All Forum Posts by: Matt Devincenzo

You're pushing a rope uphill. The HOA/Board have already demonstrated their position, so I'm not sure why you think them hiring another atty to advise them will resolve this. It is likely they will simply tell their atty they don't want to pay, he will say they're likely liable, but you are already demonstrating an unwillingness to litigate so the result is their direction to the atty will be simply stall and delay knowing that you're probably not going to sue...especially as you get deeper and deeper into this your resolve wears thin.

There is only one action right now, find and atty and hire them...maybe a second thought is see if you can put the claim in to your insurance and have them litigate on your behalf for the recovery. They will defend the claim and know the legal levers to pull in situations like this...I recently did the same for an auto claim that we clearly aren't liable for, but the other driver's insurance disagrees. Our insurance completed our claim and is actively defending us to recover the claim amount from the other driver's insurance.

Then don't rent to them. Seems simple if they don't want to sign, then this tells you the problems you're likely to face in the future. 

Your description doesn't make sense. Did you purchase a foreclosure on a 2nd position lien that was subordinate to a senior loan which is still in place? If so then I'd be surprised if the same scenario couldn't occur in OH. It's a pretty widely discussed issue with buying foreclosure auctions. If your foreclosure was for the first, then any subordinate liens should have been stripped. Or are the other liens completely unrelated to mortgages and are some other attachment? 

You're not the first to post about this on these forums, and I'm sure you won't be the last. I wouldn't consider this an issue though, you used tax 'deferred' refi dollars to purchase other assets at seemingly good times/prices etc. Now your 'deferral' has come due and you need to pay the tax. Doing this likely compounded your gains in the other properties since you were able to buy with dollars that weren't getting taxed as you received them. That's part of the win in this lesson learned. 

If you hire a manager you should have already understood their screening process, and then allow them to implement it. If you want to dictate how to screen the tenant then you should self manage.

For a W2 employee position I do not ask for their W2 or bank statements, just pay stubs. For self employed I ask for the last two bank statements.

Is NC one of the states that has non refundable option money? Is that what you are referring to? 

The other things you choose to pay for, inspector, termite inspection etc those are your choice...and you can just skip them and close eliminating the concern about option money.

The only way to truly identify the value prospect is to look at comps. You need to find 4-6 solds, half with driveway and half without. What was the difference in value between them? Typically like Nathan said most improvements cost more than the value they add, but if it's somewhat close to even then it may help in resale. Sometimes the benefit isn't juat the actual value, but the overall desireability that the amenity provides.

I'd talk to a BK atty that works for creditors (I have one I can refer and I used from another BP member referral). My layman's thinking is you have not been served as a creditor, and have not been legally barred from reaching out to the tenant, so you can probably simply mail their statement to them and it won't be an issue. That said, you've heard you're not supposed to but you're not technically a creditor yet but could be. So you could possibly play it safe and send it to their atty directly. 

Personally I'd do whatever my atty told me to...It's probably a couple hundred bucks to make sure I'm meeting the req's of both the security deposit laws and the BK laws when I send them info. 

I always cover maintenance, I wouldn't cover damage. There is a difference. Maintenance is the repair associated with regular use and associated wear and tear. Damage is anything that is more frequent that typical life cycle, and/or associated with improper use of an item. 

You need to redefine your term because the first is legally on you, the second should be on them. No need for lists or criteria.

@Account Closed could you clarify why you say he could sell to his own company in a few years? This would be a non arms length prohibited transaction and would potentially result in the entire IRA being distributed is my understanding...the only way this could be possible is if the OP is or becomes retirement age in the next two years. Then he could take the asset as a distribution without penalty and build on it.