Wesley Snipes’ IRS Case for Rental Home Inspections

Wesley Snipes is a great actor.  Watching him in White Men Can’t Jump, Major League, and other films is some good theater. 

But Wesley got some bad advice at tax time in the late 90’s.  His accountants told him there was a loophole that would allow him to avoid $7M in taxes; in fact, he didn’t even have to file tax returns.  He thought that sounded pretty good.  And besides, everybody knows the IRS isn’t really paying close attention with the sheer amount of returns they have to log every year. 

 

Well, the IRS was paying attention.  And they got Wesley’s attention with a 3-year prison sentence that ended in 2013.

 

It was sad for everyone: his many fans, his accountants (who received even stiffer jail sentences), the IRS who had to use limited resources to prosecute his case, and especially for Wesley (who had reputedly earned over $40M from 1999-2004).

 

There were a lot of questions in Wesley’s case, but one almost undeniable certainty- Wesley’s tax returns now are the most truthful and timely documents he files every year. 

 

This logic spills over into residential property management and periodic home inspections.  If landlords can show tenants that they are paying attention to what is going on in the house and whether maintenance is being done, they will undoubtedly get a better conditioned house when the tenant eventually vacates.

So, yes, this means going over to and inside the rental house.  I’d highly recommend giving the tenant a week or so notice of when the home inspection is and letting them know what you are specifically planning on looking at (e-mailing them a list is helpful).

 

17. What should a landlord include in their home inspections? 

1. Anything they care about. 

 

Some general things I care about:
 

1. Do the keys still work?
2. Is the lawn and landscaping being kept up?
3. Are the air filters being changed?
4. Are the fire and CO detectors still there on each level of the house and are they functional (aka is the tenant changing the batteries when they die?)
5. Is the home clean?
6. Does it smell like smoke?
7. Is there evidence of a pet if there isn’t supposed to be one?
8. Does anything look weird?

Feel free to add anything else of interest.  I also think conducting the home inspections twice a year (roughly on month 3 and month 9 of the lease) works well.  Paying attention is good, stalking is bad.

 

Wesley has some well-maintained tax returns now and periodic home inspections should lead to some well-maintained rental homes.

 

Happy Landlording!

Brett Furniss is a property manager at BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.   BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area.  Contact Us Today!