|
For information regarding the Eviction Resolution Pilot Program please visit the Clark County website and Washington State Court website. They have a great video on how the program works. There are links to important documents and information that will take you to their websites by clicking on the buttons below. We hope these resources can help tenants and landlords navigate the requirements. Eviction Resolution Pilot Program Guides & Information 
Landlord Forms & Documents
1 Comment
By: Corey Tyner Phoenix Fast Sell Home Buyers Many consider acquiring an investment rental property to generate passive income. In order to make sure that your investment will pay off, you’ll want to ask important questions. In considering the location, the bones, and your personal financial status and goals, you’ll be able to secure a great investment rental property that’ll generate you passive income in no time.  Consider Location First While you’ll likely find changes that you’d want to make with any property, the location is one of the characteristics you’re stuck with. Weighing the benefit of a great neighborhood that’ll attract more renters with a home that needs new countertops can help you make your decision. The location includes the plot of land, the characteristics of the neighborhood, and the makeup of the school district. If the particular home isn’t conducive to renters or isn’t in a competitive neighborhood, you could find yourself at a loss down the road. Location will also help decide what the maintenance costs will entail, like if there is a large yard that’ll require a lot of landscaping or a pool that’ll attract renters but require upkeep. If the property is far from where you live, you will also want to think about if you’d need to hire a property management service. Make Sure You Have the Full Picture An investment property is a large financial commitment, so you want to be sure that you’ve properly allocated for both the initial purchase and the regular upkeep costs and any taxes that you’ll have to take on. Real estate experts refer to the “1% rule”, which says that you should expect to earn 1% of what you paid for the property each and every month in order for this to be a good investment. This price should include the projected costs of the renovations you’re expecting to have to make to the property. It’s also important to add property taxes, insurance, HOA fees, and property management expenses (if you’d have to hire a property management service). Repair costs, alterations to the local economy, or potential raises in property taxes are other considerations. While these amounts will vary year to year, it’s important to allocate them in determining how much property you can afford.  How are the “bones”?
“Bones” of a house include the foundation, roofing, layout of the rooms, and plumbing that add hidden value to the house. While you can make tons of renovations inside to increase the value, changing the foundation, roof, or floor plan can be a much more expensive undertaking. If the property you’re viewing has a sinking roof or foundation with damage, it might not be a financially lucrative option. Consider the construction materials that were used and if the foundation is solid. Wood construction versus ICF block homes have their own pros and cons, and brick and concrete are generally regarded as safe bets. The roof is another place to look, as having to replace the roof can bring an unexpectedly huge cost. Make sure that the roof isn’t cracking or sinking in any spots; if it looks like there’s been minimal wear and tear, that’s a great sign. An investment property is an exciting way to generate passive income once your ducks are in a row. In considering the location, bones, and your full financial status, you will be able to find a house that genuinely suits your needs and income goals. Corey Tyner is the owner of Phoenix Home Buyers and Buyyodirt. He is one of the top real estate investors in Arizona with over a decade of experience. His work has been featured on Bigger Pockets, Real Estate Agent Magazine, and several other real estate investor publications. Very interesting article from The Washington Post by author Robert Pinnegar. The article talks about COVID-19 and how every dollar of rent impacts our economy. If you have a few minutes to read we would highly encourage it. Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/11/long-term-impact-unpaid-rent/ Best, Sterling Properties Management Team A client recently asked me “Bjorn – We can’t get rid of a tenant anymore in Oregon, can we?”
This is a great question. One that the media has led many landlords in Oregon to assume is the truth. Although the recent overhaul of ORS 90 significantly impacted a landlord’s ability to terminate a tenancy there are still some circumstances where a landlord can terminate a tenancy. I found a recent publication by the Oregon State Bar – which indicates the opinion letter is intended to be legal advice! Why re-invent the wheel when we can look at the letter of the law explained by another lawyer. The Oregon State Bar response is below: Can a landlord terminate a month-to-month tenancy under SB 608? In most jurisdictions, a landlord can issue a written 30-day “no cause” eviction to month-to-month tenants during the first year of occupancy. In other jurisdictions, including Portland and Milwaukie, 90 days are required instead of 30. “First year of occupancy” means the first year of any tenant’s residency at a rental property with a month-to-month rental agreement. After the first year of occupancy, a landlord with month-to-month tenants can issue a 90-day termination notice if the landlord has a “qualifying landlord reason.” (See below for a discussion of qualifying landlord reasons.) If a landlord has a qualifying landlord reason justifying a 90-day termination notice, the landlord must: 1. Issue a termination notice that states the reason for the termination and supporting facts allowing termination; 2. State the rental agreement will terminate on a specified date at least 90 days later; and 3. Pay the tenant one month’s rent when the written termination notice is issued UNLESS the landlord has an ownership interest in four or fewer residential dwelling units anywhere (not just Oregon). Ownership interest includes being sole owner of a premises, a co-owner of a premises, or an owner of an LLC that owns real property. A landlord can also issue a “no cause” termination notice after the first year of occupancy if the landlord’s primary residence is in the same building or on the same premises as the tenant, and the building or premises only has one or two dwelling units. This could occur if a tenant lives in an ADU on the premises. In most jurisdictions this is a 60-day notice; in others, including Portland, Bend and Milwaukie, a 90-day notice is required. The timeline can be different when a property sale is involved, if: 1. The landlord has accepted an offer to sell a dwelling unit separately from any other unit; 2. The buyer is a person who intends in good faith to occupy the unit as the buyer’s primary residence; and 3. Within 120 days after accepting the purchase offer, the landlord provides the tenant with written notice of termination with a specific termination date and written evidence of the offer to purchase the dwelling unit. The time period for this type of notice is 30 days in most jurisdictions; it is 90 days in Milwaukie or Portland. Finally, a landlord can issue a written “for cause” termination notice at any time during the tenancy. Reasons for terminating a tenancy “for cause” include, but are not limited to: material breach of the rental agreement (ORS 90.392), failure to pay rent (ORS 90.394) and outrageous conduct. Isn’t it great to find resources out there that answer client’s question succinctly and eloquently!? Way to go Oregon State Bar. We appreciate your spot-on intel for us and help answering a straight forward question with a tricky answer! Stay diligent! Bjorn Hess, General Counsel
I was recently contacted by a client asking what we should do with a manufactured home located at one of the Parks we manage after a successful unlawful detainer hearing. Generally, I always encourage a landlord to conduct a lien sale and try to recoup some of their loss by selling the home to a new tenant who will then assume the responsibility of paying for restoration of the house. This is a great opportunity for a landlord to get out from under some bad debt and also get a new revenue stream in a new tenant! Mobile Home restoration and buying them at public auction can be an excellent way to make money – but let’s save that discussion for another blog post. In the event you have decided to conduct a landlord lien sale there are a number of steps you must take. First, you must provide the tenant with a copy of the notice of sale, return-receipt requested mailed as of the date of the letter. The landlord or their agent will need to visibly post a copy of the landlord lien letter to the mobile home located at the park. The date for the sale of the home must be indicated. At least one week prior to this date you must place an advertisement in the local paper for the area. The Camas Post Record is generally inexpensive – if you are in the Camas / Washougal area. I also suggest calling around to local newspapers to see who has the best rate. It may seem archaic – but you must publish a newspaper of general circulation. The listing must contain the make and model of the home, the location of the sale, and the date and time of the sale. Newspaper advertisement should read as follows: (MAKE & MODEL) Mobile Home for Sale-Public Auction-Lien Foreclosure, DATE at 9:00am, LOCATION. On the date advertised and provided in the Notice, you should conduct the public sale and sell the mobile home to the highest bidder. You may bid your lien amount at the public sale: include up to four (4) months rent and other charges owing under the rental agreement, plus all attorney’s fees, and other selling expenses. If a prospective buyer makes a sufficient bid, you should sell the mobile home to the buyer at the bid price. Any surplus must be returned to the tenant. Tenant is not liable for any deficiency under state law. Transfer of title to a mobile home purchased at a landlord lien sale is similar to transferring a title of a mobile purchased in any other manner. However, because the buyer at the landlord sale will not typically receive an original Certificate of Title, the DOL requires the completion of some additional forms. These forms include: Affidavit of Vehicle Sale Landlord Lien, Affidavit of Loss / Release of Interest, Vehicle Title Application, and the Mobile Home Real Estate Excise Tax Affidavit. Additionally, the DOL will need to be provided with the following:
To transfer title the buyer at the landlord’s sale must first pay all excise taxes and assure that property taxes are current. Once paid, the buyer can then present the above form to the DOL an request title of the mobile home be transferred to the buyer. That about sums it up if you are looking to sell a mobile home that you have either acquired due to landlord lien OR if the property was abandoned. In our next article we will discuss what to do in the event the home is abandoned and he landlord wants to remove it from the park. Stay diligent my friends! As always feel free to call me at Sterling Properties if you have any questions about the procedures outlined above.  Happy Halloween!! We hope everyone has a great time, please remember to stay safe and watch out for Goblins and Ghosts tonight! HABITABILITY – HOW LANDLORDS AND TENANTS WORK TOGETHER IN OREGON TO KEEP HOUSING SAFE – ORS 90.3201/31/2018 Click her As a homeowner the familiar blood curdling screech or chirp of a smoke alarm when its batteries run low almost always leads to the following order of events at my house: the smoke detector is ripped from the ceiling and set aside for the day until the batteries get replaced. But what does the law say about who has a responsibility to make sure smoke detectors are working properly and kept up to date in a rental housing context? Surprisingly, landlords and tenants share this responsibility in Oregon.
ORS 90 is the general term for the Oregon Landlord Tenant Act. This body of law works with other Oregon laws both at the State and Municipal level to insure that tenants have a place to live that is habitable. There are many duties of both landlords and tenants that can be easily overlooked but are essential to providing a habitable place for tenants / occupants to live! One of these is smoke detectors! First, upon move-in a landlord is required to furnish working smoke detectors in every rental unit in compliance with local building codes. Title 29 requires smoke detectors to be supplied and installed in all sleeping areas, in hallways adjacent to a sleeping area, and in each additional story of the rental where a habitable space is provided – this includes both basements and attics. Landlord is required to provide fresh new batteries for any battery operated smoke detector in the unit. The final duty of the landlord under ORS 90.320 is to replace any detector which is malfunctioning upon written request from a tenant! ORS 90.325 places a duty on the tenants and occupants of a rental home not to tamper with a functioning smoke detector. Also, tenants are required under law to check to make sure the smoke detectors are functioning every six months. Tenants are also obligated to replace the batteries in a smoke detector if the battery runs low. ORS 479.275 places the duty on a tenant to give written notice to a landlord for a non-working smoke detector to be replaced. Remember, this is a tenant obligation. Once a notice is received landlords should immediately respond and take appropriate action to make sure that the warrant of habitability is maintained in the rental housing context. Due to the broad nature of the content in our anticipated post to be released this week regarding Rule and Regulation changes to housing agreements in both multi-family and single-family housing in Oregon, we have instead elected to review what is expected of Landlords and Tenants in the context of Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors in rental housing. Stay tuned next week for our comprehensive review of Rule and Regulation changes under Oregon Law. Stay diligent! Many property owners have antiquated rules and regulations that govern the conduct of their tenants on their properties. It’s always a best practice to give your new tenants a copy of the R&R’s at lease signing and get a signed acknowledgement from them that they have reviewed and understand the rules. But what about tenants who have resided on your property for many years. Or what about multi-family housing with different anniversary dates for their lease signings. What about month-to-month leases? This article will explore a landlords’ obligation in Washington for these various situations. The best way to maintain a good relationship with your tenants is to make sure that all parties know what one another expect and conduct regular inspections of the properties.
Updating R&R’s in Washington – the month to month versus the annual lease. If your tenancy is governed by RCW 59.18 (Landlord Tenant Act) the law requires thirty days advanced notice of a Rule change prior to the end of lease term. If the tenants are on a month to month lease, the lease agreement renews every month – therefore a landlord can change the rules for the next month with at least thirty days’ notice. RCW 59.18.140 also enables landlords to increase rent with 30-day notice. Because Rent Control is illegal in Washington landlord can raise rent as often as they see fit, so long as they comply with proper notice requirements. Exceptions to this general rule do apply based on municipalities and other local ordinances (see City of Seattle). Tenants and landlords on an annual lease are provided a little more stability and protection than the month-to-month. One of the ideas behind an annual lease is that the landlord gets the peace of mind knowing they will have a long term stable tenant – don’t forget that Washington law requires a lease for a term of more than one year to be signed in front of a Notary Public. In the manufactured housing context, which is where we focus here at Sterling Properties Park Rules are always part of the written rental agreement. R&R’s renew automatically under RCW 59.20.060. Often the agreement for space rental will permit the Landlord to update their rules more frequently than once per year if the tenant is on an annual lease. Rule changes which relate to park rules about pets, children living with tenants, or recreational facilities may only go into effect after six months written notice of rule change in Washington. A landlord who desires to change a different rule that does not apply to the above protected areas does not have to give six months written notice. Tenants in manufactured housing communities in Washington are required to be offered an annual lease. In the event a Tenant signs a waiver of annual lease their tenancy will be month-to-month. In the event they are on a month to month lease rule changes would require at least 30 days notice, just like a standard single family home or apartment under the RLTA as described above. ORS 90 governs Landlord / Tenant relations and lays out the guidelines for a change to Rules and Regulations of properties within the State of Oregon. Stay tuned next week for an update on how to navigate rule changes for Oregon properties. Trust me, they are VERY different than Washington even though the two States are right next to door to each other. Stay diligent! -Bjorn Good morning from Sterling Properties Real Estate Services! We hope everyone had a relaxing long weekend celebrating Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr.! I was recently discussing some of the difficulties in tenant screening with a prospective client when it dawned on me that this is an issue I have heard about from landlords many times over the years as an attorney. Usually when a landlord comes to see me it is because they have a tenant who is either violating the rules stated in the Rules and Regulations / Lease Agreement for their rental property or a tenant has stopped paying rent. These are both headaches for landlords and navigating the complexities of RCW 59.18 / 59.20 or ORS 90 can give cause for a landlord to reach out to their attorney or property manager to discuss what steps to take to fix the problem. The best advice I can give to a landlord is to thoroughly screen any tenant who takes occupancy of their rental property. Usually by the time they contact me it’s too late and only legal action will be appropriate.
You need to make sure during tenant screening that if an application is denied it is done so for a proper reason. No landlord can discriminate or deny an application based on someone being a member of a protected class – race, sex, education, disability, etc. Some things that every landlord should know / review about a prospective tenant are as follows: 1. Criminal Background Check – before leasing space to anyone it is always prudent to do both a local and federal background check to see what if any criminal history a prospective tenant may have. Some crimes to watch out for would be any felony conviction, sex offenses, and any crime involving moral turpitude. Moral turpitude is lawyer talk for crimes of dishonesty – such as theft or burglary. Also, look for assault convictions or crimes of domestic violence. Although not necessarily a disqualifier a criminal conviction can give you some insight into the behaviors of a prospective tenant that has required attention of law enforcement! 2. Rental History – this seems like a no brainer. Has the tenant been a good resident wherever they are coming to you from? Check references and follow up with prior landlords to make sure you are not inheriting a difficult tenant. 3. Revolving Income – check to see if your prospective tenant is employed or if they have some sort of revolving income. This will prevent you from having to evict a tenant when the cannot make their second months rent! As a general rule you want your tenant to be making at least 2.5 to 3 times the rental amount in monthly income. Rent should never account for more than thirty-five percent of a person’s / household net take-home income. If you check this up front you will be able to rest assured that your tenant will have sufficient funds available to pay for their housing. 4. Credit Check – this will give you a good idea of whether the prospective tenant has good credit or are trustworthy to pay their financial obligations. Remember this is not an exhaustive list of things to look out for – just some pointers for those who are new to tenant screening or are considering renting a home or property to someone they don’t know anything about. We suggest at a minimum taking these items into consideration when leasing a space to a prospective tenant. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the tenant screening process and I’d be happy to discuss them with you! Or if you own a rental property and are doing your best to get it leased and are ready to no longer have the headache of managing your own property – give us a call! Stay diligent! -Bjorn |
Welcome to Sterling Properties' Blog
We use our Blog to share and post important market related trends and information. Archives
January 2022
|
||||||||||||
RSS Feed