Second eviction in the works

I received a call from the Lowell building inspector, Mr. St. Hilaire. He told me the tenant living in one of my properties, located at 53 Ware St, has been dealing drugs and has constant traffic coming in and out of the building and that there has also been a stabbing, several fights, and numerous arrests. Mr. St. Hilaire also said he has photos of the drug paraphernalia taken inside the property. He said that because I'm the landlord, it's considered "allowing criminal activity on your property" if I don't evict him within 48 hours and that I can face a $1,000 fine or 1 year in jail. He explained that he obviously doesn't want to put a landlord in jail and that he will work with me to have the tenant evicted.

I explained to him that I was only aware of one incident with the police at 53 Ware St and that I was at work when it happen. After work, I called the Lowell Police department to find out what happen and no one knew anything about it. So I left my phone number with them and asked that they call me as soon as they find out what it was about. I never received a call back. I told him that I have absolutely no problem evicting the tenant, and that I will stop by the apartment tonight after work.

On my way home from work, I stopped at 53 Ware St and told George (incidentally, he has the same name as the George who was just evicted from my other property on Cumberland Rd a few days ago) that he has 48 hours to leave. I explained that it's out of my control and that the city wants him out of there immediately. He said a 48 hour eviction was illegal and I told him that it's not illegal if there has been criminal activity on the property and if there is a police report to prove it (which there is). He said he will go to the town hall tomorrow morning and talk to them. Yea, sure you will George.

I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Mr. St. Hilaire. Check back for updates on this developing situation.

That property already has two vacant units, which is costing me $1400 a month in rents. I'll admit that I haven't been doing everything in my power to get them rented and I won't even bother you with an excuse (though I can think of many). As soon as this eviction is through, I'm going to place an AD in the paper and start interviewing people. The biggest problem is the time constraint with interviewi... wait, I said no excuses.

This morning I met with Steve Stairs, the same contractor that worked on the two, currently vacant, units on 53 Ware St. He's going to take care of repairing the Cumberland Rd unit. I really want to replace the old cast iron drain pipes that drain the second floor unit. They leak every once in awhile in the basement, and I can tell they are badly in need of replacement. Now is a good time to replace them with PVC pipes because I can tear apart the wall under the kitchen counter in the first floor to gain access to them. If I decide to do it, I'll do it myself. It's way too costly to pay someone to glue a few pipes together. I could easily do it in an afternoon, on the weekend.

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  1. Raam, I will try to help find potential clients. I can make and posts little ads around the asian markets since I have to go there a lot for momma’s groceries, and wherever else they let me post. Send me the info and I’ll make the fliers. BTW, I LOVE THE NEW LAYOUT, f*ckin awesome.

  2. Thanks Tom! I definitely want to advertise in the Asian markets! I will send you an email as soon as this eviction thing on 53 Ware st is over with; hopefully by the beginning of next week I will be ready to start advertising them.

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