Legal

• January 1, 2010 / 0 Comments

  How to Obtain a Copy of Your Past Tax Information

  Taxpayers who need their past tax return information can obtain it from the IRS. Here are nine things to know if you need copies of your federal tax return information. 1. There are two easy and convenient options for obtaining free copies of your federal tax return information — tax return transcripts and tax account […]

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• January 1, 2010 / 0 Comments

  Landlord Q & A: Landlord withholds security deposit, tenant sues for discrimination

  Q: My tenants of four years are accusing me of “racial discrimination” for failure to return their security deposit. I only charged them $450 security deposit and had to charge them $250 for carpet replacement due to extreme damage from stains that would not come up even with professional cleaning (which they verbally agreed they […]

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• January 1, 2010 / 0 Comments

  Lease Options

  The lease option offers two benefits to real estate investors: a way to control property for little or no money and to rent out or sell a property that might not otherwise be rentable or saleable. An option is an option to buy. A buyer makes an agreement with the owner of a property to […]

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• December 1, 2009 / 0 Comments

  Tax Strategies for Landlords

  The trick is to stop thinking of it as “your” money. -IRS auditor A real estate broker I know was complaining a few years ago about how much he had to pay in taxes. Considering his personality, he complaint was part complaint and part brag. Because, of course, the more money you make, the more […]

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• November 1, 2009 / 0 Comments

  Tenant vacations in Bahamas, can’t pay rent

  Q: I am writing this to get some advice as to what my legal recourse is. I live in the state of Maryland and I have a rental property located there also. Recently I had a tenant that was behind in her rent one to two months. I felt bad for her as she was […]

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• November 1, 2009 / 0 Comments

  An Open Letter to Tenants Who Don’t Pay

  What would you do if you worked hard all week long and on payday your boss told you that you were not going to get paid and. . . that you would have to wait and wait and wait for your money and . . . that he did not know when (or if) you […]

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• October 1, 2009 / 0 Comments

  Why NOT to use free online lease forms

  I almost couldn’t believe what I was reading. Ever since the first issue of the Rental Property Reporter some 16 years ago, we have been warning against using boilerplate leases and rental agreements. They often have violations of a state’s Landlord-Tenant Act and can result in a tenant getting to stay up to three months […]

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• October 1, 2009 / 0 Comments

  The Lease from the Office Supply Store

  “It only cost me $5.00 for the lease and I can use it over and over again. All I have to do is make copies.” Sure, what a deal. That’s the lease form he got at Super-Gigantic Office Supply. “Who pays attention to what’s in a lease, anyway?” asks the landlord. Usually good tenants don’t, […]

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• September 1, 2009 / 0 Comments

  US Dept. of Justice Looks at Service Animal Issues

  The Department of Justice last year asked for public comments regarding, among other things, service animals. In a July 2008 article we dealt with exotic service animals that can cause management issues for landlords, such as monkeys, lizards and snakes. The new rules promulgated by the Department of Justice may provide some relief from our […]

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• September 1, 2009 / 1 Comment

  Children Falling and Your Liability

  The Davises rented a second-floor apartment with a balcony. One day Mrs. Davis was talking on the phone, not paying as close attention to her two year old daughter as children that age require. After she got off the phone, she went looking for her daughter and found that she had fallen off the balcony. […]

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