All Forum Posts by: Kyle Meyers

I just looked up the rules for Georgia in Every Landlord's Legal Guide. For non-payment of rent it says "Landlord can demand the rent as soon as it is due and, if not paid, can file for eviction. Tenant then has 7 days to pay to avoid eviction." That is from GA code 44-7-50 and 52. There is probably some kind of pay or quit notice which you should serve and then you can immediately file for eviction (I think). Also, you could use an unconditional quit notice detailed in GA code 44-7-50 and 52. Of course, none of this is legal advice, I am not an attorney, you should consult your local laws and an attorney familiar with them.

If you are going to be doing a few evictions and really want these tenants out, I would suggest getting an attorney, they will be best able to make sure you get the tenants out in the fastest way possible, you can also see what they do to learn how to do it yourself in the future.

Read the laws online and get a copy of nolo every landlord's legal guide. That will give you enough to hopefully know when you need to seek additional legal advice. Beyond that, interview lawyers, tell them what you are going to do, you don't need to hire one yet, but have a couple in mind in case you need to quickly contact them sometime.

Check the laws about abandoned property. If you thought she had left it behind for good there is probably a process you would need to follow to remove the property. It is likely you can charge her rent on the property for the additional 4 days. Check your local laws to know for sure.

I would be careful not to word it too harshly, having a tenant that pays consistently, even if one day late, is better than no tenant or one that doesn't pay at all. Try talking to them and asking if there is a reason for the late payments, that may be enough to get them to pay on time.

I don't have this situation yet, but I would save them. It will be good to have as evidence if you are ever questioned about fair housing, you can show that you have credit reports and applicants you approved have better reports than the ones you rejected. You could probably just save an electronic copy somewhere.

Check the laws to see what you can and can't do. In Indiana, withholding rent because of repairs is not allowed and you could still evict for non-payment.

My understanding of the landlord tenant laws in Indiana is that a lack of repairs is not a legal reason to withhold rent unless it is stated to be in your contract. Read your lease to see if there is anything about making repairs and deducting from rent. If not, you should probably pay the rent, but look into your legal options.

If it goes to court for your non-payment and you lose, it will follow you and make it much more difficult for you to get housing in the future.

If you end up deciding to withhold rent, deposit it into an escrow account, this may help you in court if you can show that you were able to pay, but did not because of the repairs, though I still don't think the law would be on your side.

You can read the Indiana laws that apply here:
http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar31/ch8.html

It is very clear that the landlord is responsible to:
1. Deliver the rental premises to a tenant in compliance with the rental agreement, and in a safe, clean, and habitable condition
2. Provide and maintain the following items in a rental premises in good and safe working condition, if provided on the premises at the time the rental agreement is entered into: Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems. A heating system must be sufficient to adequately supply heat at all times.

I would send a notice to your landlord via certified mail stating the problems, when they first started, and when you first contacted the landlord about them.

If after a "reasonable time" (probably a week or so) they have not made the repairs, contact an attorney or the court to file a lawsuit. The law states you can receive any damages and also the court can order your landlord to make the repairs.

I couldn't find the link to the law for the other option and I am not sure I remember it correctly, but I believe you can also file an eviction to get you out of your lease because of the landlord's failure to repair.

I am not an attorney and I must advise you to contact an attorney to get proper legal advice. The information above is just my thoughts as to what I might do if I were in your situation and should not be taken as legal advice.

I recently read this blog post and it brought up some new questions for me.
http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2011/07/21/using-seller-financing-to-acquire-properties-still-works/

The concept of the post is that a more expensive purchase price can still be a good deal with better loan terms. I understand the idea, but how do you measure if you are getting a good deal then?

On a standard purchase you would evaluate the property using the NOI and cap rate, but that factors in the purchase price. If you are making the deal better by getting good terms on owner financing the cap rate won't show that.

I am guessing the way to measure it is with the 50% rule and cash flow. So you would figure out the market rent and then 50% would be the estimated before debt service cash flow, then you would subtract the monthly payment to get the cash flow.

What would be a good cash flow? $100/month? $200?

Is that even the right way to calculate how good the deal is?

I have recently bought a few properties with cash and cannot pull anything out with a refi. I have talked to about 20 different lenders, but they don't want to do the loans. There are many lenders that refuse condos, others will refuse loans under $50k, and many will require you to wait 6 months to a year before you pull any cash out. Also, be advised that you will not be able to use the rental income from the properties you will be buying to qualify for the loans until you have 2 years of tax records showing the rental income.