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By Peter Shapiro, Peter@TheGoodLandlord.com If your tenant doesn’t give you access to make a repair the first time you ask, you will likely get access the next time if you can understand your tenant’s concerns – and meet them. Why, then, do so many landlords become defensive when tenants don’t…
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Judge William “Hank” Abrashkin shared his perspective on a lifetime of public service at the MassLandlords Longmeadow event on February 8. “Public service doesn’t mean sacrifice,” Judge Abrashkin said. MassLandlords marketing for the event had called him a celebrity, in reference to his decision as Executive Director of the Springfield…
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A wise contractor once said that our generation of landlords is cleaning up the mistakes of the past. Dropped ceilings hung with bent nails, chimneys held together with gorilla glue — before the Internet, it was excusable if you didn’t know how to properly repair a house! But now, we…
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Landlords must help the tenant maintain 64 to 68 °F from September 15 to June 15 under the MA heat laws. Massachusetts apartment heating laws are specified in the State Sanitary Code, officially 105 CMR 410 The Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation. This regulation has the force of…
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A column for landlords wanting to do well by doing good. This month: Managing anger for a better bottom line. Guest Writer Peter Shapiro, pshapiro@mediationforresults.org, 617 494-0444 ext 317 It’s already the 21st of the month and no rent – again! You were patient last month, but not this time! Had…
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Learn how the IRS Section 1031 Exchange can let investors defer capital gains and recapture tax indefinitely. An IRS regulation called “Section 1031” (formally, “26 U. S. Code Section 1031: Exchange of property held for productive use or investment”) allows owners to sell one property to buy another property tax-free.…
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In 2018 we will be starting MassLandlords Phase II. I’ll give the background and then set out our goals for this new year. We launched in February 2014. At that time, and still today, most groups had separate websites for their regions. The Worcester Property Owners Association rebuilt their website…
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Real estate professionals can claim startup and other real estate losses against other income for large tax savings. Many who work in real estate also work a day job and do their real estate on the side. The IRS potentially considers all real estate activities a form of “passive income,”…
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A Massachusetts landlord thought he’d get $3,463 from his tenants’ security deposit. He ended up settling, paying them $6,000. Introduction This is a tale of two landlords. The first landlord, a small property owner whom we’ll call Mike, was considering investing in Massachusetts real estate. He knew the area and…
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Review of the MassLandlords rental forms by a Boston Housing Court attorney. September 2017. On September 18, Attorney Jordana Greenman gave a live review of the MassLandlords rental forms and shared her rental agreement best practices. Attorney Greenman is a title agent for First American Title Insurance Company and WFG,…
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