FAST LEGAL ANSWERS – YOU BET!

All day long our office is providing free legal advice to our clients by phone, fax and email. Often we need to see the pertinent documents in order to answer your question.  Your absolute fastest, most efficient way to contact the attorneys is by email, harry@evict.com, mike@evict.com  or david@evict.com and sending any relevant documents along with your question. If sending a question by fax, send as much relevant info as you can at one time to help speed up the process.  

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NO EVICTIONS FOR 90 DAYS? IS IT TRUE?

The news media is full of stories about tenants being evicted when the property is foreclosed upon. Recently Fannie Mae stated that they will work with tenants so they are not evicted. Does this mean nonpayment of rent evictions will stop? Absolutely not. The Fannie Mae evictions occur when the owner is foreclosed upon and the bank gets a writ of possession at the end of the foreclosure removing the tenant.  This situation really has no effect on the typical residential property manager collecting rent and evicting for nonpayment before or during a foreclosure. Have no fear, you can still evict.

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DOG BARKING, IRATE NEIGHBORS - NOW WHAT?

You're wrong if you think your court case starts when you serve the Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance without Opportunity to Cure.  Your court case starts with your first contact.  What does it take to win dog barking cases?  Think all you need for court is yourself and your tenant file with the phone log of irate calls and the notes from complaining neighbors?  Think again. There is a lot more at stake. 

Click here  to see  how to deal with the barking dog .

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YOU FORGOT TO SEND OUT THE SECURITY DEPOSIT NOTICE - IS THERE A WAY OUT?

It is 3:00 a.m. and you wake up with a start, realizing you forgot to send out the Notice of Intention to Impose Claim on Security Deposit to a tenant who skipped out on you last month owing rent and damaging the property. Worse yet, the security deposit was $2000.00. You kept on meaning to send it out, but it slipped your mind. There is no going back to sleep now, and you watch infomercials on TV until 7:00 a.m. when it is time to get going to work. Do you have to forfeit the security deposit to the tenant now because you missed the deadline? Maybe NOT!

Click here  to read about  “Forgetting to send out the Claim”.

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ADVANCING MONEY FOR REPAIRS

The A/C breaks, and your tenant is screaming “rent withholding”. Your A/C repairman wants to be paid a deposit in advance, and you pay him out of your own funds to avoid any delays. The A/C is fixed, and the tenant skips out.  You repeatedly bill the owner who fails to reimburse you, ignoring your letters, email and calls.  Now the property is in foreclosure, and the owner’s phone is disconnected. Lesson learned? Never advance money on behalf of a property owner unless you understand the risks. Why make this mistake yourself? Learn from the others.

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LOWERING YOUR CURRENT TENANT’S RENT WITHOUT GETTING BURNED

Unlike the good old days, property managers are now being faced with having to lower the rent to retain their tenants. Sometimes this is done on a renewal lease, and other times the tenant wants it right now, in the middle of the lease. How you deal with such a request can mean the difference between a successful, written rent adjustment agreement or a verbal “he said, she said” mess.

Click here  to see how to properly modify a rent amount.

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ROOMMATE DISPUTES – DON’T GET INVOLVED

With the economic downturn we see more and more roommate disputes.  In desperation people are getting roommates without knowing whether they will be compatible, and they are moving in together. Sometimes they are both on the lease, and other times your tenant brings in a roommate without permission.  Invariably things do not work out, and one of the tenants asks your help in removing the roommate.  Can you do it? NO. It is THEIR problem, and concerning the case in which your tenant brought in a roommate without your permission (an unauthorized occupant), your tenant is now in violation of the lease. Your choice is to let them fight it out or evict everyone out of the unit, including the tenant on the lease.

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