All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Adam Hershman I see your point.  But, why does everyone assume the police were at fault?  I'm just saying, perhaps it was the tenant's fault.  And if it was, then it's hardly fair to charge the police.  Whoever was at fault should pay for the damage, most definitely.

Getting the police report will be helpful in that regard.  

If you've closed the deal, then you would be the owner, in my opinion.  It's just a matter of recording the deed, right?  

Moving in and taking possession would also indicate that you consider yourself the owner, and the recording of the deed is just a minor technicality.

Unless the addendum says something differently?

Just curious, would this include getting sued by you?

It doesn't sound like much of an endorsement on the quality of their work.  Kind of like buying an extended warranty.  What does it say about the product, if you need an extended warranty?  LOL.

Hey, not only do we not guarantee our work, but if someone sues us, you get to pay our commissions and fees AND defend us in court.

There has to be a better contract out there.  

Section 8 tenants can only be evicted for cause.  And the PHA can withhold payments for various reasons.  So, no, the money is not guaranteed to come every month.

Students can at least be kicked out at the end of the lease.  And you don't have to learn and comply with a lot of extra rules and inspections.

If you can get grad students, they're the best tenants, in my opinion.  And they will usually stay for several years (especially law students - my favorites).

Another group to target are traveling nurses.  They look for short term rentals, but sometimes end up staying, and they'll pay a higher rent for a short-term lease, and are great, quiet tenants.  I was approached by a company that places traveling nurses asking if I'd rent a unit or more to them as corporate housing.  Owner and I decided we wanted more control over who the tenants were, but there is a demand for this out there.   If your rental is a home with rooms you want to rent to roommates, perhaps you could rent the place to a nurse placement agency as corporate housing. 

Just a thought.

Now you're making me nervous.  I think you need a fair housing criteria that you stick to, and process applications in order received - first one who qualifies is accepted.

Since #1 qualified, passing them up for #4 could cause problems.  You could turn down #2 and #3 for legitimate reasons.  So you were okay there.

But, you need to have a very good, legitimate reason for taking #4 over #1, and for turning down anyone in-between now.  Whereas, if you took #1, you don't need a reason for anyone after that, because you took someone who applied before they did.  

Once you have accepted someone, any applications received after that person can just be refunded their application fees.  There would be no reason to run reports then.

 Well, I guess all that matters is what happened in this case.  Were your tenants asleep?  Were they not home?

I'm just asking what I think is an obvious question.  And what the city attorney will ask, too.  But, I think you should be prepared for the possibility that the reason the door was smashed in, was because the tenants refused to open it.  And if that's the case, just be ready for that argument from the city attorney when you go after the city for damages.

@Jeremy Pace, I'm just trying to picture a scenario where the police battered down a door, then battered down another door.  All I can picture is that they said, we have a warrant to search, and the tenants refused to let them in.  Then, they refused to open another door that was locked.

If that's the case, the tenants could have avoided any damage by just honoring the police warrant and letting them in, and then opening up the door they asked to be opened.  I can't imagine police just battering their way into a place and then through another door.

So, in my opinion, if the tenants refused to let the cops in, even though they had a warrant, the damage is on the tenant, because the damage could have been avoided by the tenant.

@Lee S. is the property in CA?

As mentioned, if there is no written contract in place, then they're month-to-month.  You just give them a 3 day notice to pay or quit, then when they don't proceed from there.

Check to see if the house is in rent controlled housing, which is just a bit of a pain, but you can still evict for nonpayment of rent.

Here's the CA courts self-help eviction info:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-eviction.htm

Personally, I'd start the eviction process before offering any cash for keys.  They might be more amenable after getting served :-)  You can probably just do it all yourself without an attorney.

I'd make it part of the sale, that the seller terminates the management contract prior to closing.

I'm wondering if you can't charge the tenants.  Why didn't they open the door?  I'd but this on the tenants.