Eviction Q&A: Real Talk for Women Building Wealth Through Rentals | Titan Impact Group

Okay, so welcome everyone. Super excited about the Q and A. Follow up from our conversation on Tuesday about probably my least favorite subject, which is addictions of any kind. Like, nobody likes to do any of this. However, there are things that you can do, obviously to protect yourself, but. But in this process, there's things you can do to protect yourself. So Ashley and Michael, super, super excited that you guys have. I'm not sure if mastered is it, but definitely navigated through it in a way that, yeah, just this is not a fun thing to do. And so having you come on and just do Q and A. And obviously the thing that I love about this is like, I know, like me, like other people, there's questions that we have, but I don't actually know what questions I should be asking. So I know you guys have got some predetermined questions that you already. People already give you, which I think are brilliant because I feel like the better the question, the better the outcome. Right. And so you guys. Absolutely, really great questions. So let's go ahead and jump in to the Q and A and the questions that you guys usually get around all of this.

All right, great. And I just a time check I wanted to verify. This is roughly a 20 minute session or how long do we have?

However long you need.

Okay, perfect. All right, good. I just want to respect everybody's time. So thanks again for having us, Katherine, and thank you again for everybody participating for the Q and A session. Just a little bit for those that missed it for the other session, we like to tell a little bit about ourselves and how things started. I got started in real estate. Really? Back when I got divorced. They always say something critical that happens in your life, something catastrophic that happens in your life. One door closes and multiple doors open. Well, there you go. So I got divorced in February. And in March, a buddy of mine said, hey, there's a Robert Kiyosaki Rich dad, Poor dad seminar in town. You want to come see it? Well, I was freaking out because Ashley and her brother moved in with me. I took responsibility for them, took all the debts, had maintenance payments, all that stuff. And I was freaking out. I had a software company that was brand new, and so I was freaking out and I wanted additional streams of revenue. And I know Kathryn's very big about multiple streams of revenue and making sure you have that covered. So that was my goal fundamentally. And so I went to the seminar, so saw all the different streams of revenue that you can do just within real estate alone and just dove in. I literally just started doing it, in addition to my day job, did all this other stuff. So I've tried wholesaling, single family, multifamily, lease options, fix and flips. You name it, I've tried it and settled in on a few that really seemed to work. And so during our journey, I basically started doing the management myself, which is what they tell you not to do, by the way. And. But then we, as it scaled, I couldn't do it by myself anymore. I talked to Ashley and said, hey, let's go make this happen again. They talked about catastrophic things happening in our lives. So my son, Ashley's brother Brandon, who was corporal in the Marine Corps, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. So needless to say, that was a catastrophic thing that totally made us recalibrate everything that we're doing in life, let alone business and all that. And so what we really wanted to do was then take that and turn something, I always say, turn something crappy into something that's positive. And so what we want to do is pay it forward to people so that they can start above where I did, where we did in our journey out with the real estate and be able to protect that legacy. We've also started a foundation in his honor and so we've got bigger visions with that as well. But the, the whole mission and values that we've come to embrace these days was really transformed by that event. Ashley came on, we decided to do this ourselves because I didn't like what I saw out there in terms of property management. And I really wanted to create a company that was fundamentally a concierge based company, if you will, really giving me as an investor what I wanted and needed. And so that's what we're all about. That's what we started now. It's really about creating that legacy, not just for us and for keeping Brandon and his buddies names alive forever, but also helping other people on their journey as well. So that's what we're all about.

And if you can start in a better place than even where we started back, you know, way back when, it, it really just helps catapult your own mission and your own legacy. And really with your rentals, you know, I wish that somebody would have given me just even this, what you're going to get today, that would have been wonderful. So we're going to make, basically make that happen today. But the mission is really to help you guys avoid those common mistakes, help you guys start out in a way better spot so you don't have to go through all those bumpy parts. You don't have to go, oh my gosh, why didn't somebody say this? This should be a common thing we speak about. And evictions is just one of those. So that's where we're here today.

That's why we're here. Real quick recap. In terms of what we talked about last week, we're not going to walk through each of these, but this is just an over view of why you get to the point where you need to do an eviction. I mean, the tenant screening piece that we did last week was fundamentally the thing that when you are successful with that, you avoid this situation. But these are the steps, not in addition, in addition to screening thoroughly, but also the other steps that you need to do to make sure that in the unlikely, an unfortunate event of an eviction that you actually have all your ducks in a row. Yeah.

If you're playing the game, these are the rules of the game. This is why. I knew you would love that, Catherine. I threw that in there just for you. I was like, these are, these are the rules of the game.

Right.

So what?

We had a Monopoly analogy last week and it was great. Earlier this week. I, I don't remember. Yeah, Whatever week we're in. And it's true, you, whatever game you're playing, whether it's Monopoly or whatever, it's just, you know, you play to win, you know the rules. And so within the rules, you play to win.

You don't fight them, you don't get mad at them. Just those are the rules. Play when those are the rules.

Play to win.

Yep.

That's just recapping those five rules that'll help you play to win.

All right, so jumping into the meat, what you're going to see here is these are organized into just categories. Categories. We're not going to walk through the each question in order as you see it on screen, but instead we have them, you know, just separately. All of them are identified here on screen that we're going to talk about. There's 32 total. And they, they involve everything from legal safety and documentation needs, those special circumstances that always come up, and then also just making sure that you have those boundaries set with your tenants and making sure that everything is protected and in place there as well.

Yeah, these are the top questions that we've collected that we have gotten from landlords that just. These keep coming up recurring. Recurring. So I feel like these are ones that we should absolutely cover no matter what. 32, that's quite a hefty amount but we're going to go for it and get you guys some really, really just good information. Always double check things with an attorney, your state property attorney, whoever you're working with, your team, make sure you vet everything. Every state's different in terms of their legal requirements, documentation, eviction processes, timelines, things like that. So double check with an attorney. But we are going to dive right in. I'm super excited with these questions.

First time I've ever seen anybody excited about evictions.

I am.

If you had caffeine today.

I did.

That's an advance, just right there.

So I'm like, I'm ready to go. I love it, I love it. So a couple questions like just to start off with, so when can I legally post an eviction notice? In Colorado you gotta wait the grace period. Right. And so based on your state and what's listed in your lease and your state law. So for example, in Colorado rent isn't considered late right. Until the 9th. So it's going to be different in Florida, it's going to be different. In New York, it's going to be different in any state. So that piece is already going to be pre vetted in your lease. You're going to have rents due by the first, but it's considered late on X date. So after that X date happens, that's when you're actually legally able to post a notice. Right, Makes sense. And so double check. This is why this is important. You're going to need to use state specific forms as well and you're going to need to make sure that your lease corresponds to what you're actually doing in real time with demand notices.

Absolutely. Yeah. So I'm a, I'm an engineer. My background is engineering, so I love processes and I love spreadsheets, of course. And specifically for each state that you're in, and actually even potentially which county you are in within a given state, the playbook is a little bit different. So again we talked about the rules of the game and so making sure critical, we talked about it earlier this week at the earlier session. But making sure that you have a playbook, if you will, that says if this happened, then this, if this happens, then this. So as Ashley just talked about, if the timeline for rent being due is passed, then immediately you kick in to the next phase of that. And so it's really critical you hit these timelines and don't just hit the, hit the timelines. Trust me on that one.

Next common question I get is do I need an attorney to file an Eviction, it's highly recommended. And it's highly recommended for a few reasons. Right. I just went into a couple in the last question. Like there's specific documentation, there's specific timelines. The attorneys already know that. So if you have a professional on your team that you're going to and using, they're already going to be able to give you that information. They already know what they're doing. You're not having to try to figure it out on your own. Likewise, you can do it on your own. It just opens you up to a little bit more risk if you don't understand or know what you need to be doing. There's complex rules there. Likewise, if you have an llc. See, some states require legal representation. So, yeah, something to pay attention to when it comes to filing an eviction.

So what if a tenant pays? This is one of the other questions. What if a tenant pays or tells you that they will pay next week? What do you do? How do you handle that?

Hope is not a strategy. Hope is not a strategy. If it is something where, and this could be a case by case basis, right? Like let's say you have a tenant that's been in there for five, six years, really great tenant life happens. You want to work with them. Absolutely wonderful. You find a way to make that happen. That's actually going to work. If this, if we're talking about a situation that's completely the opposite and we have a repeat offender and there's, you know, consistently late, that's just not working out well. And you have somebody that is consistently saying, I want to set up a payment plan or I want to do that, but they're never actually following that. That's probably something that you're going to want to post a notice immediately. Either way, post first, have a conversation that says, listen, these are the rules of the game. This is what's going to happen regardless. If you pay within that timeframe, great. If we set up a payment plan and it's consistent and it stays and everybody's good, Everybody's good, you know, but have, have a conversation. There could be different situations where you encounter that. Those are two, two great ones that you're probably gonna see.

But communicate, communicate, communicate and document, by the way, all your communication, whether it's voice, text, email, whatever it is, make sure you're documenting what it is, when it is, and how it was done. That way you are covered. If in the, again, the unfortunate circumstance where you have to go down this path that you have all your ducks in a Row and you've hit your timelines and everything will go accordingly. Do the rules.

Yeah, same thing with the payment plan. You're not going to have that in a text message. You're going to have an actual document that they fill out and you agree to together. That makes sense and works. Right. Next one is, what if my tenant pays? Oh, wait, no, that was. You just went into that one. Let's see, can I evict for reasons other than unpaid rent? Yes. This is your lease violations. This is like unauthorized tenants. We've got a breeding facility happening in the unit. You know, crazy things like that, obviously, threats, anything illegal, this is going to go all into your lease. And now you just need to make sure you use the proper notice when you're actually posting these. So this is going to be more of compliance issues. Right. Compliance issues tied to your lease agreement. So they're not complying with a certain section of the lease that indicates they need to be doing this and instead they're doing this.

By the way, when she says they have a breeding situation going on, what we mean by that is we had a situation where there was a dog breeding situation literally happening. So I just thought I'd clarify that one.

And the best part is, so everything was resolved very easily. But the key note on how this actually came about was actually communication with another tenant.

Yes.

So if you have great relationships with your tenants in multifamily single family situations, with neighbors, things like that, they're going to tell you when things are going on.

Yeah.

Because if you're not living on site, it's pretty great to have other people that say, hey, by the way, this happened. And you're like, I should do a walkthrough. You're right.

And that sense of community is huge. I know there's a whole so many small aspects to property management that all add up, and some of them may seem insignificant at the time. But again, this communication, the sense of community, the sense of where your tenants trust you and will share things like that with you, are huge.

Next question we get is, can I deny a lease renewal without giving a reason? Yes. In most states, be very careful when it comes to just cause jurisdiction. So Colorado has just cause, which means you cannot non renew someone's lease without one of six reasons. It has to be one of those six reasons, period. If not, they're continuing to rent your property.

And I think New York's in California are even worse than that.

It.

Yeah, they're. So it's called just cause. Those are going to Be, you know, an attorney or your attorney is going to know this. Your local ordinances, you can check with those too to find out if you're in a just cause state. But those are going to be great to know ahead of time. So that way you can know, you know, this just ties into the screening if something goes wrong. What are the rules of the game to be able to move on from here?

Absolutely. And this is kind of what we refer to as a soft eviction, if you will, because you're, you're not really evicting the current tenant, but you're non renewing their lease. So that's why it ties into this whole conversation. And so the rules of the game again have changed with that particular situation. And so it's absolutely worth pointing out and making sure people are aware that you can't just like in the old days, simply say, well, we're not renewing your lease and that's it. No reason given. Now in many states you have to provide a rationale.

Yep. Next question is can I raise rent mid lease? So no is usually the answer here unless it's specifically indicates it under certain conditions, you got to wait until the lease term ends to be able to actually do that. In Colorado in particular, you have to, you can only raise it. There's a capped amount that you can raise it per year and everything runs through. So same thing with housing assistance programs. Usually they run on a 12 month cycle. There's a period in advance that you need to notify them of any rent increases, things like that. So just be aware of those.

One of the things that becomes an issue or can become an issue during an eviction and even outside of an eviction is damage to the property. And so one of the questions that we get is related to damage to the property in an eviction. Part of it again is making sure that as you walk through this process and you share openly the situation in terms of what is going to happen in the process for things that are happening, if the, if the tenant feels like they're at least part of the solution or being worked with in a reasonable manner, then they're less likely to do damage in the first place. We also have assistance programs that we can refer them to to potentially help them in their time of need and in their particular situation that they're in. And so there are ways to make sure that it's a situation where you're working together and not against each other. And so this, this next question with respect to damaging damage of a property becomes less of an issue in that case.

Yeah, exactly. So documenting damages, right. This is where I always suggest completing walkthroughs and completing them regularly, whether that be quarterly, semiannually. But just get into your property. If you're not doing it, have somebody else do it that knows what they're doing. Photos, you know, tenant inspections. Even if they're providing photos and documentation of what the property actually looks like, those are going to be helpful to prevent any tenant damage. In addition, it just gets you eyes on your property because a year is a long time. A lot of things can happen, a lot of things can change. So if you're in there a lot, they know your presence and it prevents a lot of issues.

Absolutely.

Really, really easy fix for that one.

So there's another question we get a lot asking. Can you describe the difference between a notice to quit and a demand for payment? Those are often confused in terms of what they're for and how that works.

A notice to quit is trying to terminate your tenancy, usually for violations. So repeat violations, anything like that, a demand notice or notice, a demand notice for rent, anything like that. That is just requesting, giving you a time period of saying that this is what's past due, this is what's owed, this is the amount of time you have to pay it before we take additional legal action in which you can incur. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

So it spells out the rules for them. Again, this is part of that communication, but it's a formal way. It's a formal document that's recognized, I believe nationwide. Actually that is something formally where you tell them what the rules are and this is the situation that they're in and these are their choices.

And every state's going to have a different looking one, different timelines. Just once again double check those, verify those so you make sure you get the right ones. Can I accept partial payment? Yes. But just remember from our we talked about this on Tuesday, that can restart the clock. So you would have to repost anything you collect. You're reposting a demand notice if they still owe and it does reset that time frame to start. So like I mentioned, in Colorado we've got a 10 day demand that would restart that 10 day period, which means on the 11th day from there. So just keep that in mind. If you are accepting partial payments, it does reset that clock.

Absolutely. And that's where if you had a payment plan put in place, again, it's another contract in place essentially that goes along with the lease that also has stipulations for the Payment plan that you have in place for that?

Yep.

So what if a tenant moved in a partner without telling me? Well, it's a lease violation. Right. If it goes against your lease and somebody else is living there, that's technically an unauthorized tenant or occupant. So then you're going to want to post that compliance notice that says hey, we don't know who this person is. If they are going to be staying there, they need to fill out an application. You know, if they're over 18, all that stuff.

Absolutely. During the eviction process, you know, obviously it's not a comfort comfortable situation for either side. And so one of the questions that we also get is what if they feel unsafe going to the property? So how do we handle that?

This is, this is sad to hear and I never like hearing that. But also this is like you're probably never going to encounter this if you're buying an asset in location, location, location. Right.

Yes.

This is, this is not going to be something that hopefully you ever have to face. But if you ever feel unsafe, you have every right to call law enforcement, have them go with you to a physical location. But like I said, I, in all the time that I've done this, I have not had that occur yet. But that's great.

And as far as the next question that we get, it's related actually to a previous one. It says do it but do I have to renew the lease? This is similar to the one that, where a notice of non renewal and ties directly with that. So do you have anything to add on that?

Yeah, no. So you don't have to. But just make sure that you're not in a just cause a rent controlled state. So those two are the big ones there. It just depends on really where you're located that that matters.

Other things that go along with this whole getting into an eviction is obviously they're generally late on a rent payment and so associated with a late, with a late payment is a late fee. And so people ask questions about, well, you know, per the lease I have in there that there's a late fee. But they're really nice people and, and can I waive the late fee and will that get me in trouble or is that a good thing?

So this kind of ties into. Okay, you may have case by case basis. Right. But make sure you're consistent. Right. You don't want to basically undermine your lease.

Yes.

And your enforcement of your lease by accepting a waiver of the late fees every time or if they, if you're not consistent with it. And they're like, oh, they'll do it anyway this time so I can be late. It just kind of starts to undermine that lease and that, that ability to, to maintain control. So play the game, play it in.

Play it twin, play with the rules and play to win. And oftentimes during this process as well, a tenant will ghost you. You know, you'll leave messages, you'll try to contact them, find out on what's going the situation and they will not respond. And they will, they will basically ghost you. Even the whole posting process related to that as well. Florida's got some strange or different rules than Colorado for that as well, where you have to at least try twice. So again, can you provide some additional detail?

I feel like the abandoned one, abandoned property. Nobody ever really talks about this on. At least I haven't heard too much people, too many people talk about this one. And I've got a funny story with this. This was way back when and we started, we managed this single family property, this great couple. They were, we didn't know they were on vacation. And so we're reaching out to them, we're contacting them, the rent slate, you know, notices posted, time goes by, we're like, what's going on? Well, everything gets sent, everything's processing, right. Because it's still following this time frame. We get a mass panic call from the gal one day and she's like, what? She's like, we got married, we were on our honeymoon, we had totally forgotten about paying the rent. All of this happened. So it's in the lease and it states very clearly that if you're out of town or anything like that for X number of days, you need to notify us. Because then at least if we had had context around why they weren't responding, it would have been a way different situation, right?

Absolutely.

Even then there would have been the reach out, there would have been things like that, things. I still followed that process but it would have been a little bit different. So obviously everything got rectified, everything was fine. But that's just one more funny stories that I have to tell. And obviously that wasn't a great way for them to come back from their honeymoon. But we made it. Yeah, we made it, right? Everything was good with them, they were happy. And from there on it was just another important reason why hey, that, that should be there, you know. So talk to your legal counsel about abandonment. You know, what does it state in your lease that if you haven't heard from somebody, when can you Go and do a wellness check on the property. If you're concerned, if things are, you know, what kind of notice do you need to give them in writing before you go do that? What does that look like? Those are all going to be things that are going to be great to have in your lease, because if somebody does abandon the property, you don't want it just sitting there, not doing anything. You want to be able to find out truly what condition it's in and get things moving again.

Another question we get a lot of times is, do I have to go to court? You know, does this process really have to go all the way to where it gets to court? And I mean, the short answer is, no, it doesn't have to go all the way because they're, I mean, one they can during that period to cure, they could actually take care of it. And within the late fee period or within the posting period, they have so much time to cure their debt. So they could take care of it in that sense. However, if they don't, if they don't, again, following the rules, it does go to court.

Yeah, it does, it does, unfortunately. So. And that's just to regain the possession. Right. Because the court's going to be the one that actually says, okay, does this pass back to the owner or does it not?

So, which is why it's critical to have all of your documentation and everything in place so that when you do go to court, and usually with your council representative there as well, it's oftentimes a very, very, very quick meeting. Like, I think I haven't done very many of these, luckily, because thank goodness we haven't had that situation. But I had, like, one. It was literally like five minutes, so. Wow. Yeah. Very, very short. You're in. They present it and they're like, well, this is pretty cut and dried, so.

And why is it cut and dry? Because the documentation.

Yes.

If everything's pretty standard, you show, you know, tenant ledgers, leases, you know, demand notices, and they can literally just within. Okay, this is the dots.

Got it.

Yep. This is what happened.

The next one pulls on your heartstrings a little bit because again, we talked before about it's not emotion, it's just business. And again, you are. This is an asset for your legacy and for your income. And so you want to make sure and treat it as such. But one of the questions we. We've gotten is, what if the tenant is pregnant, has kids? Again, pulling on your emotional heartstrings.

Yeah. And hopefully that's not the case. But if this does happen. Right, because life does happen sometimes and it's not, it's not always the prettiest in that, in that aspect. But there are homeless prevention programs as well that will prevent, even if they are in a position where they're no longer going to be housed by you, there are other programs out there each state. We'll have more information on what those look like. Those are absolute resources that you can put into your playbook, just like your rent assistance programs. Those should be other ones as well that you can direct to be able to at least say, okay, you know, you can't rent here anymore, but this is something else that you can do. Absolutely.

Another one, everybody. When, when people are put in a situation that's uncomfortable for them, such as an eviction, they often lash out in ways or try to use the system or the other rules that are out there against you. And so one of the questions we've gotten is what if tenant accuses you of discrimination? That seems to be a popular one these days. And so how is that handled?

Document everything, respond with facts. It's not a motion. As much as we don't like, nobody likes being called anything or saying there's something when they're not. Right, Right. Just document everything, Keep everything non emotional, keep it factual. That's going to be your protection. If you do that consistently, you're going to be fine.

We had one case where we looked and somebody had a lease in place, but they had put this lease in place themselves. They downloaded something and it was not really vetted through an attorney. And they said, well, I've got a situation that my lease, especially because of legislation changes. You see this happen as well. But also my lease no longer matches state law. What, what takes precedent there?

State law, state law, State law. Don't download anything from the Internet or try to get chat GPT to write it. I, I'm just gonna say suggest you reach out to your attorneys, have them pre vet your leases. They're going to make sure all the proper language is in there, all your compliance information. They're going to make sure the language is properly written, they're going to make sure that it's enforceable. And so you can start with a template, but hand it to an attorney, let them know what you're trying to do. Same thing with addendums. I see this one way more than I feel like you should. But where landlords will create, they'll have an attorney vetted lease, but then they'll create their own addendums. So like landlord house rules, for example. Not that I've seen this one so much, but this one. And they won't have the attorneys pre vet that one, but they'll have things in it. It's part of the lease. It's an addendum. Have it all run through an attorney. Make sure all of that language, everything covers you. You can give it. You don't have everything you want in there, give it to an attorney. Attorney's going to tell you. Great. Yes. No, awesome. Here you go.

Because especially if they, if one follows state law, the other doesn't and it ends up going to court, that. Yeah, the court's going to look at it and go, well, wait a minute, this, this is inconsistent. And they could throw it out because they could tie the whole thing together because the addendum is a part of the lease and say, well, your lease is invalid and so you would lose.

Yeah, exactly. You don't want to be posting notices on invalid, unenforceable addendums or police information.

All right, another one. What if, can I, can I evict someone during the winter? What if it's winter, it's cold out. Again, this is pulling on the heartstring aspect of things, but it's an unfortunate reality that this could happen, especially in. Not Florida, but here.

Yeah.

There's no seasonal protection that I've heard of in most states. So double check with your attorneys, but I haven't encountered that one. We're in Colorado. It's changes consistently. It's moody on a day, day to day basis here.

Exactly. Another one. What if the tenant threatens me? This again goes into that safety aspect that we touched on earlier. But another, you know, very specific piece.

Associated with that document. Everything. If you do feel in danger, I file a police report. Right. I mean, reach out to local law enforcement. That's what they're there for. And document everything for sure. Make sure. And then you, obviously, if that's occurring, you have the right to start the eviction process from there.

And in terms of legal fees, we have questions about what can be charged, what cannot be charged back and making sure that your lease has what can be charged documented in it and making sure that the. Whether the court approves any attorney fees, again, if it's stipulated in the lease as well, that can also be charged back. One thing that we have been actually successful for, even with the occasional eviction, is going back and collecting those fees later.

There's the attorney's fees clause in your lease. Right. Have an attorney pre draft it and it Specifically indicates that you're allowed to do that. If it's in your lease and it's clear and you've gone through the lease with your tenant and they're well aware of it, that's something that you can definitely go back for the. And this is true in Colorado, like with processor fees, too. So for posting a demand notice, if you're having processor, do those. You can charge those back as well. But it has to be written and it has to be part of your lease. And as long as it is, you're great.

Yes, absolutely. One question that we get is with respect to subsidized housing. So section 8 as an example question is, can I EVICT A Section 8 tenant?

This one's tricky. So, yes. Right. If they're not playing by the rules of the game. So yes is the answer. In Colorado, we're required to actually, before you post a demand, you're required to go and actually try to participate in mediation with that tenant first. So you're required to send them written notification that you want to go to mediation. If they don't respond or deny going, then you can post that demand notice and follow through with the regular process process. Obviously, you want to notify housing that this is what's happening with their voucher recipient. At the same time, usually you have that technician's contact information. If you don't, make sure you do and you document it. But yeah, absolutely. You're. You're allowed. If they're not following the lease and the guidelines, there just might be state, by state regulations on how you go about it.

Right. And there's additional rules, just the whole HUD, the section 8 rules themselves. So again, you have to follow those where you go to the mediation first as opposed to the posting part first. But again, that's something you should have in your playbook already so that you know based on the timelines, what needs to happen when.

Yep. Next one we've got is what tools make this easier recipient. At the same time, usually you have that technician's contact information. If you don't, make sure you do and you document it. But yeah, absolutely. You're. You're allowed if they're not following the lease and the guidelines, there just might be state by state regulations on how you go about it.

Right. And there's additional rules, just the whole HUD, the section 8 rules themselves. So again, you have to follow those or you go to the mediation first as opposed to the posting part. But again, that's something you should have in your playbook. Already so that you know, based on the timelines, what needs to happen when.

Yeah. Next one we've got is what tools make this easier. If you're using a property management software, there's. We use appfolio, there's a bunch of them out there, you name it. But anything that's going to be. It shows when rent is coming in. Right. When you're collecting rent, when those payments are coming in, it's helping you automate the information. Because otherwise the biggest question is how are you producing that documentation when you need it? Are you physically using paper? Are you writing this all down? How. Yeah, how are you. How are you remembering this information? If you're using a software that tracks it for you, it is way easier. You can automatically see what time frame, you know, timestamped, what happened when through that whole process to be able to provide that documentation you need. So, so rent ready Buildium, Appfolio. There's a ton. But they. Those are just some of the few. They'll do rent tracking. They'll actually offer different payment methods too. So you're not going. And physically picking up a check, which is always really helpful. And they're online. So everybody loves online these days.

Absolutely. Makes it easier, makes it easy. And the, the question that I'm. It is a question, believe it or not, but it's the ostrich approach. What if, if I do nothing, what's the worst thing that could happen? It's not good.

No. If you do nothing, you know, loss of rent, property damage, legal risk, among other things.

Right.

It just. You want to be taking action. It's just knowing what action you can take and should take. Right. So this is where you're going to be double checking with your attorneys, what your situation looks like. Like, hopefully you can avoid the entire thing. And you watch our tenant screening and you're like, oh my gosh, my tenant's amazing. We're going for coffee next week.

Exactly. So there's only seven questions left. The one of them that we actually get an awful lot with landlords is can I change the locks after I serve the notice or if I can't, you know, get a hold of them and they're not responsive. Can I just go change the locks?

And that's a no, no, no, you can't. So don't do that. That's a big no.

No.

And that'll reverse, like everything you've done. Just so you know, that's when a tenant can come back on you for a lot of things. So don't do that. You're going to want to go through the process as, you know, potentially long it is and, and, and, and tedious. Go through the process when the court says you've got possession or, you know, hopefully you don't have to go to the physical eviction, but if you do, that's the moment you regain possession. You're not going before that. And like when they're out at the grocery store changing the locks and you know, creating this entire craziness, that will not go well. It will not. So just go through the process. They will notify you when it's okay. This is yours now. You're good to go.

This next one is again based on whether the tenant has a disability or mental health concern associated with it. And is it still okay or are there different steps that should be taken in the event that you have to evict someone in this situation?

Yeah, so this one, you know, you just want to tread carefully, right. Because you've got federal fair housing laws that, that's protecting classes. You've got all this different stuff happening. This is why it's so great to have an attorney. I keep bringing it up, but I'm telling you, you're just going to want to make sure that you proceed in a way that's an interactive process that follows the steps start to finish. So yes, you can evict them, but yes, there might be specific modifications to that process that you have to take in order to do so. You want to make sure everything's transparent in writing, documented and no emotion, right?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

The variation that we're going to talk about next is a month to month lease. This is where literally the lease goes month to month. There's no long term lease in place and can I evict them at the end of the month, you know, with. Without a reason. So this kind of goes to the previous ones where you're not going to renew a long term lease, but this is specific to month to month.

And so yeah, you're absolutely able to do the month to month. But this is once again ties back to the just cause ordinances. Make sure you're not in a just cause state. If you're not in a just cause state, then you absolutely have every right to post a notice to terminate. Usually those are 30 to 60 days and then they have to vacate.

So question that we've received is what if the tenant leaves belongings behind, whether it's furniture or clothing or what if they leave whatever it is behind? What are the rules associated with that?

Yeah. So I get this question even from. I've had this come up a couple times from landlords that have. There's one gal in particular I remember, and she had gone through an eviction, and they were at the point where they were going to start doing the physical eviction because they weren't out yet. And she called me and she's like, I don't understand what to do with this stuff. And so the question becomes, okay, what do we do with it after we've actually completed the physical eviction? Or if it's not even an eviction, they vacated and they just left stuff. If they've left stuff and it's not an eviction and it's the end of their lease term, well, then that's probably considered abandoned. Right. So you can remove that, but if it's a part of an eviction, you actually can't remove it. They say reasonable time frame. That's what most states say. Some states may be different, so double check that. But Colorado in particular. Yep. And check your counties. Colorado in particular says a reasonable amount of time. Well, what is considered a reasonable amount of time? 24, 48 hours, usually.

And that's where you confirm that with your attorney.

Double check that. But that's what we found to be the reasonable amount of time. From there, they have the ability to come collect anything they need. After that period ends, then you're able to go and remove any other belongings from the property.

So.

So you have to, like, leave. You have to leave. Like, you can't even touch the belongings. Just.

You can't even touch it. And you actually have to leave it out front in a designated space that's accessible. So it can be in front of a building in a parking space. It depends on where it is. So it may be unsightly. Right. But for that reasonable amount of time, you're. You're playing within those rules.

So you could like. Okay, so that means if it's left out front, that means anybody could come and take it, right?

Yes, yes. And so that's part of the thing. Again, they need to know these rules. It's all part of the rule set that's out there that if it goes to this. So again, that needs to have a conversation. Needs to be part of the conversation. That.

Yeah. There's usually no notice when a sheriff shows up.

Right.

Like the.

It.

From. From our experience, the sheriff will come to the door and say, okay, this is it. It doesn't matter if you're in the middle of eating lunch or whatever the case you grab what you can carry and that's it. And then they allow the, whoever's actually completing that eviction to go in and start removing belongings. So know it's not a good situation for, for tenants to be in and that communication ahead of time if they are aware of what that really looks like. Usually if you have, if you post a demand notice, you know, it's an attorney formatted document. So it's terrifying in itself. You post it on somebody's door and. Or they get it in person and they're like, oh my gosh, yeah, no, this is not what I want to go down at all. And usually they rectify that situation long you have to do any eviction.

And by the way, we talked about already the assistance programs that are out there, there are other ways to also avoid eviction. And that's a different session, different thing. I'll just throw this little tidbit in there. I've actually rented a moving truck for a person and said this will happen if you get your stuff out and you're out. And lo and behold, they were gone. I avoided the whole eviction process and done deal. So there are ways to avoid this that are a little cleaner. They're not. There's. Some of them are a little bit out of the box. I may have some others as well. But again, there's, there's things that can, can happen to avoid that situation with your belongings sitting in the parking lot somewhere.

Yeah, right.

Nobody wants that. Well, and it's on their record. Right. It follows them.

Yeah.

So the next person, when you're doing that tenant screening or you, you know, it's going to show up on their record that they had to do a, you know, forcible detainer or anything like that to actually retain. Get possession of the property back.

Yeah. So one that people ask is, well, what, what can. From a landlord's perspective, what can I actually include as charges associated with this eviction process and what else can I put on there? And I put emotional distress or lost income in my eviction filings.

No, not, not that I'm aware of. Check with your attorney. But usually those are just for past due. Rent, utilities, things that are strictly in your lease agreement that are charged to specifically from the lease to the tenant each month.

Yeah.

So I remember the. One of the very first things I ever learned about real estate investing is a little saying and it says tenants is the penance you pay for being a real estate investor. So that's funny.

That is.

That's awesome.

Yeah, there's. There's a lot of stories, there's a lot of lessons learned, which is partly why we're doing all this as well. Is to make sure people are learning from our experiences, from other people's experiences, and truly paying it forward such that they can avoid these things in the first place.

Right. And I just want to add in here, like again, listen, I don't want to scare everybody away from doing this and I want you to be really clear like if you want to be a buy and hold investor, there's companies like you. Like, again, I talk about who, not how. The book by Dan Sullivan, you guys, your company is a who that knows how to actually deal with all of this. Right. And pennies compared to the mental anguish for people like me that are like, I want the investment, I want all the things, but I need somebody else to handle all that. So I just want to clear, like if you want to go through all this, that's awesome.

And don't.

But you still want the benefit from the investment. You are a who that knows how to manage all this. So that. But as an investor, we can still get the benefit of being a binance investor.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's exactly why we did the course is because we're teaching you exactly what we do on a day to day basis so you can go and implement it. Likewise, if you don't want to do that and you want to hit the easy button. There you go.

We'd like to create a community that people can be a part of. That way they can work together and also help each other out as well. So in addition to the coursework people are going through that they have their own unique situation gives them the ability to sound off with other people and provide that, that experience and that feedback. Last question, last. How long does the average eviction take to fully complete?

Depends on your state. Double check with your attorneys. But usually 30 to 90 days. Right. Depends on where you're located, depends on what's happening in that time frame. Colorado is now 45 to 60 days depending on what happens in that time frame.

But you have to hit your timeline. So that is the key part. Again, following the rules, making sure you are hitting your timelines when they're required, then that is the key to keeping those timelines as short as possible.

Yeah, those are, this is referencing. If you're on time with your timelines, this is what it typically looks like. Florida is 30 days, it's a lot shorter. New York and California are like can be anywhere up to 120 days. It just depends. So, all things to keep in mind, but remember, evictions are not common. You're not going to get here if you do step one correctly.

Right. And again, there are mitigation steps between step one, which is the money getting the right tenant in the first place, between step one and then going all the way to evictions. There are other things you can do in the meantime as well.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yep. So that was our last question. Let's see.

I know that was a lot for everyone.

Kind of tight on time. I didn't want to go that long. But if there is anybody who has additional questions right now, we wanted to open it up as well. If there are other questions. I know that was just a lot, a lot.

But it was so good and it was so in depth. Right.

That's the crazy thing. Like if we had started with that from the get go. Oh my gosh, how great. Or just not even this, but like just the tenant screening piece. Right, right. And then if you get one offs. Okay, great. The eviction's wonderful. You know, I mean this is where I really love, I love this slide because you are where you need to be. It's okay. Like everything, as long as you're taking action and you're building that legacy every, every time you're taking that action and you're or you're taking a step forward, it's, it's all coming into play.

Yeah. This goes along with everything Catherine says in terms of that putting together your multiple streams of revenue and you know, creating that legacy and that security for your, for your family.

Yep.

So the last, this is the last chart. But we do have the landlord success blueprint course that we've mentioned that Katherine mentioned earlier on that goes through a lot of this same information and provides a complete system. Yeah. How we do it from beginning to end in terms of how to literally set up a company in the first place to the different aspects associated with the property management.

You've got the free eviction tools here. We've got the eviction action decision and clarity sheet. That's the one we went over on Tuesday. That one's included here as well. And then our 32 common landlord questions answered. That one we went ahead and included for today. So the ones that we actually openly discussed, you actually get the takeaway from that as well. And then we've got our community and we do have a membership platform coming soon as well, which we're pretty excited about. And that's just getting like minded landlords and things together that we're able to bring into a community and do some amazing, epic things.

This is amazing. So thank you both. This is extraordinary. So for those of you who are here live, if you have questions and if you're like me, you have questions at 3 o' clock in the morning, you can send them to me. You can reach out to Ashley and Michael and they'll answer your questions. And that's what we're here for. Right? It's again, I want everybody to create minimum of seven streams of passive income. This is absolutely a way that definitely does that. And you can have a team in place that is helping, you know, make sure all of this happens and, you know, you get the benefit. So reach out to them, reach out to me, whatever you need and we're here for you. So I hope this was encouraging. I know this was like extremely invaluable information and I just want to thank you both. This is exciting. And you're coming back next week because we're going to be teaching more. So you both are extraordinary and just thank you. This was, this was awesome. You're both amazing.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you for having us. Katherine. This has been awesome.

Okay. Have an amazing weekend. Stay away. And.

Yeah, I know no lightning. We had the lightning bolt hit last session.

So yeah, that's a whole other story. We'll do a whole one. That was crazy.

Anyways, you both are amazing.

Thank you. And I hope you have an extraordinary day. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you. Bye for now.

Bye.

Do some amazing, epic things.

This is amazing. So thank you both. This is extraordinary. So for those of you who are here live, if you have questions and if you're like me, you have questions at 3 o' clock in the morning, you can send them to me. You can reach out to Ashley and Michael and they'll answer your questions. And that's what we're here for, right? It's again, I want everybody to create minimum of seven streams of passive income. This is absolutely a way that definitely does that. And you can have a team in place that is helping, you know, make sure all of this happens and you know, you get the benefit. So absolutely reach out to them, reach out to me, whatever you need and we're here for you. So I hope this was encouraging. I know this was like extremely invaluable information and I just want to thank you both. This is exciting and, and you're coming back next week because we're going to be teaching more. So you both are extraordinary and just thank you. This was. This was awesome. You're both amazing.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for having us. Catherine.

Okay. Have an amazing weekend. Stay away. And.

Yeah, I know, no lightning. We had the lightning bolt hit last session, so.

Yeah, that's a whole other story. We'll do a whole one.

That was crazy.

Anyways, you both are amazing. Thank you. And I hope you have an extraordinary day. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you. Bye for now.

Bye.