All Forum Posts by: Matt Shields

 There seems to be confusion on the age of the refrigerator, your original post said: "It was an 8-9 year old fridge and they ruined it by keeping in shed for 6 years".  The model and serial number will indicate what year it was manufactured. If it goes to court you will probably need to prove the age and remaining value of the appliance.

I have seen material and labor costs rising in Arizona. It's just simple supply and demand, and with all of the construction going on here prices are being driven up. 

Be careful using a handyman for rental property. There is a handyman exemption that allows non-ROC licensed work up to $1,000 including labor and materials per home if the work is "casual or minor in nature" (small projects not involving health or safety). Anything over $1,000 requires a ROC licensed contractor. Contracting without a license in violation of A.R.S. § 32-1151 is a class 1 misdemeanor (A.R.S. § 32-1164).

Another reason to be cautious is that handymen usually have no insurance. If they damage your property or have an injury who will be liable? There have been many cases where uninsured workmen suffer severe injuries and successfully sued the property owner.

As always, seek professional legal advice.

 The life expectancy of a refrigerator is 13 years. 9 years + 6 years = 15 years. Maybe you owe the tenants money!  :)

I had a similar situation where tenants abanded my house before the lease term was complete. By the time I found out and went through the abandonment process, the house had been without power for more than a month during the Phoenix summer. I finally gained entry to the house and the temperature was over 100 degrees. When I opened the refrigerator I was almost knocked over by about the nastiest funk I have ever smelled. The tenants had left the refrigerator filled with food including pounds of meat, which after fermenting in the heat was now a bio-hazard. I cleaned it out and tried every cleaner, bleach, and internet concoction to de-smell it to no avail. I finally gave up and donated it to charity. 

If you go to court a judge will want to know how you arrived at your damages. So I used the National Association of Homebuilders "Life Expectancy of Home Components" that showed a refrigerators life expectancy of 13 years. The appliance was 3 years old, so I billed them for the remaining 10 years of value based on the price I paid for it. I referenced how I came to the charge on the invoice.

HOWEVER. Was this the only problem with the tenants? They were in the property for 6 years and used their own refrigerator you didn't have to maintain, replacing an old unit that if you hadn't already replaced would probably need replacement now? Those sound like pretty good renters and I don't think I would charge them for it. I had great 5-year tenants (4-year holdovers) and when the old refrigerator died I didn't try to jerk them around or try to squeeze another year out of it with repairs. I called my renters and told them a new refrigerator would be delivered the next day. They ended up staying until they retired and moved to another state to be closer to their kids. Really good tenants are hard to find, and I try to keep them.

Good luck. As always, don't trust the internet, seek professional advice.

 Maybe. Lawsuits are expensive and time-consuming, the two things a flipper never wants to hear. Buy and hold may be different, but there is still no guarantee you will win. I'm a broker, not an attorney, so seek professional legal advice.

Linda S. I should point out that no contracts are involved with trustee sales (at least here). If you are the high bidder you must pay cash for it the next business day and buy the home as is, or lose your $10,000 deposit. 

 The problem is many trustee auctions, like here in Arizona, require payment the next business day after a successful bid, and if you don't pay then your $10,000 deposit is forfeited. The lender needs to be able to fund very quickly, and should have auction experience.

At first I had a partner who put up the money for 20% down plus rehab costs. I did all of the work (or arranged it) and sold (I'm a broker) the home.

 I agree, but you can't legally  screen out ESA's.