All Forum Posts by: Karen F.

It has been as pass through income for many years, but my (now ex) husband was the one claiming real estate pro status - but the rental income was considered pass through, not as self-employed.  I'm wondering if I can now claim real estate pro, keep the income pass through, and not endanger SSDI.

I'm looking to purchase a single family or multi (2/3 family), preferably vacant, very close to Albany Med ctr. Can be a quick cash sale. Please reach out to me if you own such, and are looking to sell, in the very near future. I'm watching MLS closely, experienced in a similar area in an adjacent Northeastern state, so not really looking for a realtor in general to work with, although of course I would happily speak with a listing agent for an appropriate property.

I have wound up with about a dozen units that I now need to manage on my own.  I am on SSDI for the past 6 years or so, due to serious illness, which is now temporarily quieter.  I advertise for tenants, show units when I can, pick up materials and appliances (but don't load and unload) and meet inspectors, supervise repair workers, collect rents, keep records, pay bills, etc.

I'm absolutely spending enough hours/year to claim real estate professional status, and since I no longer work in my former profession due to disability, it's definitely more than half my working time.  

The rental income has always been pass-through income.  I never used a property manager, but my ex used to do most of the management.  The rental income will continue to be pass-through.

I understand that there are tax advantages for claiming real estate professional status.  But will it make me ineligible for SSDI? 

Not gonna put it over the carpet.  Any recommendations for something that will last for awhile?  I have lumber liquidators, home Depot, Lowe's, and who knows what else near me (central CT).

In a  Dplus area, 2nd floor unit, considering installing LVP.  Currently there is that extremely thin, hard, cheap landlord carpeting (and also an area with cheap thin stick on hard tile squares).  I was thinking that the very thin hard carpet could serve as a sound insulation layer, and just installing click together LVP right over the thin carpet and the thin hard stick on tiles.  Also, how to get an LVP that will wear well, for cheap?

Any advice?

And now CT gov has signed the bill erasing criminal records, and from what I've heard, making it illegal to refuse a potential tenant based upon his past criminal record, if that record has been erased.

Looks as if this is going to become law.  The only time I had a tenant (being evicted for non-payment of rent, it's always for non-payment of rent) get help from legal aid, they managed to string it out for an additional three months, which of course meant another three months of lost rent for us.  Tenant of course was judgement-proof, by reason of having nothing to garnish.  They used audita querela so many times that the legal aid lawyer herself was ashamed - the tenant refused to comply with every negotiated settlement as agreed to in front of the mediator.  Each time they'd claim audita querela ("I took my child to the ER" at no expense to herself  for some imagined minor issue, "so I shouldn't have to move"), the court would give them another hearing date.  There are so many tricks they can use, and each one, no matter how contrived and absurd, the court would give them another hearing date, thus extending their tenancy, during which of course they paid no rent.

The State has already gotten as much as 18 months' free housing for the poor and those who refuse to pay rent, on the property owners' backs, under the eviction moratorium.   Seems to me that the issue here is the State's desire to string out the period of free rent, without it costing the State a penny.  As for the State's money for paying off tenants' back rent, virtually no money has actually been paid out to landlords.  We were lucky - we had only one of 32 tenants, and she was only one month behind, due to serious Covid illness.  We and she did ALL the paperwork (and boy was there ever a lot of it), and still, months later, nothing.

For me, I think this is the last straw.  The market is so high right now for multis in CT.  We run our own evictions, unless we are afraid of the tenant or their illegally brought in criminal associates  (which is not infrequently the case), in which case we pay a lawyer to do it.  But if the tenants have legal representation, the law and the courts are so prejudiced in favor of the non-paying tenant, that I'm ready to sell it all.  It's really a pity, since we provide good safe housing at very reasonable rates.  But if we cannot evict a non-paying tenant, we cannot run the business, cannot provide rental housing.  I don't know who will be able to.  In the end, what will happen is that the price of housing will go up, and the supply of housing for the poor will decrease, both in number and quality of units.  I don't think I want to stick around for the ride.  I think we're done.

I allow appropriately neutered/spayed cats, and dogs that are not puppies, and that are not on my insurer's prohibited dog list.  But I've recently become aware that a lot of tenants with small dogs are not walking the dogs.  They claim that the dogs use puppy pads in the house.  My experience when one of these units turns over is that the unit's flooring is ruined by dog urine and that there is dog feces present in the unit.  So I've learned to ask, "Does the dog go on puppy pads in the house?"  If the answer is a shocked, "NO!  He does everything outside!", that's good.  If they say, "Oh yes.  He goes on the puppy pads", then I won't take them, because I figure that if the dog is  peeing and pooping in the house on pads, then they're probably gonna go anywhere in the house, except their own bed or cage.  I just never had thought of a dog as being litter-box trained, like a cat.  

Am I wrong?  I'm turning down a lot of potentially good tenants, other than the fact that they have little dogs who go on pads indoors.  Has anyone had a good outcome with tenants whose dogs use puppy pads indoors, rather than being appropriately completely housebroken?

Just to give an update.  The tenant DID move out in mid February, owing Dec, Jan, and Feb rent.  Remember, this is in a state where tenant has to be behind a total of six months' rent before you can begin an eviction, and that process would take at least another 3 months, could easily be strung out to six months.

In small claims (which was heard by a housing court judge), the judge tried to throw it out, because even though the tenant attended the hearing (all virtually), she claimed she hadn't been notified properly.  Housing court judge tried to apply housing court rules, saying I had to have proof of having served her by a marshal.  I HAD served her by a marshal, even though it's not required for small claims, but we hadn't filed it with housing court because it wasn't an eviction, which of course we're not allowed to begin under the moratorium!

I pointed this out to the judge, and she backed down - honestly, she was trying every which way she could to figure out how she could throw out the suit!  She did award us what we had asked for, which was two months' rent, at the time we had filed it.

I don't know if we'll be able to collect it.  We'll try.  And they left the place trashed and vandalized.  But it could have been much worse.  I do think that going after them for the owed rent, while they were still in there, helped to encourage them to move out more quickly than they would have.  Otherwise we could have easily lost 9-12 months' rent.  And these people were never going to cooperate with the paperwork needed for an assistance program, plus after they left we discovered that ALL the outlets were melted, from their having been using space heaters (they didn't pay anything for electric, since it was under dead husband's name, and shutoff moratorium), so we consider it a miracle that they didn't burn the multifamily down.

So YES, you can start a small claims against a non-paying tenant, despite the eviction moratorium, and it may help to motivate them to leave sooner.

Just thought I'd give an update.  Tenant got through her bad time, finished her training certificate and got a decent job that is stable and secure.  The rent is getting paid regularly now.  We are going to raise her rent (along with everyone else's) quite soon, to just under market rate.  But since there is still an eviction moratorium on, not much else we can do.  Also, I honestly forgot all about it, as soon as she stopped bothering us.  And of course, the new heating unit is functioning beautifully.