Legal

• March 3, 2016 / 0 Comments

  The Most Common Way Landlords Lose an Eviction

  By Robert L. Cain Ben and Bertha Bad Tenant were ecstatic. They were so ecstatic that they danced around the room to “Something New” by Axwell and Ingrosso and turned it up loud. But this was nothing new. They had just received an eviction notice from Larry Landlord because they hadn’t bothered to pay rent […]

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• January 8, 2016 / 0 Comments

  Dodd-Frank and Seller Financing

  By Robert L. Cain So you want to sell that rental property, and you’re going to carry the paper. That has long been an excellent way for investors to sell rental property while keeping an income stream. But watch out; in order to protect us from ourselves, Congress stepped in. They passed two laws that […]

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• October 2, 2015 / 0 Comments

  Deconstructing the Lease or Rental Agreement

  By Robert L. Cain It is the most important document in the rental process. Its completeness can determine the success of a tenancy. It will let both parties know exactly what is expected. That is, it does that if it is drawn thoughtfully and effectively. That document is the lease or rental agreement. It is […]

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• July 9, 2015 / 0 Comments

  Disparate Impact, or Breaking the Law Without Knowing It

  By Robert L. Cain The Supreme Court ruled this month, June 2105, clarifying the disparate impact section of the Fair Housing Act. It is not part of the actual text of the Fair Housing Act, but is a rule added by HUD because it turns out there was an unintended consequence of the wording of […]

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• April 8, 2015 / 0 Comments

  Should You or Could You Have Known?

  By Robert L. Cain George Becker fell against a shower door in his apartment, breaking the door and seriously cutting him. It turns out the door was untempered glass that had been installed by the apartment’s previous owner. The new owner had no way of knowing that the glass was not safe, but that didn’t […]

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• February 5, 2015 / 0 Comments

  10 Things to Be Sure to Do When You Evict

  By Robert L. Cain No landlord likes to evict a tenant even if he or she has had enough and the tenant deserves to be evicted. It is a lot of trouble and takes a lot of time and energy, not to mention lost rent and court filing fees. But when you do evict, make […]

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• December 5, 2014 / 0 Comments

  A “New” Twist on Deposits

  By Robert L. Cain It is axiomatic that we collect security deposits from new tenants. We do that so we are protected against any number of tenant activities or lack of activities, such as paying rent, so we don’t lose money. It’s just good business. But a security deposit only makes it a break-even event. […]

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• October 2, 2014 / 0 Comments

  How the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Act Can Affect Landlords

  By Robert L. Cain How dangerous to your net income might it be to rent to a serviceman or woman? Yes, I know, they are serving their country and we need to support them. But we need to review what is known as the “Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act,” (SSCRA) the name of which […]

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• July 10, 2014 / 1 Comment

  The Service Rooster

  By Robert L. Cain When I was an undergraduate in college, I lived in a cottage next to people who had chickens, including a rooster. I didn’t want to get up at 3:30 in the morning, but the rooster apparently thought everyone should since he was up. I would have killed that rooster if I […]

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• February 4, 2014 / 0 Comments

  Should You Evict?

  By Robert L. Cain Wouldn’t it be great if you had a consistent, objective formula that you could pull out and decide when to boot a tenant?  Just think, plug in some data, add, subtract, multiply and divide, maybe even have Excel do it, and presto, get a number that tells whether to send the […]

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