All Forum Posts by: Preston Ellis Biggs

Sorry for being MIA lately, I am overseas and sometimes the internet is just not an option. But wow did not know so many people would respond. Thank you for all of your advice. For a general update, My wife has gotten with an attorney to make sure everything we have done so far is legit. We have sent the Nonrenewal 30 day notice and are now waiting that out before we have the attorney initiate the eviction process. Going to be a great lesson learned. Thank you everyone again for your help. Also,

@Alex Deacon I definitely missed some steps and the Estoppel Certificate is a huge one, I would hope I could just avoid inheriting tenants altogether but i realize thats pretty unrealistic in the world of Multifamily. I will definitely do more research on this before purchasing my next property, thank you.

@Andrew B. yes i would say "next to none" would be a more accurate presumption. I am finding an attorney now.

@Frank Chin Thanks for the reply! and Honestly neither do I. I have tried contacting the old landlord and he seems to be just as dodgy as the tenant. I figure if worse comes to worse I end up having to pay her the amount of the security deposit which I also have not been able to get a number on. I am taking the tenants word on that it was a month to month lease and tennessee law says a 30 day notice is required to end that lease which was mailed today and am just waiting it out until the end of that. And yes an attorney is what I need.

So I recently purchased a duplex in Clarksville, TN that came with a tenant in one side. Man have i learned my lesson! So I guess it started with my neglect for due diligence when it came to the tenant. I didn't have the tenant or the old landlord sign an estoppel agreement and I didn't even think about the security deposit because my Agent had said that once I get a property management company to take over I won't need to worry about any of it, which was fine because I was overseas and did not feel like managing the property through my wife via email so hiring a management company seemed logical. After we had closed on the property my wife had been spending extended amounts of time rehabbing the vacant unit and had not seen our tenant for about a month. We had left notes on her door with my wife's number asking her to contact us ASAP. She had been on a month to month lease with the old owner and we wanted to get her signed into a year lease with us/the management company. 

Well we still hadn't heard from her (the house was bought the beginning of April) and it was May so finally my wife decided to pretty much stakeout the tenant until she finally came home at about midnight one night. After finally getting the Tenant's name and phone number we had told her we needed her old lease agreement for the property manager. After another week of not returning phone calls she finally said "just make a new lease" by this time we ditched the property manager idea and decided to take it on ourselves so we said that's fine we just need x amount of money for rent and x amount for the security deposit. I guess the rent was higher than what she was paying the old owner so she was upset about that until i informed her that we were getting a washer and dryer for the unit. 

So we set a date for the lease signing and she would bring in the x amount of moneys she needed, when the day comes there had been a tragedy and she wouldn't have the money until the following friday and that the old landlord still has her security deposit. I asked for the landlords number so I couldn't help sort it out. She went dark until that friday. Now we had told her again and again that she needed a full months rent for the signing (we had made an addendum to the lease delaying the security deposit). So the friday she is supposed to sign she shows up with y amount of money. We don't let her sign and she says she won't have the money until June. Needless to say we have sent the 30 day notice and can do nothing but hope she complies. Now does anyone know some attorney's who specialize in this sorta thing near clarksville in case this blows up in my face? sorry for the length btw.

@Matt Leavell thank you. i'm sure i will have plenty of questions come up as soon as i assume control of the property and i will gladly pick your brain.

@Eric Yow that's great! We should get together sometime and see if we can help each other in some way shape or form. 

Thanks @Kevin Hunter, yes I will definitely keep diving into the many resources available on here.

Thanks for the advice @Aaron Lovett, I am going to adhere to those as best I can. and @Jeff Sprunger, Thank you for the recommendation i will put it next on the list. Also @Philip Hensley, wasn't able to find a website for them do you happen to know when they meet/where?

Hey nicholas, I used Rhett Barnes with Keller Williams. I liked him a lot because he was very flexible on time which is what I needed since I am overseas. He also knew a whole lot about the VA loan process and what houses would be approved. I will admit he did not seem very investor oriented but I was specific enough in my criteria so that he was still very helpful and never complained when I asked him to submit somewhat lowball offers. And the lender and inspector he recommended are both fantastic as well. I can PM you the contact info for them if you'd like.

Thanks @Ron Dayley and @Lennie Brown! I will give updates as they come.