A landlord has a general duty to take reasonable care in providing a safe living environment for his or her tenants. As part of this general duty a landlord must protect tenants from foreseeable harm perpetrated by other tenants. This implies that a landlord may also have a duty to screen potential tenants to determine…
Attention to the items listed below has proven to be effective in reducing the potential for a loss or mitigate the cost of a loss, should there be an occurrence.
It is my firm belief that do-it-yourself investors should learn everything they can about the many different ways to make profits with real estate. I don’t believe you can reach our maximum potential as an investor until you learn to do many things well. These include buying single-family houses, foreclosure properties, run down apartments, options,…
There has been and will continue to be much ado about immigration. The rights of immigrants both documented and undocumented will continue to be in the news. What implications does all of this have for landlords? Can an undocumented immigrant legally rent property in the United States? What’s your liability if you rent to someone…
Compliance with fair housing laws has always been tricky, but recent changes in immigration policy have created new stumbling blocks for those who want to avoid national origin discrimination claims.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) affirmed by The Supreme Court includes certain income tax provisions to help pay for what has become known as Obamacare. With the Supreme Court upholding the ACA as constitutional, all the provisions within the law now come into effect, one being the 3.8 percentage surtax on investment…
Income Taxes The most important positive for living in your own apartment building is that there will no longer be taxable rental income on the income tax return of the owner for the unit occupied by the owner. On the owner’s income tax return the taxable rental income would decline which might enable the taxpayer…
This article is reprinted here with permission from Creative Real Estate Online at http://www.creonline.com. The top three items that get small-to-medium scale real estate investors in hot water are: 1. Contract Disputes 2. Negligence 3. Deceptive & Unfair Business Practices
Audit. It’s the word most real estate investors dread. But that is precisely what could happen as part of a “sweep” the IRS is conducting across the U.S. that calls into question deductions real estate investors have routinely been taking for years. As real estate investors are aware, Congress allows deductions pertaining to the operation…
Is Mold Testing Really Necessary? In most cases, if visible mold is present, paying hundreds of dollars for mold testing is a completely unnecessary expense. A visual inspection and a little common sense will typically serve as the best indicator of a mold problem because most people know what mold looks and smells like. The…