I want to cry, but I can’t.

Well, I am a big girl and big girls are not supposed to cry.

No. I am a property manager and my job is to make it work.

The back story: We was renting a place for two years and decided to get another property. Found a small multi family with not rented takeout and not rented apartment without the certificate of occupancy. The rest of the units was rented, but too cheap for the current market.

Well... My idea was to raise a rent; quickly legalize apartment, fix it and rent-out or make it short term rental; rent a takeout; look for another deal; repeat.

I was expecting some discrepancies, but today was hit with too many.

After I demanded to pay for bounced check, our tenant of two years told that a place is too pricey for her and she want to move out. It is 8 more month of rent left. I have early release fee clause, but not sure if she will pay.

I contacted a couple of architects to do a paperwork to legalize an apartment, but it look like nobody want to deal with our building department. One was telling to call in the winter; another was giving a price 5 times more than my neighbors was paying for the similar job; one was telling that he can do a drawing, but not guarantee that it will be approved because last time it wasn’t.

We agree on a price and a terms about the takeout place. Was ready to leave to take a deposit and do a background check. Call to confirm time to meet and... a potential tenant stated that building inspector told that the place can’t be rented because it was too many problems. When I was talking to him, I was told that the place has the certificate of occupancy but before it will open the Health and Fire departments need to approve it.

I mailed a letter to the tenants about the rent increase. Offer about 10-20% under market (now it is 40% cheaper) and instead got a response: no response (ignored); disagree on any raise; agree to pay 2.5% more ($25 instead $250);

I can’t afford to let them go now. I just simply don’t have money after closing and knowing that another unit will be vacant soon.

I am not crying. I need a plan.

Seems like the new place has a few things you can do, have done, and might do.

With all you know about it, get it ready for the next Landlord to take over. Make a few dollars with a quick sale since the market may be good in your area.

It's gonna be ok! You've got this!

I'm not familiar with the process of legalizing apartments in your area, but:

It seems like after a few, in frustration, you're feeling blue. I recently lost a sub, who I treated like a king. He ran one of the few affordable foundation crews in my market. I employed his crew when he didn't have work for them, simply to be in his good graces for when my jobs came up. And when I needed him last time, he was busy and pushed my work to the back of the list, while adding jobs perpetually.

It took me about 30-40 phone calls to find a replacement who was similar in price and quality.

With all of this said:

I'd encourage you to make 10 phone calls a day, seeking out an architect who can get the work done at a price you can afford. Reach out to every contractor you work with (who is average to great) and ask them for a referral, or if they know someone who's been through the process. Ask your banker, other landlords, title companies you work with, attorneys, your insurance agent, any remodellers you know, skilled trades (who deal with inspectors already). Your solution is out there. You've got to grind it out and commit to getting it done. Be sure to explain to your network that your issue is urgent and you're needing to make significant progress this week.

On your tenant, enforce the lease if one is in place. Sure, they can leave, but they'll pay the eltf, or you'll be forced to collect it with a lawsuit, which will hinder their ability to rent or buy in the future.

As far as turning units, and this subject just helped me realize perhaps the silver bullet!!! I swear!!!

Talk to a bunch of leasing companies. I use them to lease everything I manage, every unit. THEY should know everything about getting inspections passed and will certainly have contacts with whichever pros you'll need. They're the specialists you need to work with. In exchange for them opening you into their network, utilize them to lease your units. Any leasing companies will certainly have low cost, high quality providers on the tip of their tongues!

Beyond that, good ones drive up rents!

Luba: I was renting a unit for 1k/month. I changed leasing companies. They leased the same unit, with no updates, which I was feeling strongly to be worth 1k-1.1k on a perfect day, for $1,500. Leasing companies provide instant credibility for out of towners, who are scared of a craigslist or small time landlord taking their money and dissapearing. You can use them for leasing only and manage after the move in.

Problem solved. THIS ISSUE WILL BE AN ANT HILL A YEAR OR TWO FROM NOW!!!! YOU'VE GOT THIS!!!!

Learn from it and the next deal will be much better and easier!!

Your Govt - that you own - is a punishing omnipotent govt. My best friend just sold everything he owned including his business and got out of NYS where he was a lifer.

He even got divorced over that govt. He was a CPA and could not stand what your Govt was doing to you all.

Luba, hang in there. I recently got into a project that had structural and framing work done without permits. I couldn't find an architect to get the drawings done so I could get permits. I called at least 50 architects, not kidding. No one would touch it. I finally found a structural engineer that said he would do the drawings I needed to get it permitted. It took him 6 weeks, but after 6 months of delays, that was nothing. I got the permit and am now in the home stretch of the project. Don't give up, call someone in nearby communities. Go to smaller jobsites and ask who they use for their drawings, you need someone that has a backbone who can stand up to the building dept. They are out there.

I'm sorry you are having these issues. For 40 years I've been going through the same thing. My City and it's departments are money hungry and play games to receive more revenue from landlords. One example:

I purchased a multi-family building from a lender that had foreclosed and couldn't give it away. Bad management from the prior owner, it had become so run down that no one would touch it with a 10 foot poll.

While I was in escrow to purchase it, I visited all of my City and County Department and had told them that I was a seasoned landlord, licensed contractor and developer that wanted to make this property shine and rent it out to Low Income Families. I needed the Government to "Work with me"!

The property had collected several dozen violations but "banks" were exempted from having to due much. A new owner was not exempted and could be abused by all. The City/County gave me their word, that I'd have a few months to get the property back into shape. I even got things in writing.

I closed on the deal and began working on the property with my entire work force/crew.

The day after the closing, an army of inspectors came to the property with around 100 pages of violations saying I had 10 days to comply or I would be held criminally liable for the years of deteriorating conditions.

The County Tax Assessor wouldn't allow my purchase price to reflect the current property tax so they tripled the value and I was forced to pay $10,000 extra in property tax each year until my case got to trial -- two years up the road.

As I used every once of knowledge and skill to keep things afloat, I had to stoop to the insane level of Government and play their game against themselves.

If I wanted to have the tenants move out so I could do the work on my time table, I had to pay each tenant/unit around $17,000 in re-location funds. And they had the right to move back into their apartment once my work was complete at the same old rent. This was a no-win situation.

So I allowed my violations to go unsolved and I was threatened that the City would "Red Tag" the property and no one would be allowed to live there. I couldn't collect rent and they would take legal actions against me.

So then, the tenants wren't allowed to live there anymore. I put up a 8 foot chain link fence around the property with razor wire on top to prevent people from climbing the fence. I had Junk Yard Dogs on the inside to keep everyone out once it was entirely vacant. Now 40 people have no place to live. Their rents were around $500 a month for a 2 bedroom unit with parking. Anything else the tenant could find of similar size cost over $1,000 a month. I told the City Counsel that they should be proud of themselves for making these families homeless.

I spent 1/4 million dollars making things perfect. My bank loan was called in due to 100% vacancy. My insurance was also cancelled. Only because I was a licensed contractor was I able to have my liability business insurance cover me. This was a money pit.

I had purchased in the past over a dozen medium sized properties and worked a 5 year plan. Fixing up the exterior and then working on 1 unit at a time. This was different, I had to do everything at once.

If I had done what the City/County wanted, then I couldn't have used "safe methods" dealing with the "Lead Paint", "Asbestos", and "Mold". I have certifications dealing with toxic substances and have to take my time and Do Things Right.

I learned a lot by this experience. Don't Believe City Hall. They are out to make a buck. I sued the City and it was their professional opinion that if I "Can't afford to Pay the Price", I shouldn't be a landlord. This experience cut 5 years off of my life. I will no longer live to a rip old age of 90 like most of my family members. I'll be lucky to to live to collect social security! (I'm just making a point, I corrected my health and now will not anything get to me).

I've had the Building Department, Housing, the Health Department, Rent Stabilization, Code Enforcement, the Police, General Manager, City Attorney and others try to pull one over on me. I now laugh in their face.

The City sends me a notice that I have 10 days to comply otherwise I loose my legal right to file an appeal and will be found automatically guilty. The largest issue is they send the notice to the prior owner. He returns the notice saying, "I no longer own the property, please forward"! Then 30 days later I get the notice and it's too late to file an appeal. The City tells my tenants to pay them the rent, at a discounted price. And the City will home my rents until the City Counsel votes that I've been a good landlord -- maybe six months down the road. In this case, non of the violations were large enough to cause anyone to take action, minor things that can be adjusted at a cost of $100 total. But instead the city is forcing me to spend $100,000 to comply to their non-sense. What a joke. The joke is on me.

Thank you for your kind support.

I will not give up. I just need a plan what is more important.

Today I will deal with departing tenant. I printed out a “move out packed”. Should I mail it, emailed or hand delivered?

Often these city government bureaucracies run like little fiefdoms. So go with your hat in your hand, and a big box of donuts, and ask their advice. Fall all over yourself, thanking them for their help. Get to know their first names, make multiple visits, always bringing a small gift. Never offer money, because you don't want to be accused of bribery, but smooze, smooze, smooze.

Indeed, as RathdrumGal noted, it would be good to mail, email, and deliver by hand the letter to the tenant.

RobertJ, your stories are pretty amazing, and I hope that you live to be ninety or older. Robert in Ontario, governments lie, so I'd wager that the incoming administration might not change things that much, but I understand how something has to give for landlords.

I feel for you. I hope you find a way through this.

I don't have any easy fixes. When you can, I recommend looking inwards to see what went wrong and how you can prevent this from happening in the future. If you look up the term SWOT analysis and follow that, it's a tool I learned in MBA school that has really helped me identify areas where things can go wrong and where I have leverage.

This is a reason I only buy properties with cash and take no loans. I know that's not a popular position on this forum, but I sleep well at night knowing that if anything goes wrong, I do not have a mortgage payment.

Good luck and hang in there. Hopefully you'll get a lucky break of some kind.

My story from above was from a time back in 2007, 11 years ago. Since then I've got thicker skin. I've learned that I have to do what's right, not what anyone tells, orders me or threatens me to do.

On another case from the 1980's the Police, the City negotiator between neighbor disputes, the City Attorney and others would not listen to me or look at my proof. They acted blind, deaf and dumb. What ever my 80 year old neighbors said was taken as gospel.

Finally the day of trial the judge could not believe I would't try to resolve matters and let it get thus far. I explained to this new judge that I did everything possible to resolve things but when my neighbors asked me to re-plant the scrubs I cut down on my property to replant on their side -- they changed their mind the day of planting and also wanted a new water main, sprinkler system and sod grass. Otherwise they would press charges.

The judge asked how can I prove the plants were on my side? I told him that I had a licensed survey company re-survey the property boundary and their signed report shows all scrub plant trunks were between 4 to 6 inches on my side of the property line. Then the judge asked why did I suddenly want to upset my neighbors and cut down the scrubs? I showed the judge an order from building and safety that said I was storing my new fencing materials on the side of my house -- I had to either put up my new fence to dispose of it. I had 10 days. Building and safety received 30 calls from my neighbor asking them to get me cracking. SO when I did do as I was told, the neighbors called the police on me. I showed the judge a dozen orders issued to me. Like finish painting my house. When I painted one side of my house the neighbors complained about the color to the City and I was inspected. The City wanted to me do this, that and another things. So I stopped painting and left my house two colors.

I left CA in part because of issues like Robert J encounters. Many cities there are quite similar. AKA impossible to work with.

Conversly where I now live, there's very few issues. They will HELP you with permitting. I needed to reroof a house awhile back. In CA the process was so bad I reroofed illegally on Saturday in 4 hours with 16 workers! We were in, out and done before anybody knew we were there! "Roof? What roof?" LOL Here I call the city, "oh the permit is $20 but you only need it if you replace more than 25% of the wood."

Here they are big on elect permits because we have so many fires. Otherwise it's pretty laid back.

My beach house had some loose bricks in the parkway. When my elderly mother moved in I reset the bricks in a mortar base and grout between, so she didn't break her neck getting out of the car.

The city sent me a violation, wanted about a $320 permit fee, for FREE bricks and $16 worth of mortar. I went to a council meeting and ranted about ADA and lawsuits and how every property in town with bricks in the parkway better be in compliance. Yada yada. Never heard another word about it.

I was adjusting Brad’s lease to make it suitable for existing tenants. Shrink it to 25 paged instead of 30.

There is move out page at the end.