Real Estate Journal
Take a 'Vacation with an Education' on National REIA’s 22nd Annual Cruise
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et’s face it, the majority of conferences take place at some convention center in some far-off place, which may or may not allow you to relax and have a good time. That’s where National REIA’s annual cruise is completely different. Even the name of the cruise says it all; “A Vacation with an Education”– and it is all that and much, much more! The ship will depart from Miami, Florida in mid-February embarking on an 8-day journey with stops in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. Along the way will be a variety of educational programs & events geared specifically toward the real estate investor. This year’s cruise features two
special guests, Walter Wofford and Bob Zachmeier. Walter is a renown real estate investor who specializes in creating tax free net worth and cash flow through seller financing in the affordable housing area. These methods combine note creation, IRA and retirement account investing with trust entities. In addition to the daily seminars, Walter did several surprise “pop-up” sessions based on discussions that happened during the day. Bob Zachmeier discovered notes and realized that “mailbox money” was far superior to the “tenant and toilet” hassles of rental property. He created NoteCarry.com to structure notes, wraps, rentals, etc. with reports for buyers, sellers, and investors. His creative solutions have helped hundreds
of buyers across the country purchase homes without banks. But wait, there’s more! This is also a conference (the education part) so you won’t want to miss any of the many roundtable, panel discussions, networking, games and social activities – including cocktail parties. Topics include; Asset protection, Peer-to-Peer lending, Crowdfunding, Development, Senior Housing, Alternative Investments, Financing and Equity shares. In addition, National REIA will be providing industry & legislative updates as well as other nationallyrenowned speakers. Last year’s cruise ended on an exciting note with a real estate reverse raffle – that was not only captivating but very informative!
This season’s cruise takes place on Celebrity’s Equinox –a luxurious marvel of maritime engineering that’s packed with awesome amenities (the fun part). Through a special arrangement, National REIA has various options available starting at $1,175 per person (double occupancy). Are you unable to make this Winter’s cruise? Don’t worry....another one is just around the corner in early 2020. Watch for more information in the coming year from National REIA.
banning that felony specifically, and you want to have that reason written into your background check policy,” Tassell said. For example, Tassell’s experience allows him to ban prospective renters convicted of writing fraudulent checks. “I can tell you about one personally,” Tassell said. “It was a scam check writer. He would have cost us $2,500 if we hadn’t caught it and worked with the banks to go after the fraud.”
got to make,” Tassell said.
For more information or to sign up, please visit www.NationalREIACruise.com.
Background Checks Remain Key ...continued from page 1 occur. “Being a property owner who’s had a gun flashed at me from a tenant’s drugdealing boyfriend who moved into the unit, I want to know who I’m renting to,” Tassell said. “I want to know who they’re associating with beforehand to eliminate as many of those potential problems and crises as possible.” Laziness toward background checks amounts to gambling away your investment, Tassell says. “Do you want to open up an asset you own that is worth anywhere from $30,000 to $3 million to somebody you don’t know?” Tassell said. “They could be a proven arsonist, or a sexual predator, and you’re just going to let them into your building?”
Cast a Wide Net Not all criminal background checks are created equal. They range from local police reports to nationwide scans of multiple databases. Local police reports tend to exclude out-of-state crimes. Tassell says landlords who rely on tenants to obtain their own police report may not be seeing the full picture. “If you don’t have a professional that does a country-wide scan and screening, then you’re not getting information you need to make good judgments about who you are leasing to,” Tassell said. Innocent until Proven Guilty Important as they are, however, background checks are simply a screening tool, not a “guilty” verdict. Tassell said landlords should distinguish mere arrests from actual convictions, because “we have a longstanding tradition in this country, and it’s a very good tradition, that you are innocent until proven guilty.” Arrests are not judgments, so they do not (and should not) carry the weight of convictions, according to HUD guidance issued in 2016. Avoid ‘Disparate Impact’ Even landlords who do distinguish arrests from convictions can run afoul Real Estate Journal · Fall 2018
of HUD’s guidance. Landlords who automatically reject tenants who have criminal pasts risk making a “disparate impact.” Disparate impact is the theory that applying a rule equally to everyone can still be a discriminatory practice. For example, African-Americans and Hispanics are arrested and convicted in higher proportion than the general white population. Therefore, refusing to rent to people who have criminal backgrounds—or even just to felons— will affect more African-Americans and Hispanics than whites. Tassell says landlords can avoid disparate impact by screening for specific kinds of crimes. “HUD wants us to look at our policies and at specific felonies instead of just saying ‘no felonies’ across the board,” Tassell said.
Doing Time Landlords can still say “no” to felons, but they should be more lenient toward prospective renters whose criminal history is far behind them or less severe than that of other criminals. “HUD has asked property owners to determine different lengths of time for different felonies,” Tassell said. “That may mean that some felonies are not accepted.” Crimes with high recidivism rates (greater likelihood of being repeated) justify longer wait periods before entering a lease, Tassell says. “The reason sexual predators are regarded more at arm’s length is because the recidivism rates are typically much higher,” Tassell said. “Crimes of passion, such as assaults or even murder, typically have very low recidivism rates.” Fool Me Once…. Landlords are free to “weight” crimes more heavily than others to avoid getting repeatedly burned by criminal tenants, Tassell said. “You have to justify why you are
Neighborhood Watch? Whatever a landlord’s specific policies, criminal background checks at least help landlords defuse the concerns of good tenants. Generally, a prospective tenant’s criminal history is a private matter among the renter, property manager, and property owner. But sometimes local law enforcement may announce to the whole community when a convicted felon moves in. “If you’ve done your criminal background checks and you know it in advance, that’s fine, but if you didn’t know it, now you’ve got egg on your face,” Tassell said. Residents of multifamily housing may move out. Property owners should count the cost sooner than later. “Those are business decisions you’ve
Looming Policy Debate Some communities are pushing to ban criminal background checks from the initial tenant approval process. Tassell says such bans would create a two-stage application process misleading to tenants and landlords alike. “Typically, if you’ve gone through and found they have enough money, credit, and all that, then you would do a background check,” Tassell said. “You may have to tell somebody, ‘Yes, we think we’re moving you forward. Oh, by the way, no, we can’t.’” Some advocate banning criminal background checks from the entire screening process. That would be bad for business, Tassell says. “Rental property is a business, and there’s a risk management side to it,” Tassell said. “The criminal background check is an essential aspect of managing that risk.” John Triplett is a partner in Desert Path Marketing Group an Arizona-based digital content marketing agency of longtime journalists.
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