I’ve never understood why landlords go to their tenants’ residences to collect rent. The responses I get vary from “I won’t be the first to get paid if I don’t go” to “My tenants always claim their checks get lost in the mail.” But here’s the bottom line—unless you particularly love going to see your [...]
This is probably one of the most stressful conversations I have with property owners and landlords—individuals and property managers alike. Your tenant is complaining about mice, a broken sink, the light switches not working, mold growth, and a whole laundry list of items. These complaints might be occurring way before an eviction has ever started, [...]
Probably one of the biggest complaints I’ve been getting recently from landlords is that their tenants are running their electricity and gas all day and all night, and the landlord is getting a crazy PG&E bill. The typical question I get is how to force a tenant to pay the bill. Even worse, some landlords [...]
Several times, I've come across the situation of abandoned vehicles on rental property. Typically, this scenario arises after an eviction and a sheriff’s lockout, and the landlord finds a broken down vehicle in a garage or on the side of the building. I have gotten frantic calls from landlords and property managers about what to [...]
You did the right thing for your family. You sat down and drew up a will. Maybe you saw the WillMaker program on sale at Costco, or maybe you said, "I drew up my will 30 years ago and like it the way it is, and I don’t need to pay no stinkin' lawyer to [...]
A lot of people come into my office and ask me if they should transfer their real estate into their kid's name while they are still living. Here is the typical reason they give for wanting to do that: If my child goes on the title to the property, (1) I save money by not [...]
Probably one of the biggest problems we face in our office when dealing with landlord evictions are landlords that do not keep good records of how much rent has been collected and what is actually due. These landlords come to me, frustrated that their tenants are months behind in rent and causing all kinds of [...]
I still keep seeing older 30-day and 60-day termination of tenancy notices being circulated. I don’t know if it’s because these old forms are still on the Internet, but I do know that I’ve had very disappointed landlords come into my office with these old notices. I have to tell them that we will have [...]
When we are preparing estate plans and creating a living trust for real estate, I often get this question about the tax implications for a trust. The main question is whether the transfer of real estate into a living trust will trigger a reassessment from the county tax assessor’s office. The key reason people worry [...]
“On a three-day notice to pay rent or quit, is it sufficient for a property management company to name itself without designating an actual person to collect the rent demanded?” I had this question come up recently in a property management meeting about what is required in a three-day notice to pay rent or quit. [...]
