All Forum Posts by: Matt W.

I believe you're talking about Newport Banning Ranch. Environmental groups want it to be open space while the owner/developer/city would like it to be 1,000 homes, a hotel, and retail. CA Supreme Court just ruled the city suppressed the environmental impact report and will need to do it again to make citizens fully aware of the impact of development, while the developer has an ongoing damages suit to exercise their right to build. Needless to say, it's a mess and will take a few more years to solve. -Matt

https://www.landlordology.com/south-carolina-landlord-tenant-laws/#rules Check that out, there are links to various publications from the state government. -Matt

I would absolutely select a PM first. Any out of state deal I look at is first seen by the PM to see if they are good with the area, neighborhood, street, and the building itself. They also come on the walk through. While they do not participate in negotiations, they are an invaluable tool to help secure good properties.

Oren, What you have said above is correct as to the way it has been explained to me, by 3 separate CPAs/Attorneys that I have various business with. You could always try to skirt the rules, but I've been told that CA is being very aggressive and the consensus is that you would eventually be found out through you CA state return. You also asked about possibly consolidating into one out of state Entity. I do not own or manage any non-CA LLCs, but I believe that while it would save on multiple $800 fees, I'm wondering if your total gross receipts need to be considered. In CA, anything over $250,000 requires an $800 fee and $900 tax annually, and the tax goes up in price from there on a sliding scale. If you don't gross over 250k yearly there is not much to consider, if you do however, please double check my thoughts with a CPA. You could wind up avoiding $800 fees and still get hit with other CA LLC taxes.

What you do next is up to you. As I see it, your options are a warning letter/discussion, a 3-day to perform or quit (regarding quiet enjoyment of premises), a 3-day to pay when the rent is due (but I stress again constantly collecting on the 10th has tacitly made the due date the 10th unless you reset with a change of terms), or flat out termination with a notice to quit (30 days if living there for under 2 years, 60 day for 2+ years, or 90 day for a HUD tenant or as your housing authority requires). If you serve a notice to quit, I don't believe you need to state a reason but you should research that. Ultimately if the tenant doesn't move, you will need to file eviction to remove them and get possession of the premises back. There is also cash for keys as an option, a lot of times it's cheaper than waiting for an eviction.

Being mentally ill does not protect a tenant from not paying rent on time and being mentally ill does not protect a tenant from disturbing the "quiet enjoyment" of the premises for all other residents/occupants. Is your problem tenant under a lease or month to month? What does their lease say in the clauses on payment terms or quiet enjoyment/disturbing the peace? You can proceed with eviction if you wish, but in CA the courts are always backed up so it might take some time, even with a default. Also, if your tenant is month to month, be aware that you continuously collecting late rent might have tacitly reset the payment date, which could cause you to lose if presented properly to a judge. If that is the case, you can always serve a 30 day change of terms to set the payment date back to the agreement terms and then proceed with eviction. Alternatively you could also serve a 30/60/90 day notice to quit depending on length of stay and/or housing assistance rules. But if they don't move out after the notice to quit expires, you'd still have an eviction on your hands.

I've been through lots of tenants but nothing too horrible out of pure malice. Probably the worst was a hoarder who was evicted and then left the apartment full of belongings/trash with little pathways to get to each room. It was stacked to about 6' tall. There was rotten food, trash, liquids I care not to think about, etc. Upon leaving he turned the oven on broil to hopefully burn down the unit. Luckily the on-site manager caught that within about 30 minutes so there was no damage other than the filth. I've had one tenant try to commit suicide in the tub, that was pretty nasty, but surprising contained to the bathroom area. I never really heard what happened there, and I evicted after the tenant failed to come back, I think she was placed in a mental care facility. One of my tenants was killed by a drunk guest who was invited to the unit. The guest/killer then proceeded to get blood all over the common areas of the building!!! The crime scene restoration crew said it was a lot to clean up. Obviously a number of dead bodies also, one found by me personally unfortunately. One older woman died in the summer and tenants kept complaining about bad smells coming from the trash bin in the back of the property. Unfortunately she sort of melted into her mattress and then flies multiplied which basically covered the bedroom walls. That was pretty gross. In CA all deaths need to be disclosed for up to 3 years which I do. Some applicants are scared away and others don't care at all. I try to get them to think about visiting any hospital and realize how many people have died there over the years which is generally never brought up by anyone. While it's not exactly the same as living in a unit day in and day out it certainly brings about some perspective.

I laughed when I saw the link in the original post. I was look for investments in OC and I had already come across this listing which had me scratching my head upon review of the numbers. It is not in a beach community as Matt has suggested above, more like 20 miles inland, in a so so part of Orange at that. If you act as if you're purchasing the home to live in long term, and graciously price that at $1M, then you are buying a duplex for $375k/door. None of that math works or makes sense. There might be a buyer out there for this at the listing price, but I don't think they are your typical investor. I have this listing saved so I can go back and see if it actually sold, but seeing the listing history of it being marketed and pulled I would not be surprised to see this sit without a buyer and then get taken off the market again.

From Nolo.com and if your rental is in North Carolina: "If you don’t have a legal justification to break your lease, the good news is that you may still be off the hook for paying all the rent due for the remaining lease term. This is because under North Carolina law (Isbey v. Crews, 284 S.E.2d 534 (N.C. Ct. App. 1981)), your landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent your unit—no matter what your reason for leaving—rather than charge you for the total remaining rent due under the lease. So you may not have to pay much, if any additional rent, if you break your lease. You need pay only the amount of rent the landlord loses because you moved out early. This is because North Carolina requires landlords to take reasonable steps to keep their losses to a minimum—or to “mitigate damages” in legal terms." You need to get a copy of the new lease that was signed by the new tenant. If the new lease terms were the same as the lease you broke, I don't see how the owner can claim any damages were suffered. The lease agreement cannot supersede NC state law, so the owner's argument that "it's in the lease" is flawed. If you cannot get relief there is always small claims court, but make sure you have all your paperwork in order. -Matt

Refinishing can be a mixed bag. I manage in C areas and I was wasting money refinishing every 3-5 years because it didn't last due to chipping from normal wear, tenants being too hard on the product destroying it completely, or work defects that caused issues. I have switched from reglazed Formica to prefabricated granite. The cheapest is less than $100 for an 8x2 slab and I can get a kitchen done with install for $500-750 depending on size. With reglaze being $300-400, granite became a no brainer because of cost, longevity, and the ability to raise rents on the improved finish. I still reglaze tubs however and if done well they can last a decent amount of time, but ultimately tubs face the same issues overall. -Matt