All Forum Posts by: Joe P.

I think any time you live in a tenant-friendly area, and you have a tenant doing something that I wouldn't consider normal course of action, you should consult an attorney to A) confirm the law and B) confirm your next course of action. Spending some money with them now will save you some time and money, most likely.

I am not sure about the laws where you are, but I know LA's eviction moratorium ties into a "self-declaration" of impact from covid19, financially. This means in order to avoid paying rent, being assessed late fees, or being served with eviction notice, you have to notify the landlord in writing or verbally of your economic impact and do so within a certain timeframe. Now, what will happen is eventually the world will get back to some level of normalcy, and this will be brought in front of a judge. I assume any judge, regardless of their political affiliation, will be able to quickly ascertain if someone was actually impacted (e.g. you received a pink slip, tried to find more work, could not, etc.) or someone is gaming the system.

All the more reason why you should consult a lawyer. There are some bad things happening here and you should walk through them in detail. If your tenant has made any missteps, having them served a letter from an attorney regarding their decisions might be what you need to get through, especially if they won't talk to you.

Nathan, I've got to know more about the bill itself. It sounds like (at $1300) its these items:

1.  An annual bill for sewer, outside of the water charges (my duplex sewer bill is paid quarterly, and is usually $800 annually). If it's an annual bill, wouldn't the seller cover a portion of that in sale (up to your purchase date) and the buyer cover the remainder for the year ahead of time, and its taken care of at closing?

2.  A "past due" bill for previous sewer charges, not handled during closing. If this is the case, I'd have a major problem with the title company and seller representatives.

Either way my understanding is that something is OFF with what the OP is suggesting, I could be over-reading into it...

@JD Martin makes great points as always. @Darius Ogloza is correct in this is an item you should have known prior to sale.

$1300 sewer bill sounds like a past due bill from the previous owner, though? Why else would you get a bill for $1300? It is a sewer cost for the entire year? If so, that bill should have been partly paid by the seller and partly paid by the buyer at settlement, no?

Something is OFF with these details. Very much could have been a miss on your part, which is sad, because you'll have to eat it for a fiscal year, and then either raise rent by 100 to cover this or say its a required piece of rental dues (1000 rent + 50 per month for sewer, for example). But ultimately, I need more info to know if this is a standard bill, something in arrears, or something that should have been covered during your sale.

So I'm trying to educate myself on this matter. I went to the https://dcba.lacounty.gov/ website and tried to read the information and FAQs. If I understand this correctly -- and would love an actual attorney to weigh in --

• Tenant has to self-certify they are impacted. This means they would need to tell you (but not show proof) of an impact of COVID-19 financially?
• Tenants must notify their landlord within 7 days after their rent is due that they are unable to pay due to a loss of income related to COVID-19.
• Tenants will have twelve (12) months following the end of the moratorium period to pay back any amount due.
• It is NOT a waiver of rent; it's a waiver of eviction.
• Prohibits imposing new pass-throughs or charging late fees, interest, and any related charges for unpaid rent
  accrued during the Moratorium Period
• ASSUMPTION - eventually this tenant will poop or get off the pot. They have to pay or you take them to court. Would a judge not request the self-certification, proof of income loss, and any agreements to try and work out a payment plan?

So, to OP, @Oscar Montealegre, you seem like a smart enough guy. You talked to an attorney about this, right? "I unfortunately have one tenant that has not paid since March 2020. She pretty much gives me the finger when I ask for past due rent and paints my face with the eviction moratorium, telling me that she has the law on her side." So that means she followed the guidelines, "self-certified" to you (hopefully in writing, for both your sakes) within 7 days of...March rent being due? Did that happen before or after she flipped you the bird?

Really? We're going to rehash this again after it was raised in April? Sigh. Fine.

There was concern that covid would be so widespread and damaging as to cripple the economy permanently. And, if most renters/mortgage holders lose their job due a complete and extended shut down, this bill was aimed at not creating yet another public health crisis by putting renters and homeowners on the street. A bit of an ominous projection, but lets say a meat plant which employs 80% of a town of mostly renters/homeowners shuts down for six months. Most of those people are blue-collar, paycheck-to-paycheck people. This was aimed at avoiding the socioeconomic destruction of that town, for example.

You may not agree with the approach, but it was not meant as a handout (although it is...just like everything else that the government has agreed to provide...it's all "funny money"), nor was it meant to destroy investors. Rents and mortgages would have been paid by government backed relief funds. That means renters get to stay, investors keep paying their mortgages. Not ideal for an investor, obviously, but would have taken care of the primary income and primary expense for the lot of us.

There's a million questions about the bill itself, and nuance is everything. IF covid had been worse than projected from a health and economic standpoint (100-200k deaths), this might have been something you'd see both sides shake hands on. You cant create a second public health crisis by putting thousands of thousands of people on the street.

Pockets of South Jersey, believe it or not, also are in this category. It's more like 60-75k for 1000-1200 rent, but still, yes, its possible. Now the taxes...that's what kills you in NJ.

@Alison Niko welcome! I'm interested in a shore house myself but only to have a vacation home (and have others rent out units to help pay). Any thoughts on Keansburg? Looks like a fairly priced shore town...

One of the many problems with real estate investing out of state -- you trust your PM, but your PM is everything in OOS investing (at least in my humble opinion), and yet, she isn't able to provide everything for you.

What I would do in these cases is attend virtual and in-person meetups, as there is always a contractor or tradesperson who wants to make a name for themselves, or other investors who want to share those contractor/tradespeople who do good work. Nothing beats a referral.

I'd look to see if you can attend a local meetup virtually and pose your question to the group. I love being able to share trusted contacts with folks, perhaps someone can put you onto someone or multiple folks who can assist.

Or, scour Yelp and other sites to see if a name comes up. I've used Thumbtack a few times for smaller jobs (landscaping, tree removal, etc.) with certain degrees of success.

Axel - seeing some pushback on the "free money" aspects. I've heard people take advantage of some of the government-assist programs, which may affect their ability to close on other deals. E.g., they were about to go to the table, a soft credit was pulled prior to close, and a mortgage forbearance was listed.

I certainly can't speak to if this situation is even plausible...its pure hearsay on my part. But if I were making a loan to someone, and I saw they applied for forbearance on another loan, I would question their ability to make payments on this next loan. I think anyone would. 

Easy answer - walk away. You need to hit your number, not the other way around.

Not-so-easy answer - see if there are creative ways to make a deal happen. E.g., your sale price, but she can hold a note on the property. Maybe an all-cash offer would entice her. I believe every deal is made by meeting some percentage of needs on both sides. Have your agent have an earnest conversation if the price is unrealistic -- how can we make a deal work at your price, not hers?