This post was first published on the MatthewChan Blog.

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As an MBA alumni who became an author, I have been invited by Webster University to attend the Webster University Alumni & Faculty Authors Book Signing & Reception in St. Louis, MO on October 9, 2009.

When I attended Webster University for my MBA well over a decade ago, I did the academic work at the Orlando campus.  I have never been to St. Louis and looking forward to finally visiting the city and the Main Campus being at the heart of the academic action.

I will be bringing out my digital camera and camcorder to capture some memories of the experience.

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I am happy to announce that my friend and real estate business partner, Wes Weaver, got engaged to Brandy Sheffield.  I am very happy for the couple.  I think they will make a great couple.  I was honored and privileged to have been invited and attended the private family and close friends event at his parents house in Midland, GA.

I look forward to attending their wedding whenever they decide it should be.

ColumbusGAHousing.com will give “street information” as to how they actually work, not the “official” public line they tell people. They always seem to have excuses as to why they fall short in their customer service performance but they have no problems holding anyone else accountable.

My business partner and I continue to work with them and have several rental homes under the Section 8 Housing Voucher Program but our complaints have largely gone ignored. However, that may change when they find out (through ColumbusGAHousing.com) that more landlords are dissatisfied with their customer service to landlords. It may also require escalation to higher levels of the HUD Agency to get some attention.

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It is pretty bad that our Public Housing Authority (PHA), The Housing Authority of Columbus GA, has no functional website or central source of information. So, I have decided to put together an informal source of information (and comments) that other local landlords can refer to. I would have preferred they put one together but I was told that it might be an indeterminate time when this might happen.

I have learned that putting things in writing is far more effective than simply complaining. Our PHA gets complaints all the time and I get the feeling they are numbed by the onslaught of people. So, I have chosen to simply collect and publicly report the information here.

Meanwhile, everyone has to pray and hope a phone call can be returned. Return phone calls by nearly everyone is either ignored or extremely slow because they are supposedly understaffed and underfunded. I have been hearing this excuse for years and it has tested my patience. I have been very respectful and tried to be understanding and accommodating but I am quickly coming to the conclusion that if you need attention and help, you have to be willing to complain insistently, loudly, and to many people.

We are private landlords that work within the Section 8 Voucher Program.  Because of my various attempts to investigate and gather information regarding the chain of command and who is accountable to who, this is what I have come up thus far:

• Executive Director: Len Williams
• Director of Housing: Carolyn LaValley (706) 571-2842
• Section 8 Coordinator: Bob Wade (706) 571-2870
• Inspector: Scott Johnson (706) 571-2873 x 2876
• Inspector: John Casteel (706) 571-2873 x 2875
• Inspector: Angie Suggs (706) 571-2873 x 2833

Their street address is: 1180 Martin Luther King Blvd. Columbus 31906.

The Board Chairman is: Franklin Douglass (706) 321-0015

The Housing Authority of Columbus GA works with the HUD office in Atlanta.

• Barry Troutman  – Regional Section 8 Expert (678) 732-2507.
• He reports to Ada Holloway – (678) 732-2334
• Susan Brooke is the HUD representative that works with our local PHA. (678) 732-2548

I had to call these folks to learn more about the working relationship of HUD and our local PHA. I was advised to HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program document. This is the master document from which our PHA sets their own administrative policies.

I have been told that this Administrative Guide is 600-pages long and only available if you are willing to pay to photocopy this manual. This is such an obsolete approach. They don’t seem to have an electronic version available.  However, I question this because someone had to type up this manual into a computer. I have to believe there is some electronic file saved somewhere within their computer systems. They simply need to make the file available. If it is a Microsoft Word or Corel Wordperfect file, it can be easily converted to a PDF file.

I really dislike calling our local PHA beyond what I minimally need because they are always trying to rush you off the phone and give quick answers.  More than once, I have had to politely tell them to not rush me off because I wanted my questions answered and issues taken cared of.

This post will be periodically updated as I get new information. If you are a landlord and would like to contribute information that I do not currently have here, please email me.

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Since this post was made, I launched ColumbusGAHousing.com, a landlord’s guide to The Columbus GA Housing Authority. More information can be found there.

Although it seems like a small change, the reaction has been popular.  With the price cuts we implemented and re-popularizing the the term “lease-to-own” in our local area, the response has been huge.  We have blown out every vacant home that was available.  We have received less upfront monies than before but the vacancies are filled.

I still do not like the term “rent-to-own”.  The distinction between “renting vs. leasing” may seemingly be small but it does attract a different crowd.  Fundamentally, we are still using lease-options, but using the term “lease-to-own” has been a positive experience.

If you order $100 worth of products, you will get a $40 discount.  This is a very steep discount but I can afford to do it as the publisher and author.  You will have to enter a coupon code to take advantage of this “sep08sale”.  It expires on September 30, 2008.

If there have been any titles you wanted to order, now is the time to order.

Go visit the Ascend Beyond SuperStore for this very special sale.

Essentially, you can sweep a garnishee’s bank account.  It is a powerful way to collect on unpaid judgments.

First, you have to pay $47.50 to domesticate a judgment if from out of state.  That judgment has to be served.  It gives them the opportunity to contest it.  After a waiting period and if they don’t contest it, you can move to bank garnishments.

To do a multiple bank garnishment, we have to pay $49.50 for the first bank and $3.00 for each additional bank.  In the past, there were only 7 major banks to garnish.  However, we now have 16 banks if you include all the small, community banks that have cropped up in recent years.

One attorney reportedly files for all 16 banks in one shot.  At only $3.00/bank, it is a good value.  Garnishment fees are reimbursable and can be added to the balance.

If you do not get all the monies on the first wave, you simply refile at a future time to sweep the banks again.  Although you have to pay another filing fee to sweep the banks, you can once again tack on that fee to the outstanding balance.  You can do it as many times as you need to, to ultimately collect the balance and all the filing fees.

My opinion is that you can only do this once in a great while since people will be wise to it and may avoid bank accounts altogether.

It didn’t help that I did a poor job getting the word out.  In some ways, it is a bit of a relief although my investor friends were certainly looking forward to it.  What this project did allow me to do was take inventory of what I thought was important and in the big scheme of things, canceling the workshop seemed the most obvious project to cancel from my already full plate.

I have been resistant to doing this program because I have been very guarded with my time and personal schedule.  Even with this announcement, I still am.  However, I believe I have created a way to comfortably coach, consult, and mentor others in a way that is effective and reasonably priced.

What sent me over the edge was a customer seeking a coaching, consulting, and mentoring program was actually considering an offer of $10,000 upfront and a monthly fee of $1,000/month from someone who had less real estate and credentials than my real estate partner, Wes and I did!  I told my customer I thought that it was ridiculously priced.  Shortly after that conversation, I decided to develop a program that was reasonable and effective, not this overpriced B.S. program.

For many beginning students, their toughest time is the first 30-days.  That is often their make or break period.  Because of this very formative period, it will be the most intensive period for both my students and myself.  I have to shake them out of their comfort zone and push them out to make things happen both effectively and intelligently.

To maintain good quality control, I will accept students into this program only by a written application and telephone interview process.  I only want to work with students who have a good shot at success.  Having coached, mentored, and instructed many students over the years, I have a good sense of who is committed and who is simply all-talk.

I have committed myself to those individuals that are optimistic, mature, confident, independent, flexible, creative, can listen, and accept constructive criticism and direct feedback.  These types of people have the innate personality traits to succeed at nearly anything they set their minds to.

And while my Consulting Program is considerably less expensive than most real estate investor seminars, it carries a strong enough of a financial weight for the students paying to take this seriously.  It can be afforded but I would not say it is affordable.

Additionally, because the program is on strict time schedules, the student ultimately loses if they get lazy and don’t do their assignments or stick to their 120-day plan.  I also reserve the right at any time to let go of any student who isn’t being accountable to me and to themselves.  I don’t have the patience and stomach for it.

Like my time during the Investors Roundtable, everyone will be put on notice that they must perform.  And after 4-6 months of consulting, I will likely give them notice that their time with me will come to an end.  Basically, if there is no results or success, the consulting must end.

The rules are set.  I am excited by this program.  I have set a high standard for the students to meet.  Only the most confident and capable will want to take this program with me as their coach and mentor.  I openly tell the people I coach and mentor, I cannot be their friend and effectively help them.  Friendship has to be secondary and only after the consulting process has concluded.

Just a quick note…

It has taken awhile but I am happy to announce that the registration for “The 2008 TurnKey Investor’s Real Estate Portfolio-Building Workshop” is now open.

There are Early-bird registration discounts as well as discounts for spouses and business partners.

And for the student who wants a premium experience, we have 6 VIP Registration slots open.

Also, there have been new promotional articles written “My Personal Story” as it relates to the workshop and “Great Reasons to Attend the Workshop”.  These two articles are meant to help interested parties decide if the workshop is suitable for them.