“The years were going by too fast in corporate America. After twenty-two years, my job was outsourced to India, and it was time to begin a new life which makes a difference to the community and my family” (Judd). With Eric’s frequent “sighs” and bagged eyes, it is easy to see he has been busy and today is worn out. His usual straight 5’8” stature is hunched over, making him look a bit older than forty-eight and exhausted. “I have been very busy getting a rental cleaned after an eviction and ready for the new family”, said Eric, “I think I have only slept for four hours in the past two days” (Judd). His once-smooth hands are now calloused and cracked as he holds them out for all to see proudly saying, “These are no longer a computer engineer’s hands—these are a landlord’s hands!”
During an eviction proceeding, the slightest inaccuracy in paperwork can cost a landlord thousands of dollars. Eric Judd, a twelve-year veteran landlord in Central Illinois, never thought he would be representing himself in an eviction court when he graduated from Bradley University with a degree in Computer Science in 1986. However, twenty-seven years later, rather than sitting in a corporate cubical where he felt imprisoned for twenty-two years, he enjoys the freedom found within the diversity of being a landlord. Although the demands of this job are overwhelming at times, it allows him to be his own boss and have the family life he had planned. This profession requires a large amount of business training, construction and maintenance skills, communication skills, and tenacity.
About five years before Eric’s layoff from Caterpillar, Inc., Eric said he felt the “prompting of the Holy Spirit” to diversify his skills. With a strong business background and training in economics and statistics, he began buying homes in the Peoria East Bluff area. A Landlord without business skills would be a failing combination (Judd). From the beginning of the rental acquisitions, a landlord must know where the market for rentals is within a given city. Eric spent two-hours a day at the Peoria County Courthouse to research areas including police reports. The next step entailed contacting and negotiating with homeowners who were interested in selling their homes. His first rental was purchased from a son of a ninety-year-old woman who had recently died. The home was built in 1909 by his father. Five children had been raised at the home. However, within the past twenty years since the father’s death, the house had interior doors broken, window cracked, lead paint on the walls, and worn out carpeting.
A landlord has to be able to assess the cost of upgrading the home plus the price of the home to make sure he can make it a profitable business venture. The first home cost $18,000 to purchase and $10,000 in repairs and improvements. As a shrewd businessman, Eric was able to turn this run-down home into a home valued at $40,000 in today’s economy. Also, since then, he has generated over $7800 a year in rent. The business side of rentals does not stop there. He has to also figure in the cost of yearly taxes, city rental inspection fees, insurance and repairs.
Spending an average of two hours a day on the phone and computer doing rental-related activities is a commonplace for this profession. From screening prospective tenants to collecting rent and recording transactions are just parts of the daily routine. Every dollar spent on rental-related work must be logged and [the] filed. Every dollar taken in by rental-related work must be logged and filed as well. Most landlords must hire an accounting firm to do this. Thankful for his minor in accounting, Eric does all the bookwork himself. Calling tenants and references are also very time consuming. “I tell the tenants when they are given a five-day move-out notice for non-payment of rent that it is nothing personal, just business!” (Judd)
During the acquisition of his twelve rental units,