Todays Rental News » Collections

Buying loans $500, Regardless of Size

Tim Ballering — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:20:02 +0000

Utah Loan Servicing is a debt collector that buys home equity loans from lenders. Clark Terry, the chief executive, says he does not pay more than $500 for a loan, regardless of how big it is.

“Anything over $15,000 to $20,000 is not collectible,” Mr. Terry said. “Americans seem to believe that anything they can get away with is O.K.”

via Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis

Landlord-tenant hell: water fight!

Tim Ballering — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:10:38 +0000

We’ve had a lot of water in the wrong place this year. But, landlords complain about water in the wrong place, too. That place is coming out of the tap at their rentals. I hear complaints that tenants “take hour-long showers,” as if they are doing this just to hurt the landlord.

via Landlord-tenant hell

Man accused of stiffing landlord with bad check

Tim Ballering — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:50:48 +0000

n Athens man accused of trying to pay his landlord with a worthless check has been charged with theft, an official said Wednesday.

He was released from jail after posting a $3,500 bail, records show.

via » The News-Courier .

[If only this was our world. Maybe we should all move to Alabama]

Can landlord use prepaid rent to pay for tenants’ damage?

Tim Ballering — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Sorry to begin on a note of disappointment, but I sure wish you had told us that your lease specifically states that prepaid rent may be applied to rent and to any other sums due under the lease. If the lease had included a provision like this, then you would be able to use the prepaid rent to cover damage caused by the tenants. Because the lease makes the tenants financially responsible for damage, the cost to repair that damage becomes a “sum due under the lease.”

But we’ll have to assume that you didn’t specify how the prepaid rent could be used —

via Janet Portman

Hard-Nosed Landlording – Why It Works!

Tim Ballering — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:48:17 +0000

Hard-nosed lanlording can have negative connotations, but what does it really mean? It is what YOU make of it. Landlord tenant relationships can be difficult or easy – it is totally up to you, the landlord. One way to make it easy on yourself is to set expectations up front, and to ensure that your tenants understand and follow them. Some call it “hard-nosed” landlording, but to me it is common sense property management, and more money in my pocket.

via Landlord Articles.

Food-stamp tally nears 40 million, sets record

Tim Ballering — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:37:01 +0000

Nearly 40 million Americans received food stamps — the latest in an ever-higher string of record enrollment that dates from December 2008 and the U.S. recession, according to a government update.

via Reuters.

[If people can't buy food, they probably also can't pay rent. A bad omen for our industry]

Make Collection Calls Without Losing Tenants

Tim Ballering — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:22:00 +0000

“Collections is the process of completing the sale,” according to Abe WalkingBear Sanchez. As the endorsed Credit Consultant to the 4,500 combined members of STAFDA and PEI trade organizations, he advises companies to make collection calls using a positive, sales-oriented approach.

via American Express OPEN Forum.

Eviction – the wrong way

Tim Ballering — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:34:13 +0000

BROOKLYN — Last week Sean Overstreet, 29, of Brooklyn, was arrested and charged with posing as a city marshal and unlawfully confronting and evicting a tenant from her basement apartment in Hollis, Queens, in January.

via Brooklyn Eagle,

Tenant ordered to pay $42,500 in Triple Damages

Tim Ballering — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:01:04 +0000

“In this case, Gwen Smith runs a scam pattern,” attorney Lisa Gygax said in a trial brief filed in Sonoma County Superior Court. “She seeks a kind landlord, moves in and never intends to pay anything but the first month's rent,” the attorney said in her filing.

After a months-long legal battle to recoup unpaid rent and utilities, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Elliot Daum on Thursday ordered Smith to pay Wilt $42,500 in damages — agreeing to a requested tripling of actual damages on grounds Smith acted with “malicious and manipulative” intent, according to court documents.

via PressDemocrat.com.

Stacking: Would-be renters move in with friends

Tim Ballering — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:31:26 +0000

One in five renters was behind on rent in the fourth quarter, down from 23 percent of people in the third quarter. The report concluded that decline, in the “non-luxury” segment, was “probably due to more vigorous collections efforts.”

via | StarTribune.com.