The members of the Alam¬eda County Grand jury serve as watchdogs to the city, county and district operations. They investigate complaints and inquire into pub¬lic offenses submitted to them throughout the year. Recently, the grand jury sub¬mitted their 2011-2012 final re¬port to the Superior Court. This report contains a detailed ac¬count of its activities, together…
DetailsA 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…
DetailsAttention 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,…
DetailsThere 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…
DetailsCompliance 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.
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsIncome 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…
DetailsThis 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
DetailsAudit. 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…
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