of law/venue. Try to have the jurisdiction or at least choice of law for your state. If not, and there is an issue, you will have to hire an out of state attorney.

All my agreements have the following:

The interpretation, construction, and legal effect of this Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, not including its choice of law provisions. Venue shall reside in Los Angeles County for any action that may arise between xxxxxxx

 I never compromise on the jurisdiction issue. (burned once, never again)

Why waste your time?

In every property I own, the very first thing I do is install a whole house surge protector at the service panel. This has saved me countless issues. Get a commercial one!

https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/work/products/explore/home-surge-protection/

https://www.transtector.com/ac-surge-protector-spd-cfs-brick-120-a70-00-5006

When looking at a utility bill do not just look at the dollar amount. Look at the consumption. You assumed "leaks" when your usage may be relative the same. If it is relatively the same, then you should follow the suggestions of the others in this post as it shouds like a rate increase