My life has become such a nightmare. My husband and I have 20 rental properties in Minneapolis that should be making money but are causing us to go further and further into debt every month. Our credit card debt is about 60k and going up. It's the 7th and only two renters are up to date on rent, and one of those just informed me that her husband got laid off from his job. About a third are empty or the renters are not paying anything. I'm working so much overtime at my job to make ends meet that this year I'll probably make over $90,000 but I can't even afford clothes unless I buy them at a used clothing store. I don't even have a car. We don't even have enough in our checking account to cover the checks we have going out right now. I can't talk to my husband about our financial situation, he just gets angry with me.

We hired a property manager in May but she's not doing anything but cause problems. My husband does most of the work but she charges us about $2000 a month. If I email her and ask her if she'll take care of something it never gets done or she doesn't reply. I can't call her because she yells at me. We're being sued by two renters because of her. She has rented out three of our houses for us but I don't think she cares who she rents to. One renter was someone she knows that isn't paying. Another was a level 3 sex offender who's lived there over a month and now owes two months rent and security deposit and hasn't paid anything. Now we're in trouble with the neighborhood because we've rented to him. I tell my husband that we can't afford her but he won't fire her because some of the rent money goes to a PO box that she won't give us access to.

We've tried to sell some of our properties that we have equity in but we haven't had any luck. We've had several people want to buy from us but the sale always falls through. We'd like to walk away from some of the properties that are worth less than what we paid but I don't know if it's the right thing to do. We just can never seem to get a break.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

I think that you need more help than we can possibly give you here.

Hire a lawyer and get rid of the so called property manager who isn't serving your best interest. In fact, she is doing her best to destroy you.

YOU own the property, NOT HER. So take charge!!

1. Fire the PM... NOW!!

2. Start filing evictions on the people that are behind more than a month. The rest, contact in person and get your money. If they say they don't have it, evict.

3. Clean up the properties on the outside.

4. Get professional made "for rent" signs.

5. Get a website going. Microsoft Office live for 14.95/yr. Cheap, easy, effective. www dot millersapt dot com.

6. Once those idiots are out of there, get the inside cleaned up. Spotless clean! Take pics, post them on website.

7. Offer $99 for the first month plus your security deposit.

I agree with NE from PA and others, at least theoretically. As the old saying goes, "don't beat a dead horse." If there are no viable renters in your area then what can you do? Are these single family homes or apartments? If they are single family homes I would list all the vacant ones with a realtor that specializes in short sales, board them up and keep them empty. Keep in mind, for a bank to approve a short sale requires that you have limited means and or equity/assets, so working 80 hours and generating more income probably will harm your chances of getting this done. You should sell any of the decent properties that have equity immediately...just give them away. You will probably use any money you make off these to support the other non performing properties until the short sale happens (tongue n' cheek) or maybe you put the money under your mattress.

If these are apartments, I see no reason why you can't find a decent tenant and banks rarely will do a short sale- maybe you can look into Section 8 if there is a tenant shortage in your area to get them filled.

I think the 1st step to getting back on track is to first stop what you are doing and accept the reality of the situation. Then decide what is more important-your life or your rentals.

There is always the bankruptcy option but as I have stated on this forum in the past, you must plan for this unless you don't have a house with equity or any other assets to protect. Best wishes.

Hi Julie,

Ne, is correct.

Tim gave you the steps.

Why I answered the way I did - "you need more help than we can possible give you..." because I could see that you and your husband are absolutely clueless about being landlords from your description of what is happening with your units and "in your face - defiant property manager"

What do you mean you can't call her because she yells at you!! Yikes - Get some backbone.

That is why I suggested going through a lawyer because you have no idea how to handle your rentals.

People are only victims when they allow themselves to be taken advantage of.

Julie, I have been a landlord for over 32 years (started when I was 18 y.o.) and have seen the market drop three times, then recover. My friends that ran away from their troubles and let everything go realized that after a 5 to 7 year period the market turned around and they would have broke even, or waited another 3 years and doubled their money.

You do not have to do ONE or the OTHER!!!! You can keep the properties that rent easy and the income covers the expenses while selling or letting go of the trouble some homes. The only way you can keep some of your homes is to manage the properties yourself, but I see you don't have the skills to market you homes, find good tenants, check their credit/income/etc, then sign a meaningful lease. It is better to let a house go empty for two months then to rent it out to a group of people that will have to be evicted and the property repaired. Maybe you can advertise for a partner who can make everything current, evict the no-paying tenants, rehab then re-rent out the homes.

This didn't get bad overnight. Yes, she needs to be fired immediately.

Call each tenant and tell them you are now in charge and you expect the rent immediately or you will be in court immediately.

Get a landlord tenant attorney immediately. Anyone who does not pay the rent the day after they receive your call gets their name given to him for eviction.

What a heck of a mess. How long have you owned these rentals? Must of been a accumulation over years? Or did you inherit them perhaps?

One of the first things you do is to join a Apartment association close to you. They will be of great help. As well as this forum. You have already made that step.

This whole mess has to be driving you mad.

It can be turned around. I won't lie to you it's going to be a lot of work.

That PM has to go and go soon.

It's rare but occasionally does happen. I would have to agree whole heartedly with JC's post.

1st thing Monday, I would be on the hunt to find an "Experienced" Short Sale Realtor. That person is going to know the ins and outs for your area, which properties have value and which professionals to contact to help get through this. With 20 properties, you've probably got some that will sell, some that can be rented with a degree of stability and some that just have to go one way or the other. In other words, you need a plan; right now it sounds like you're all over the chart and there is no plan.

Oh Julie, I hear you and feel your pain. Remember complicated equations at school? Simplify the monumental task by breaking it into a dozen manageable tasks.

1st, fire the PM. 2nd, get in touch with an eviction specialist law firm and try to negotiate flat rate BULK evictions. (Tenants talk - and when word gets around the cat is sleeping, then the mice will party). Part of the deal is the flat rate serving of the proper notices. Plan B might be you finding the notice for your state on the internet (many eviction law firms post them on their websites) and you have a process server handle the serving.

No delay - you cannot afford to do nothing a single day!!

Then, it's time for tough choices. You losing your life savings over this is wrong, very wrong. All that anguish and then this?!?

SELL, carry paper, if you can - whatever works. Just find life outside this h*llish circle.

That PM may be a blessing - she has liability insurance? Her not serving the proper notices when people (she manages and even moved in herself!!) stop paying rent for months? Come on!

A LL friend hired an old lady and later, when evictions were necessary, found out she never ran a credit report. Now she owes the local plumber thousands. Enough said - that's like a surgeon stitching up someone without anastetics.

Not paying rent is great - but not something you can do without future pain. As certain as a hangover follows binge drinking, they surely will pay for their action. When their evictions are on record! If lucky, they can repeat this trick one more time. But why use up their magic card now with tough times ahead?

NE makes good points. But without those pay or quit notices, you still have non-paying tenants and they all talk to each other and share their experiences with their PM and landlady.

Gosh, I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. I have 5 rentals, three with paying tenants and still I can't stand the tenants (even the ones that pay). So I feel your pain.

As much as it hurts, you are going to have to take over management of all of them. Write a standard form letter to all tenants, saying you have fired PM and now all checks must go to you NO PO BOX to her.

That covers the ones that do pay.

Then you need to send letters AND post them on the front door to the tenants that do not pay. Give them a pay or quit notice. That is an easy form letter to type up. This website probably has one, other an internet search has one.

Then Monday morning, contact a real estate lawyer who specializes in evictions. It is not as scary as it sounds -- believe me. I think for about $150-300 per house, the lawyer will take care of the eviction and go to court for you. Voila -- those bad tenants will be taken care of.

Then you need to decide what to do with the others that don't rent. Either sell them at rock bottom prices or go on craigslist.com and try and rent them. Since it seems like you don't have time to show them (after work?) you might think about getting a PM -- work with a company with an excellent rep not just some unaffiliated person without any reputation.

I think all of these first steps should take no longer than 4-8 hours. Find that spare time and DO IT. It sounds like you are just so over your head that you don't think you have the time to do it all. Trust me, get off your keester and do it --- it will allow you to get some sleep (I know you aren't sleeping well) and feel better because you are moving forward.

On thinking about this, I think the person who told you that you may have a problem with your husband is correct.

It looks like they are working together to defraud you. He won't let you fire her or talk about money. Maybe those apartments are not empty and he is picking up the checks from the mailbox and just telling you they are not there.

Julie... please give us updates in the near future. Would love to know the out come.

Julie..you need to remember that you OWN these properties. Neither the PM or the tenants should have control over you. Give the PM a written notice with strict guidelines that if she cashes any future rent checks, you will be suing for embezzlement and fraud and everyone will know how incompetent she is. Do not allow her to threaten you will continuing to get checks sent to a post office box that you don't have access to. That would be theft, if done against your will. Make that very clear in the letter and keep a copy for your records. Send it certified mail and keep proof of mailing. Do NOT let her control you.

You are in charge here, so be in charge. Fire that PM so fast, it will make her head spin. If she makes threats, IGNORE her. Tell your husband to get a backbone and start helping you more.

If your husband gets angry with you for talking about your financial problems, what the heck is he good for? You both need to work together to solve this dilemma. Dump him too, if he will not help you.

As stated before, you must take control. If these tenants are not paying rent, get them out now...all at once if needed. If they are not paying rent, why keep them? You are better off with empty rentals. IF you feel better, only doing one or two at a time, then do the worst ones first, as mentioned.

Things will not get better until you take charge. Fire that worthless PM and save yourself $2k per month. What the heck is your husband thinking, to keep her?

If you have never done evictions or pay or quit notices, I would strongly advice you to get an attorney knowledgeable about evictions..not just a general real estate attorney. Try to get a flat bulk rate as mentioned. If your form does not have the correct wording for your state, if you deliver it incorrectly or do not take all the necessary steps with necessary time frames, it may be thrown out of court. I would suggest going to the Landlord/Tenant State Laws link above, find your state and print out your laws. Study and learn them and don't let anyone push you around.

I am sorry that you are in this position. I only have 14 total units but I do manage them by myself, since my fiance passed away 4 years ago. I stay in charge and demand respect from my tenants. I in turn respect them back and I have very few problems. TAKE CHARGE.

Let us know how it goes.

Sorry but it sounds like a joke post. what happened to Julie?