All Forum Posts by: Stephan K.

Hi Eddie,

Welcome to BP. Good luck with your new activities.

Thanks,

Stephan

You should really stop to email him. Start a paper trail. In court you need letters, not emails or text messages.

Also, do not send out contracts that you sign first. Let him sign first and than you can decide to accept or not.

Now any time he can sign it and has a fully legal copy, without returning it to you. (Your copy got lost in the mail ....)

Besides getting a lawyer to handle this guy, find a good book about the subject and work it through. (The one from Mark Wada is for Florida only.)

Looks like you have a "professional" tenant in your unit. I guess it’s time to get a lawyer before this goes on forever.

On the utilities: I was once burned with a similar situation where the tenant did not switch utilities as agreed in the contact and the water company (city) and the power company refused to turn it off when I asked them, as they knew somebody was living in there.

Now we give the tenant detailed written instructions how to turn water & power on when signing the lease. 5 minutes later we call to get both turned off. If he is fast enough, the just switch it - if not, he has to have it turned on. Not a big deal for them.

Giving notice and having the tenant evicted is something completely different. If the tenant causes trouble, he will cause trouble no matter what contract you have.

The minimum thing that I always do, even if I do not install an alarm, is to put some light on a timer that makes it look as if someone is home. In a bathroom or so, that you do not see from the outside that the home is empty.

I googled this really quick, it looks like you need a 5 day notice.

http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=645

Keep in mind that you only incude rent, no late fees.

Have you given them proper notice?

Posting proper notices has so far been the most successful think for us.

99% of late paying tenants pay right away.

Also, don’t even allow them to be “late”. They will use the money for other things if they figure out that you don’t do much if they do not pay you.

Oh, what a mess.

Why do you require the lease to be notarized? You should at least have him signed one copy.

I make a copy of the ID and just have the tenant sign it.

I never give out keys without payment and signed contract.

The contract will not become valid without him signing it. He is on a verbal contract now; I guess I would consider him on month to month.

Make sure you do not text and e-mail but leave a paper trail.

Send him a letter saying that you will consider him on a 30 day if he does not sign the contract by a specific date and that you will give him a 30 day notice after that date. Than he would not be on a contract anymore and you could evict him.

Stephan

Hi,

We bought a house with a garage conversion that was done a few years ago. There is enough space to turn that bedroom into a master suite with a bathroom. The house is a 3 BR with only one bath.

I am looking for inexpensive software that can help me creating that bathroom.

I am a computer pro, but I have never worked with such software. Any recommendations?

Thanks

Stephan

@Donald Stevens

Thanks.

I work with my local Allstate agent so far.

As far as I know is Citizen the only option we have right now here in Florida.