LEGISLATIVE DAYS

Here we are again! Legislative days in both Tallahassee and Washington, DC are occurring in March-2010.  A number of bills in Florida have been filed which directly impact the rental housing industry. Hot bills include those related to foreclosure and a domestic violence bill which could have extremely adverse consequences to the rental housing industry. No one person can defeat or pass a bill, so we urge you to get involved, or at a bare minimum stay informed, as we may need to enlist your help later.  For more information on The Florida Apartment Association’s Legislative Days on March 23 and 24, click here.

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NSF – CHECKS DRAWN ON INSUFFICIENT FUNDS

Just before your account receivable close date, you receive notice from the bank that a resident’s check was returned for insufficient funds.  To add insult to injury, your bank is charging you for the bounced check.  One can’t be in real property management for long before encountering checks returned for insufficient funds (NSF checks).  It is sometime confusing to know how to proceed when a check is returned.  Unfortunately, many times the manager’s response to a NSF check does more harm than good.  Perhaps it was payment on a 3-Day Notice.  Can a manager’s actions actually have a negative impact on with the landlord’s potential eviction?
 

Click here  to learn how to deal with NSF checks.

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MOTIONS TO STRIKE? MOTIONS FOR DEFAULT? WHAT?

Your corporate office emailed you about the status of your four pending eviction lawsuits. You respond by telling them that the eviction actions are “still pending”. The corporate office replies back that they already know that the evictions are “pending”. They want details! You call your eviction attorney in order to gather the necessary information. Your attorney tells you that he has filed a “Motion to Strike Defendant’s Answer” in one case, and in another case, your attorney has filed a “Motion for Default for Defendant’s Failure to Deposit Accrued Rent into the Court Registry.” You have no idea how you will explain this to your boss! What are they talking about?

Click here  to decipher the meaning of these “Motions”.

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IMPORTANT SAFETY QUICK TIP – THE WATER SHUT OFF VALVE

Your resident comes home to find water pouring through the ceiling of the living room. A pipe has broken in the bathroom wall. The resident calls your emergency number and leaves a message with an answering service. The water continues to pour and pour, completely flooding the house and destroying the ceiling, walls, carpet and the resident's personal property. An hour goes by. In desperation the resident asks their next door neighbor what to do, and he promptly finds the main water shut off valve and stops the flooding. What was the problem here? Your resident had no idea where the shut off valve was. Why? Because you never told her where it was. Need we say more?
 

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STOPPING AN EVICTION

Every day our office receives calls from property managers requesting that an eviction be “stopped”. Usually the request is because the resident paid. Paid what? Did they make a partial payment? Did they pay in full? Pay by check? We ask a number of questions and are often horrified to hear the answers. An eviction that is improperly stopped can result in the property manager having to file an eviction all over again and incurring additional attorney’s fees and costs. A smart property manager knows when and how to properly “stop” an eviction, but in these desperate times serious mistakes happen.

Click here  to learn how to properly “stop” an eviction.

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THE INSURANCE DEMAND LETTER FROM AN ATTORNEY

You go to the post office, pick up the mail and while thumbing through it, see a letter from a personal injury attorney whose name you saw on a billboard.  You become nervous, and it is the first letter you open.  Reading it, you determine that an attorney is representing one of your residents in a slip and fall on the rental property, and the attorney is demanding insurance information. What should you do?

Click here  to see how to respond.

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COMMERCIAL LEASE  LAW SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT

On March 3, 2010,  Attorney Kevin Jursinski, an expert on commercial leasing law and property management, will be giving a seminar at the Embassy Suites in Estero, located at the intersection of I-75 (Exit 123) and Corkscrew Rd. The seminar is free, BUT reservations are a must, as this class will fill up. Interested? Contact:  Nicole@kfjlaw.com, Jill@kfjlaw.com  or call  239-337-1147 for more information and a reservation form.
 

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COMMERCIAL LAW AND YOU - WITNESSES AND THE COMMERCIAL LEASE REVISITED

A manager of a Limited Liability Corporation signs a lease for over one year without two witnesses. Is the lease valid? One case said Yes. Recent changes in case law though need to be examined by the commercial owner or property manager to make sure the leases are valid. Should you ALWAYS have 2 witnesses, no matter who the lease signer is or what title the lessee has? YOU BET.

Click here for an update on the 2 witness requirement by Commercial Law Attorney Kevin Jursinski.
 

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