Flip Watch

[Michele J]

I agree there are some terrible tenants out there and we have talked of a tenant information website where we could post names of tenants who destroyed properties/didnt pay rent etc... You can guess what we were told.. discrimination/Slanderous etc even though I would strongly advocate for a website where all can go Speaking as someone who also had a bad tenant I understand completely. We thought we had a perfect tenant who then moved in her whole family and ran up my water bills,every other week a drain had to be snaked,was supposed to cut the grass but my husband had to do it rather than risk getting fined..And NEVER EVER rent to a family member or friend either been there done that 4 months of no rent!

[joanbflo]

BTW, Common Council elections were held this year, not in 2008. How many Councilmembers lost their seat?

Thanks for your confirmation.

[ownrentalproperties]

Here is more info. He apparently manages and sells real estate. He might not be doing anything wrong. Just copy and paste into your browser.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

What bothers me is deals like the Hyatt. They get low cost financing to construct. Years later the city gives them a parking ramp and he turns around and sells it at a profit. He then constructs the Niagara Riverview Casino in Canada with other investors for BILLIONS of dollars.

Now he claims proverty and ask for more money and THEY STILL GIVE HIM MILLIONS.
http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/226313.html

My name is Randy Ortego
I am the owner if this so called rogue flipping company. (ownrentalproperties.com)
I live in North Buffalo.
Please follow my work before you speak out. I understand you all are out to protect the city of Buffalo and I respect that, however every person to advertise on ebay is not a bad man.
Over the last year I have taken 25 abandoned boarded houses and made them into something beautiful.
You all have my number; some kind person plastered it all over the thread I can be contacted at anytime.
I am a local property manager and contractor. I provide some of the nicest rental units in the city of buffalo.
my domain name info is from my old residence, when i used to live in california.

[joe d.]

FEBRUARY will soon be upon us, and the rental registration bills will be forthcoming. My qusetion is this?
WHAT POSITIVE IMPACT HAS RENTAL REGISTRATION HAD ON THE City of Buffalo and it's Housing stock. Franczyk and CC enacted tis program/fee with promises of improving the insp dept. Hiring more bldg insp's. How many have been hired , other than an administrator to manage the fees.
WHERE HAS THE MONEY/FEES GONE & HOW MUCH HAS BEEN COLLECTED?
Personally, I have no problem paying these fees if it will help the city in managing it's housing problems as it will help insure that what property I do own will hopefully increase in value, BUT, HOW MANY DEADBEAT PROPERTY OWNERS HAVE NOT PAID AND WHAT IS BEING DONE TO COLLECT.
Next thing they will come out with is... that since not many landlords/owners are paying, they'll have to increase the fees , de ja vu buffalo water rates.
Is there anyone out there that has any insight into this boondoggle?

[Michele J]

The water bills are killing me!! I couldnt pay it in full one quarter and owed a balance of about $100 and it cost me about $20 in interest and late fees 20%= ROBBERY!

[nickelcityhomes]

we have talked of a tenant information website where we could post names of tenants who destroyed properties/didnt pay rent etc

Michele, let's do it. I'm not concerned about those lawsuits. There are already websites which allow tenants to slam landlords. Between me and Res we could have a site up an running in no time. The website doesn't need to be anything special. Just an interface to search a database and an interface to submit the data on shoddy tenants would suffice. I could present it to the next WNYREI meeting to get the ball rolling. Keep it local to WNY.

[joe d.]

The water bills are killing me!! I couldnt pay it in full one quarter and owed a balance of about $100 and it cost me about $20 in interest and late fees 20%= ROBBERY!

You are probably one of many in this same situation. Ever try to call down there...you would have a better chance of winning the lottery.
The few times that I had to go there due to billing problems...there was a security guard posted there...and a lot of unhappy customers ....waiting!
THEY answer to no one and act as if they're doing you a favor...taking your money. BRUTAL! Even the Common Council has no say or jurisdiction over what happens. A typical WNY authority that has put itself above the taxpayers and customer service!!

[Michele J]

I had a senior contact me last year whose water line had a crack in it this was news to her..The bill was $1,700 and she could only make small monthly payments on it... After 6 months even with $50 a month payments the bill grew to $2,000! Not to mention she had to pay $2,500 to get the line replaced.. Its almost worth moving to the burbs to avoid being screwed by our water company!

[Michele J]

Michele, let's do it. I'm not concerned about those lawsuits. There are already websites which allow tenants to slam landlords. Between me and Res we could have a site up an running in no time. The website doesn't need to be anything special. Just an interface to search a database and an interface to submit the data on shoddy tenants would suffice. I could present it to the next WNYREI meeting to get the ball rolling. Keep it local to WNY.

Im all for it..Evictions are a matter of public record anyways so I dont think lawsuits would hold water.

[nickelcityhomes]

Im all for it

I'm launching a domain name competition thread.

[knowsitall]

You are probably one of many in this same situation. Ever try to call down there...you would have a better chance of winning the lottery.
The few times that I had to go there due to billing problems...there was a security guard posted there...and a lot of unhappy customers ....waiting!
THEY answer to no one and act as if they're doing you a favor...taking your money. BRUTAL! Even the Common Council has no say or jurisdiction over what happens. A typical WNY authority that has put itself above the taxpayers and customer service!!

Joe, if I'm not mistaken the city uses revenues from water bills to balance their budget. Since they are so close to their constitutional taxing limit, the only place they can increase revenues is from things like the water rates, garbage fee, etc.
Is that a fact that the CC doesn't vote on water rate hikes?

[joanbflo]

My name is Randy Ortego
I am the owner if this so called rogue flipping company. (ownrentalproperties.com)
I live in North Buffalo.
Please follow my work before you speak out. I understand you all are out to protect the city of Buffalo and I respect that, however every person to advertise on ebay is not a bad man.
Over the last year I have taken 25 abandoned boarded houses and made them into something beautiful.
You all have my number; some kind person plastered it all over the thread I can be contacted at anytime.
I am a local property manager and contractor. I provide some of the nicest rental units in the city of buffalo.
my domain name info is from my old residence, when i used to live in california.

The info I posted was public record. As you can see, by my posts, there are people whom are totally ignorant and believe that all landlords are slumlords no matter what. Part of the solution is private investment but there are overzealous politicians, judges and political cronies that want to stick it to everyone that buy anything that is non owner occupied. That is why I will never buy or do business in my beloved city. Sure there will be projects that are given to the well connected but it will never come back will all this prosecution.

[Michele J]

The info I posted was public record. As you can see, by my posts, there are people whom are totally ignorant and believe that all landlords are slumlords no matter what. Part of the solution is private investment but there are overzealous politicians, judges and political cronies that want to stick it to everyone that buy anything that is non owner occupied. That is why I will never buy or do business in my beloved city. Sure there will be projects that are given to the well connected but it will never come back will all this prosecution.

You are right..It is public record.

[joanbflo]

Michele, let's do it. I'm not concerned about those lawsuits. There are already websites which allow tenants to slam landlords. Between me and Res we could have a site up an running in no time. The website doesn't need to be anything special. Just an interface to search a database and an interface to submit the data on shoddy tenants would suffice. I could present it to the next WNYREI meeting to get the ball rolling. Keep it local to WNY.

I agree. The tenant/landlord evictions are public records. There were red books in the city court office, which anyone could look through if asked. I used them to try to prescreen any tenant applications that I would get. They were helpful in that they just stated there was an action brought before the court. It didn’t state what happened. But it was helpful that I could then ask the potential new tenant about it and also call the true landlord who usually wasn’t listed on the application. I talked to Chief City Court Judge Amadeo about doing the same thing –posting it on the internet. City Court also keeps them on a disc. The Judge called Albany and they stated the United Court System owned the files but didn’t know if you could buy the records. This was years ago. I wasn’t working at the time.

I found this site but you need an index number.

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/housing/

In addition, Social Service was required to provide the Landlord 30 days notice when the tenant stopped their voucher but the workers never abide by this. Maybe the new County Executive would re-enforce this.

These suggestions all stabilize neighborhoods. We need constructive solutions.

[joanbflo]

FEBRUARY will soon be upon us, and the rental registration bills will be forthcoming. My qusetion is this?
WHAT POSITIVE IMPACT HAS RENTAL REGISTRATION HAD ON THE City of Buffalo and it's Housing stock. Franczyk and CC enacted tis program/fee with promises of improving the insp dept. Hiring more bldg insp's. How many have been hired , other than an administrator to manage the fees.
WHERE HAS THE MONEY/FEES GONE & HOW MUCH HAS BEEN COLLECTED?
Personally, I have no problem paying these fees if it will help the city in managing it's housing problems as it will help insure that what property I do own will hopefully increase in value, BUT, HOW MANY DEADBEAT PROPERTY OWNERS HAVE NOT PAID AND WHAT IS BEING DONE TO COLLECT.
Next thing they will come out with is... that since not many landlords/owners are paying, they'll have to increase the fees , de ja vu buffalo water rates.
Is there anyone out there that has any insight into this boondoggle?

These are adversion/hidden taxes like the garbage taxes. They claimed they are needed so Politicians can say they didn't raise taxes. They are needed so they can HIRE MORE "DEADBEAT" POLITICAL CRONIES.