Change Of Address Form (To Be Completed By A New Homeowner Or: Fill & Download for Free

Yes, in the US you can find new homeowners in your area by reviewing the deeds recorded at your county recorder. Depending on your county you may be able to do it online, or you may have to travel to the recorders office and do it in person. Either way, you’ll want to search for the appropriate deed for changes of ownership in your county. The most common is a Grant Deed, though in some states it may be a Warranty Deed, or another form of deed. From there you’ll need to review each deed, check to see if it is actually a change of ownership (some deeds correct errors in earlier deeds, or transfer ownership into or out of trusts, etc), and then pull out the name and address of the new homeowner. If your “area” does not exactly match the whole county, you’ll have to weed through every deed to find the one’s you are interested in. While counties allow you to review deeds at no charge, whether or not it can be done for little or no cost depends on how you value your time.Alternatively, you can subscribe to a service like ours, PropertyRadar.com, where you can draw a circle around the area you are interested in, add other criteria if you want, and get both a complete list of new owners within last xx days, and mobile or email notifications anytime someone new is added to the list for as little as $39/mo.

LL's believe they can do anything they want since there the homeowner & usually get away with it bcse tenants don't challenge them or check into their rights with the Landlord Tenant Board. For instance, a LL can't give a verbal or written eviction that they drew up themselves. Evictions MUST be given on a Landlord Tenant Board eviction form. Evictions MUST be dated the last day prior to when you pay rent eg. Rents due the 1st, eviction would be dated the 30th or 31st of prior month & you have 60 days to move from date on the eviction.We live in a duplex, bsmt LL, 1st flr us, 2nd flr tenants. We've lived here for 7 yrs, had minor problems with the LL’s. The LL's are brother & sister, brother is who lives in the bsmt.The LL requested a meeting with us first. He reminded us how we've not had a rent increase in the 7 yrs living here. They were asking for a $500 increase. We immediately refused, the LL had said we're like family, would like to work something out to avoid going for a hearing at LTB. He knew if we went to LTB he would lose. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada the LTB gives a fixed rate as to what a LL can raise the rent to. In 2018 it was 1.8%, with our rent works out to approx $40 per month. I had asked the LL what he was going to do with the 2nd flr unit. LL said he would be askig the same increase.The young men upstairs unit are friends of my son, they can't work, are on the Ontario Disability Program which they receive approx $1200 monthly. This is supposed to cover rent, groceries, utilities, necessities, prescriptions & transportation. I try to look out for them to avoid them being taken advantage & being bullied.After the boys meeting with the LL they contacted me concerned with the LL's rent increase. The LL told them there increase would be $700. I was surprised after the LL told me it would be the same as ours $500. LL did this bcse he knows the young boys wouldn't be able to afford it, Thinks he can get away with it bcse they don't know better, wouldn't dispute.As we still had to come to an agreement on our rent increase I arranged a meeting. I invited the 2 boys from the above unit & never informed the LL. Both LL's decided to attend the meeting. They arrived, were surprised the boys were there since the meeting was to discuss our increase. I started the meeting asking why the LL told us the increase for both units would be increased to $1800, but above unit to $2000. Right in front of the boys the LL says he never said $2000, they misunderstood, he was only telling them what he could get in rent. They were irate, told him there not stupid or deaf, 100% he said $2000 is what the rent would increase to. See, if he evicts he can increase rent to whatever he wants with new tenants. Where as if we all continue living there the law states for this year all LL's could only raise the rent was by 1.8%,m.We all came to an agreement of $1600 which will include repairs that LL will have done immediately. Even though it was illegal what he was asking I agreed bcse we have always got along, had no increase in the 7 yrs. if I had to move I would be paying more for rent somewhere else & now I won't have to move. After our meeting the LL drew up papers with the agreement which we all signed.The following day the LL gave an eviction notice to the boys above. The reason he said was so he & his family could move in. The law states that a LL can evict if he intends to move into the property.One of the repairs to be done was putting an overhead fan above the stove. We were given a 24 hr notice to have an electrician install one in our unit & the above unit. As the electrician & assistant are doing the work what should of taken aprox 2 hrs took 4 hrs. They stepped out for a few minutes, my husband went into the kitchen, seen the tools he was using were poor quality. This now explains why it was sounding so bad & taking so long. As the electrician completed the work & was leaving my husband asks if he's a licensed, the electrician replies that he wasn't licensed. Now we have a problem, he’s an illegal electrician.My husband goes looks at the finished work. He's no electrician but does know enough the work done is wrong, knew it was illegal. He goes outside & has the illegal electrician come back in along with the LL. My husband confronts the illegal electrician, tells him this is illegal work. The illegal electrician replies saying that he's done hundreds of these & this is how he does it, then leaves. What the illegal electrician had done was leave all wiring exposed when it MUST be grounded. Also he connected it to a regular wall outlet when it MUST be an electrical outlet. We went & looked at the above unit, same thing except he left dangling a regular extension cord to plug into a regular wall outlet. It was worse than ours. For some reason that day, before finding out about the electrician being illegal, something told me to take a photo of the electricians vehicle license plate.Later that evening the LL slides under our door an eviction notice. He put the same reason as the 2nd unit, he needs it for himself & family. Now we know he was lieing as to the eviction of both units. Same eviction, both units, for himself & family. He can only live in one unit. He's doing this for money, with new tenants he can charge the $2000 rent he's been wantingNow I was pissed, LL is endangering all our lives hiring an illegal electrician, he needs a be stopped before this house or one of the hundreds of homes he's claimed installing goes up in flames. I couldn't just leave this alone, something had to be done.I contacted the Electrical Safety Authority. I explain the what happened & also informed them I believe the bsmt unit is illegal. The front of the house has a driveway & garaage on each side of the house. He sealed off the garage doors, went built the bsmt unit inside without getting a building or electrical permit. How it was confirmed, when the Electrical Safety Authority(ESA) looked up our address & informed me that there records go back to 1999, they have no record on file of ever a permit being issued for our address. The info I provided of what the illegal electrician had done they wanted to send an inspector to investigate.The inspector arrived, looks at the work in our unit & was stunned. Then when we showed him the 2nd unit he was really alarmed. He informed us to stop using the fans immediately to avoid the possibility of being electrocuted.While the inspector was there I inquired about the fuse box. I explained that it is in the LL's unit. When a fuse goes we have to contact the LL, when he's not home wait till he arrives & informed him I'm pretty sure its an illegal unit. If it was legal then the fuse box would be outside of his unit so we all have access. Law says, bcse this is a house was built with apartment units each unit must have their own fusebox.The LL was written up by the inspector for 6 infractions. They must be repaired asap, gave him a deadline to have all work completed, proove repairs done by licensed electrician. The inspector advised the LL that the fans & wiring all must be removed asap & that he has to have a fuse box installed in each unit. Also, the wiring elsewhere on the property isn't to code & must update all of it by an assigned due date. Deadline date comes, an inspector comes back, sees work not all done, now LL was given a 2nd deadline date. The ESA asked if I would provide them with a copy. They are now investigating the LL's hiring of an unlicensed electrician & the unlicensed electrician. The both LL's are refusing to provide the name of the unlicensed electrician. If the LL's would of hired a licensed electrician the aprox cost would of been $200, hiring an unlicensed electrician is aprox $10,000 with all the repairs the ESA has forced them to do.In the meantime what us & 2nd unit did was refused his eviction. What this means is that the LL has to file for a hearing at the LTB. Prior to the hearing I submitted a book full of evidence I gathered. I kept record with date/time of everything that happened, every conversation whether by talking or thru text & photos, all 24 hrs notices he didn't comply with. Almost all notices were less than 24 hrs. This way the judge has an opportunity to view prior to the hearing. When you submit evidence the day of the hearing the judge only has time to skim thru everything & may miss something.Most judges don't like LL's, they know LL's try to scam to get what they want. Since it was the LL who filed for the hearing, it's his responsibility to prove why he needs to evict us. It took 4 hearings before the judge made a final decision. What started June 2018 didn't didn't finish till March 31/19. Our eviction date. I had a grocery list of items he was doing illegal.Hearing # 1, LL thinks it's a slam dunk. The only thing the judge asks us is what day do we pay rent. I tell her the 1st. She looks at the LL & tells him she's dismissing his request to evict, its thrown out. He dated the eviction the 30th when there was 31 days in the month. Of course he was stunned, says it was a simple error. The judge tells him the LTB law states an eviction must be dated the day before a tenant pays rent, eviction is null & void.In our case the Judge saw right through him, seen he was evicting us for a cash grab. The judge seen the LL had put on the eviction notices for both units that he needs each unit for he & his family to move in. Dead giveaway, he can only live in one unit so why the need to evict both. Also, what was going on with the ESA, hiring an illegal electrician. The judge even told the LL she recommends he get a lawyer. This went right over his head, think he thought she was talking about the eviction hearings when she was referring to what was going on with the ESA.Now LL has to give us a new eviction which means another 60 days of waiting. We all decline again, now he has to refile for a new hearing. Each time the LL files it costs him $200.Hearing # 2. The LTB law states if a LL evicts for his own personal use he must pay the tenant one months rent by the eviction date. Bcse the hearing came after the eviction date, we hadn't moved yet as we were waiting for the hearing, regardless the LL should of paid us the one months rent required by the eviction date he filed. He hadn't paid us, the eviction was thrown out. The LL tells the judge he wasn't aware. She informs him again as a LL its his responsibility to be aware. She also asked why isn't he using the toll free # for LL's to get advice on what the law is. There is a # for tenants & theres also free legal aide you can call. I used the hotline & free legal aide, they were very informative. Also, should you have a hearing, go early, right there on site they have duty councils you can speak with to ask questions before the hearing begins. I spoke with one for each hearing.Hearing #3. They ran out of time to hear our case. LTB hearings are like when you go to small claims court. They hear a # of cases that day. Again the eviction date has gone by. We now wait for the LTB to send a notice for a new hearing date.While waiting for the new hearing date I had prior filed for a hearing against the LL for not maintaining the property which is endangering our living conditions. I was also going after him to pay my storage fees. When we had to clear everything out from hallways for the ESA's electrical repairs to be done. The LL refused to allow us to store anything in the backyard. He threatened if we did he would throw it out & any costs would be billed to us. What I had planned on doing was to put our belongings in a tent in the backyard, now we had to rent a storage unit. We go before the judge, she remembers who we are, not happy with the LL knowing what he's trying to do & now we're before her bcse of maitenance safety living conditions the LL is not maintaining. She reviews my evidence & advises me she's unable to force him to allow us store our belongings in the backyard. Its his yard, he can refuse if he wants. The judge gets hin anyway. The evidence I provided, aprox half a dozen items, she informs the LL he hasn't maintained the property which is endangering & causing unlivable living conditions. She went thru all the items I submitted, gives him dates that each item must be repaired by. For each hearing the tenants in the 2nd unit came to be witnesses if needed. After this hearing the LL was at the elevator doors. Myself & my witnesses were waiting at the end of the hall till he went first down the elevator. The LL sees us, comes marching up to us, his finger in my face, in threatening voice says you're outta here end of Jan & to the boys that they're next.Hearing # 4. Now it's Jan 8th. the eviction notice date is for Jan 31st. This would be our last hearing . Again, go in & she knows who we are immediately. This time the LL came with a lawyer. She begins by pissing him off, she put our case the last one to hear so he has to wait.Even though we were there for the eviction hearing the Judge begins by asking if the LL has paid us the one months rent he is required to do. I inform her he did, he gave it to us 2 days prior to this hearing. Then asks if the LL has completed all the repairs he was to have done from my hearing. I inform her what's been done & what he still has to do. The LL tries giving excuses as to why he hasn't completed everything. Now the judge is unhappy & informs the LL he's not taking this seriously, can't do what he wants & needs to complete asap.The judge then continues with why we are there, for his eviction. The judge begins asking the LL why he requires our unit, what's wrong with the unit he's in. LL says his family is growing, he has a wife, 1 1/2 yr old twins & another new baby due in feb. The bsmt unit isn't large enough. She asks if he moves into our unit what are his plans for the bsmt. He says his m-i-l is coming for 6 mths to help out & she will be living in the unit. Says the m-i-l can't go up/down many stairs, going into the bsmt only has a few & having her own unit gives her privacy. Judge asks if there are stairs to go up to get to our unit. He replies yes, the judge says you're saying the m-i-l can't go up/down stairs thats why she's going into the bsmt & yet you're on the 1st flr which means she will have to go up/down more stairs if she's there to help, it doesn't make sense.Then I remind her how he's evicting both units for the same reasons, have her look at my evidence of both evictions. I explain that he has only filed our hearing bcse our unit is only one with AC, & he's using our hearing as a test before he files for another hearing for the 2nd unit. How the boys in the 2nd unit are on ODSP & he's evicting them bcse he knows they can't afford the $700 rent increase he's asking for. I remind her in my evidence that even though the rent agreement we reached isn't legal & not on a LTB form we did all sign an agreement. That the eviction was given after the signed agreement & on the evening we confronted them that the electrical work was illegal. Also provided evidence, the LL letter, that he told the boys in 2nd unit to clean out the 3rd bedroom thats empty since my son moved out, he plans to sublet it for $650 monthly.Know the lawyer he brought, what a waste. The LL obviously only told him that he was evicting us so he can move him & family in. He failed to tell the lawyer that he gave the same eviction to 2nd unit, trying to sublet the 3rd bdrm in 2nd unit, the illegal electrical problems, he signed a rental agreement with us, eviction was given after signed agreement & given on evening we called out the illegal electrician worker & that the LL is under investigation with the ESA.Every time the judge had confronted the LL with any of the facts I’ve provided, its not legal. The poor lawyer, you could see on his face he was surprised what he was hearing. All the lawyer could do was agree with what the judge said.It was decision time, the judge advised the LL she was apprehensive that he needs the unit for himself but has to rule in his favor of evicting us bcse law states the homeowners can evict if LL wants to reside in the unit.Not before hurting the LL as much as she could. She told him that he wants an apartment he's getting it. He is to move into our unit & must live in it for a year before he can rent it out. The 2nd unit, there eviction had expired by the time of our hearing, the judge told him that he's not allowed to evict the tenants in the 2nd unit for one year. She asks when is this eviction for, tell her Jan 31st. She asks if we require an extension. I said the end of Feb. She says that she feels its its not a enough time & extends the eviction to March March 31st.Remember, he was doing this bcse he needs the money. He has mortgaged the house 2 or 3 times. Now he's screwed, he can't collect income from our unit bcse he has to live in it, the 2nd unit he can't increase the rent the $700 he wanted, they continue paying rent as is for a year. The judge asked us if we had any problem if he rents out the bsmt unit once the m-i-l leaves in 4-6 mths. We said we were fine with it. The judge advised us that at any time we find out he's not living in our unit & has rented it out we're to bring him back to court. Between tenants in 2nd unit & neighbors who dislike him. They will be watching that no other people are entering/exiting the house other than the LL's family & tenants in 2nd unit. If they see anything unusual I will be informed.We were okay with the outcome even though we have to leave. My main concern was the boys in the 2nd unit. They would have no where to go, now they have a year before they have to figure out what they will do.Its wasn't even a month from the hearing the doorbell rings. It obviously should of been for the LL. Go open the door, the person says they were told there was an apartment for rent. I said no, they need to get in contact with whomever you were to see & closed the door. The LL was home at the time, but i wasn't letting him know this. Week goes by, someone else comes, same thing again, heard a rental is available. Again said no, call their contact. Now i will have to go file at the LTB for another hearing. Even though we'll be moved out of here before the hearing the Judge needs to know what the LL is upt to& he hasn't completed the repairs she gave him. I don't know if the judge has the authority bcse she is a LTB judge she should be made aware that both LL's aren't cooperating with the ESA, are refusing to give them the name of the unlicensed electrician.The ESA have been investigating, they got an address from the license plate I provided; 1) the vehicle is registered to a female, think its the wife, 2) the address is in the furthest south you can go in Hamilton, we're in Toronto. Why would you hire someone from Hamilton when there are alot of licensed electricians in Toronto. 3) They went to the address, found out the vehicle ownership, new people have lived at the address for 7 yrs. They have never submitted a change of address updating the drivers license.I've been keeping in touch with the ESA investigator, helping where I can. They have been giving up to dates of what's been going on.What the ESA did find out was the person who came & removed the fans in both units & repaired the electrical for just the fans, once again the LL didn't hire a licensed electrician. The ESA spoke with the unlicensed electrician, told him to cooperate or he will be charged. He provided all info ESA required. During this the LL has no idea he is being investigated. He thought the previous infractions was the end of it. The ESA will be charging the LL for the 2nd illegal electrician & continue looking for the 1st unlicensed electrician. He needs to be caught, charged before something dangerous happens.As you see it's a lot of work. I couldn't just let the LL get away with doing what he wants. I'm happy that it's cost him aprox $10,000 to repair the electrical, he's not able to rent the apartments out, he's being forced to live in it, getting no income. The above unit he can't evict or increase their rent. That he will be charged by the ESA for hiring unlicensed electricians. Now when I go file for another hearing suspecting he's not complying & the possibly trying to rent out the unit when the LL is supposed to be living in it. Have to see what happens there. I felt string about this, Its been worth every bit of time.

Tips for buying a home will vary quite a bit by region, so I’ve dedicated this post to first-time home buyers in NYC.For those of you looking for tips for buying a home in NYC, welcome to the ultimate jungle of the 1%.Depending on what price range you’re looking for, you’ll be facing off against competition ranging from desperate working professional couples to wealthy cash buyers from China happy to leave their “store of value” completely empty and unrented.Competition for homes up to $2mm is known to be extremely fierce in NYC due to the large numbers of working professionals making $300,000 a year who can afford that price range. If possible, buy when the market is taking a breather and at a price range higher than $3mm. However, given that having unlimited cash and flexibility in timing is not a luxury for everyone, we’ll deconstruct every typical piece of advice you’ll find on the internet written by people who have never bought or sold an apartment.Find a real estate agentThis is the typical first piece of advice you’ll find online for tips for buying a home in NYC. The typical article will suggest you work with someone you trust (who doesn’t have at least 5 real estate agent friends in NYC?), ask friends and family for a referral or look online for public reviews of top agents in your area.The primary flaw of this advice, much to the detriment of all home buyers, is that it doesn’t even present to first time buyers the possibility that they can get a buyer agent commission rebate to help cover their closing costs. While frustratingly uncommon in NYC even after it’s been legalized in New York by the New York State Attorney General, it’s almost criminal that we have not found one article in the first few pages of Google results that even mention the possibility of a commission rebate.The key for buyers to understand is that even though the services of buyers’ agents are pitched as “free,” you along with every other buyer are paying for it collectively in the form of higher sale prices. Just because sellers have to pay the broker fee (which is typically shared among the listing and buyer broker) does not mean they don’t markup sale prices to account for this cost. Given this clarification does it not make sense then to ask for a commission rebate to account for the higher purchase price you are paying?We suggest first deciding whether the average 1% off the purchase price in the form of a commission rebate is worth it to you when buying a home in NYC. If it doesn’t and you just want to work with someone you already know and are comfortable with (Russian and Chinese overseas buyers we’re talking to you) and the money doesn’t matter, then congratulations and you probably don’t need to be spending time reading this in the first place.If however, you think that 1% off your purchase price (that’s over $20,000 on average in Manhattan where the average sale price is now $2 million) is worth it, you’ll want to know whether receiving one will affect your ability to close on a scarce piece of inventory.While there may be unprofessionalism and listing broker discrimination against the typical one-man broker offering these types of rebates, there will not be any issues in working with a full-service REBNY Member Firm affiliated with Hauseit. The key is to work with a top professional in your area who has full access to all listings and does not advertise him or herself as a discount in any way. You want the benefit of working with a full-service broker with a stellar reputation and also get the benefit of a commission rebate when buying a home in NYC.Get a Pre-Approval letter from your Mortgage LenderThe typical piece of advice online will suggest you get “pre-approved” so that you have a sense of what you can actually borrow and afford to buy. What they won’t tell you is that the best brokers won’t work with you unless you can demonstrate that you are a real buyer. That means if you’re going to need financing, you have already been “pre-approved” by your bank or mortgage lender and that you have a minimum of 25% in a down payment. A bank pre-approval letter is much stronger than a simple pre-qualification letter. The former means the bank has already partially underwritten your loan and typically means that you are already 80% of the way there. The latter is much easier to secure, typically as quickly as after a 15 minute phone call with a mortgage banker where no documents have been submitted or verified by the lender.As a result, if you’re going to need a mortgage, make sure you get pre-approved before you begin your search. This way, listing agents will taking your inquiries and offers much more seriously if you’re buying directly. And if you’re planning on working with a buyers’ agent, they will take you much more seriously as well if you’ve demonstrated your intent and ability to buy by already having a pre-approval letter.Begin Your SearchAt this point, the typical article you’ll find on the web will give you a range of fluff ranging from “move fast” to “exceed the ask” to “establish a connection” and to “show kindness and flexibility” to the seller. While most of these may make sense (and some are just common sense) under certain conditions, they are all automatically addressed if you have a competent agent.What’s more important is to clarify the advantages at this crucial stage of searching with an agent vs yourself (Is buying a house without an agent in NYC a good idea?). What’s important to realize is that one of the primary advantages of working with a buyers’ agent is that they actually do have fresher and more accurate listing data than consumers have access to.A consumer will typically use a popular search website like Zillow or StreetEasy in NYC; however, what they fail to realize is that these websites typically only refresh their feeds every day or two. In contrast, real estate agents in NYC are contractually obligated to update their listings immediately or face stiff penalties from the local real estate trade organization. An agent in NYC must update a listing’s status change within 24 hours or face fines that range from hundreds to thousands of dollars and suspension from their local interbroker database. And because agents update their listing data directly to their local interbroker database, which also happens to refresh almost instantaneously (we’ve heard 30 minutes or less), the data they have is by default always fresher and most up to date.At this point, you should have an idea of whether you want to buy a condo, co-op or townhouse in NYC. Generally, condominiums and townhouses are more popular but priced higher because they are “real property” with all the traditional rights of real estate ownership. Co-operatives actually are shares in a non-profit corporation which actually owns the entire building. A co-operative owner receives a stock certificate and a proprietary lease with the right to occupy a certain unit in the building. Co-operative boards have much more power than condo boards as they are essentially a “Board of Directors” of the corporation. Please be aware that owning stock in a co-op is not considered personal property versus real property. Since it’s required to have a real estate attorney represent you in New York, make sure to ask them any questions you might have. They will handle the entire transaction after your broker has negotiated an accepted offer with the seller. Contrary to normal practice in other states, real estate brokers in NYC do not handle any of the contracts related to buying a home in NYC. Your real estate attorney will negotiate the purchase and sale contract and manage and represent you at closing.Don’t reach out to listing agents directlyAssuming you’ve decided to work with a buyers’ agent, you’ve got to respect industry conventions for buying a home in NYC and not make the “substantive first contact” directly with the listing agent. Doing so may give cause for the listing agent to refuse to work with your buyers’ agent because you are arguably a “direct buyer.”We realize this can be tough sometimes as you are eager to buy, looking at homes yourself on the internet and want to have your questions answered immediately. However, resist the urge to hit “Contact Agent” on a listing and instead send a list of your questions and listings you want to see to your buyers’ agent.Your buyer agent will reach out, schedule showings, sign you up for open houses and get your questions answered. It may seem cumbersome to have to work through a middleman, but the upside is you’ll have a loyal, dedicated agent who does have better data than you do who will help you schedule, negotiate and be with you every step of the way when buying a home in NYC.Hauseit Tutorial: How to save 1% off your home purchase price for FREE