All Forum Posts by: Dmitriy Fomichenko

@Chris Martin that is what I been doing so far, letting it go...

But I hope that by brainstorming it with the BP community we can come up with some solution or idea that would be beneficial not only to me, but to other landlords and investors.

@Lynn McGeein thank you for your suggestion! See, these people don't have a bank account. They use pre-paid cards. They use cash to load and re-load them. I don't think them going to the city to pay is the issue. They are actually able to make the payment online using one of their pre-paid cards. I think it's just poor budgeting and bad habits and maybe not having strong enough desire to change things for better... Yes, there are people like that who use pre-paid phones and pre-loaded cards... I don't get it, but it seems that some people are just living in a different worlds than some of us...

@Nate Crump

thanks for providing more info, that helps. In this case, Solo 401k would not work for him (he would not qualify since he has full time employees). His answer would be self directed IRA. It works just like conventional Traditional IRA, but investment choices would not be limited to the stock market (like conventional account). There is a way for him to use the funds to invest in real estate. Unfortunatelly I'm unable to be more specific because I don't know his situation, but like I said, there is plenty of educational info out there that he can learn.

@Nate Crump, being small business owner (I'm assuming he does not have full time employees working for him), he can take advantage of Individual 401k (also know as Solo 401k or owner-only 401k). He needs self directed account.

This type of account could allow him to use his retirement funds for investing into non-traditional assets such as real estate, notes, etc. He would not be taking any money out of the account, so it would not be taxable event. There is more info available to learn about this types of plan. Just be aware that there are different types of Solo 401k providers and not all are the same. Some don't offer some of the features that would otherwise be available with other providers.

@James Wise thanks, but why do you think that by paying bill amount to me rather than to the city would make them pay on time? Now, that they are paying it, they are aware of the disconnect notice and will be forced to pay the bill by the deadline in order to have the water on. If I will be paying it, I will be current, but may have even more difficult time collecting from them... They pay late fee every time and during our conversation few months ago would prefer to have the bill in their name, be late, pay the late fees and just go on like that... I don't get it, but I guess there are some people like that, they have little money, but paying $50 late fee every month (which would make a difference in their budget) doesn't bother them.

I meant to say that utilities part of the lease, our agreement spells out that they are responsible for paying all utilities.

@Chris Martin thanks for your input!

The utilities are part of the rent. They also able to make the payment online. I do have large deposit from them. Having to chaise them every month for the bill is something that I hope not to do. I set up a filter so the email with the bill notice is automatically send to them. They are aware of the bills, when it's due, etc. If the amount would be the same every month, I would just increase the rent amount, but of course it vary every month. I really don't want to be on the middle of this, I prefer that they pay directly and hoping to find the way to make them do that.

On one of my rentals, previous tenant left balance on the water bill. Now that I have new tenant, the city said the bill would have to be in my name. Because of the balance the old tenant left, their policy would not allow the service to be switched to new tenant. I now have new tenant for over two year, they get a copy water and sanitation bill from me, go to the city and make the payment. That is the set up. However, while they pay their rent on time, they are constantly late on the water/trash bill. We had a serious discussion few months ago and they did catch up. They were current for few months but not for too long. They are back in the same place now. I just received a disconnect notice from the city, they are two months late again! It is very frustrating to me as landlord! I don't really have the time to deal with this minor but annoying issue. They are otherwise decent tenants. Sometime I just want to get them out so that I don't have to deal with this issue anymore. But when I imagine that I would have to go through the process of re-leasing the property again... I don't want to kick them out. There must be some solution to this situation. I want to ask for help/suggestions from some of the experienced landlords and property managers out there in PB community. Any suggestion you can provide on how to deal with this situation will be greatly appreciated!

I agree with @Jeff Boyle , Mark is a great guy and very knowledgeable. Of course I was not part of the conversation, but just like @Bala P. said there is always two sides of the coin...

Good article, thank you @Matt Devincenzo for pointing it out!