Tenant threatening Move out
Has anybody ever have a whining tenant that has always complained about something in their unit??
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Here is the deal. I have a tenant that has been complaining about something ever since she has moved in. The latest complaint has been because of a rat sighting.
Anyway, I have already had a professional exterminator out to the unit and he has already laid traps, etc. But the tenant is still always whining it seems.
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How have other Landlords delt with this??
take some boxes over there and ask if she needs help loading her stuff. then say if she complains about anything else she IS going to move. she will shut up
Quote:
On 2002-12-25 09:52, dc1 wrote:
take some boxes over there and ask if she needs help loading her stuff. then say if she complains about anything else she IS going to move. she will shut up
Joel,
Be careful about using this strategy. Your local landlord-tenant laws favor the tenant. Unless the tenant has actually violated some provision of your lease, you have no legal basis to evict this tenant. It may be annoying to continually receive trivial complaints, but if the complaints are valid you have to address them. If your lease is like mine, you may have some provisions that direct the tenant to report any property faults so that you may correct problems while they are still small. This tenant may be a little zealous, but may just be following the requirements of her lease.
If you really do not want this tenant, try to compromise. Offer to release the tenant from her lease, waive early termination provisions, and allow her to vacate without penalty. Lease provisions on security deposit refund would still be in effect. The tenant would surely cooperate in this approach if the tenant is really threatening to move out as the subject of your post states.
Suggest you consult with your attorney about your rights and protections before taking any action. In the absence of a lease violation and without the tenant's cooperation, I fear that your only recourse will be to refuse to renew the lease.
Dave T[ Edited by DaveT on Date 12/25/2002 ]
dave t
you are right in everything you said!
The assumption I made in error was that this landlord had a written agreement (contract) that had been violated or a short term contract. I address this situation before they ever become a renter via discounts for early payments and taking care of small problems themselves. All of my renters (except hud) have a month to month lease with a 30 day notification of intent to vacate. This allows me to end their contract for any reason! If they whine to excess, they WILL move. They know that and my renters know that I do not play any games and I have a low turn over rate because the dead beats know not to rent from me.
Sorry if i misled anyone.
as dave t said and i think it needs to be repeated-KNOW YOUR RIGHTS THEY KNOW THEIRS.
No, I don't want to evict her. I would love to keep her if it wasn't for her pickiness. This Particular tenant just seems pretty spoiled for a Section 8 tenant. If it is not one thing that is wrong it is another thing. The unit that she is living in is the best unit that I have (the reason why is that I used to live there).
You want to keep the tenant, and by inference, you do not want to terminate your participation in the Section 8 program for this property. You really want to make the tenant's constant complaints go away.
Within this framework, two quick solutions occur to me that make this problem someone else's problem.
1. Sell the property to the tenant with owner financing. If your area Section 8 program allows the tenant to apply her voucher toward homeownership, the tenant can become the property owner and thereafter responsible for all the complaints she is raising now.
2. Hire a property management company. Put someone else between you and the tenant. Let a professional property manager deal with all the complaints and issues. Your operating costs for this property will rise signficantly, but at least someone else is taking this tenant's phone calls.
Only one suggestion comes to mind that may help reduce the number of complaints to something more palatable. Try to schedule quarterly maintenance inspections. Tell the tenant when each inspection will occur, and ask the tenant to present her written list of repairs at that time. This consoldiates all her current complaints into one encounter per quarter.
Perhaps some of our other TCI members could suggest alternatives that we have not yet considered.
[ Edited by DaveT on Date 12/25/2002 ]
Quote:
Try to schedule quarterly maintenance inspections. Tell the tenant when each inspection will occur, and ask the tenant to present her written list of repairs at that time. This consoldiates all her current complaints into one encounter per quarter.
Well, we have always been responsive on maintenance requests, so that isn't the issue. It just seems with this tenant, no matter what I do, she still complains about something. I am going to go over to her place today to find out what the problem is.
I have had horror stories with Property Management, and I don't want to sell.
Hay Joel, Man I know what you mean. I had a tenant just like yours. The only thing that fixed my problem with my tenant was the day that she moved out. I have had other non-section 8 tenants that tried to find fault with the unit so they can attempt to get out of paying on time. But in reality this is just par for the course when it comes to being a landlord. I let things roll of my back like water off of a duck's back. Just look over your agreement that you signed with Section 8 and see what rules apply. Go from there. Good Luck
Go rent the Movie Pacific Heights with Michael Keaton and Meg Ryan. You'll probably decide your tenants not so bad. LOL
Its a wild Movie and talk about a bad tenant
Patty in Vegas
Wow do I understand this Joel,
They’ll call you day after day whining and complaining about insignificant little problems that you must instantly attend to.
Personal meetings with my renters once a year, carried on in a non-threatening way at mutually convenient times, has given me great insight into tenant concerns and has allowed me to assess the degree of cooperation, or lack of it, that I can expect from my tenant.
I have set up a rational method for tenants to request maintenance, which results in an audit trail. Just remember, do not do it all at once. Present the changes in stages or steps, which are digestible to the people who, after all, are essential to making your rental property a viable business enterprise
By showing your tenants that you are aware of their concerns, but not a push over, you will gain their respect. By acting fairly you will make them want to comply with your reasonable policies and procedures. Having accomplished this you will be in control, you will be the landlord!
I let my tenants know I care with holiday & birthday cards. I also call each and every tenant every quarter just to check on them this takes vary little time and let's them know I care.
All this has almost wiped out all whining. There will always be whining with some folks
[addsig]
I believe that we all have experienced similar situations with the "nagging" tenant. However, I have very little tolerance for such things; so, I address every concern, and when I have decided that there is nothing more that I can do to please the tenant, I simply ask them if they would like to be released from their lease. " I certainly wouldn't want them to stay in a house that they are unhappy with". (That statement usually works all the time).
I hope this helps. Good Luck.
I laughed when I saw the original post because during Christmas Dinner I received a call from a tenant that there was a rat in there apartment as big as a beaver. I told them to call an exterminator and get it taken care of ASAP and to have the exterminator contact me for billing purposes. The next day they said they are moving out. They seemed like good tenants. We even gave them $25 of there next months rent as a Christmas gift. Now they want there security deposit and January's rent back even though they are leaving almost 6 months before the lease expires and in the middle of winter no less! This is a one bedroom unit. It is very clean and renovated with competitive rent. It seems like a silly reason to leave to me, because I offered to deduct the rent for several days until the problem is dealt with, but they are determined to go.
I don't want them to start creating problems while we try to find new tenants. I notice that we have more problems with one-bedroom apartment that anything else. Does anybody else notice this?
How would you folks handle this?
Joel,
You will get your just rewards, just hang in there:
The Pope died and went to heaven. When he got there, he found a landlord in line in front of him at the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter came over and told the Pope, "Just a minute, I'll be right back". At that, Saint Peter took the landlord away. When Saint Peter came back, he told the Pope, "Follow me to your new quarters." Along the way they passed many people in their heavenly abodes, and they happened to pass by the quarters of the landlord who had just preceded Saint Peter through the Pearly Gates.
The Pope was awe-struck by the opulence and splendor of the landlord's quarters. There were fine silks, rare foods and drinks, soft music, and attractive young women to serve him for eternity.
Saint Peter and the Pope finally arrived at the Pope's new quarters. The Pope looked in and saw a 6 foot by 9 foot room with bare walls, a plain bed and a Bible for entertainment. The Pope said, "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I am wondering why the landlord gets such a magnificent room and I get this small room.
Saint Peter said, "Well, you see, we have a great many popes here in heaven, but only ONE landlord."
John $Cash$ Locke
Quote:
Saint Peter said, "Well, you see, we have a great many popes here in heaven, but only ONE landlord."
John $Cash$ Locke
Banamp Bump!
John L,
I just love the Pope and Landlord story.
Gave me a and I needed this today and my staff thanks you to (from this to )
[addsig]
You may want to create a tactful "tenant complaint form" and have them rate the severity and the urgency of the situation. A rat, for example in a nuisance, but it is neither extremly urgent or severe (compared to a flooding apartment).
Anything that isn't severe or urgent should be mailed to you rather than called. You may explain that that way it is clear what they are requesting.
You may also make it clear that just because they request it, doesn't mean it will happen, only that they've expressed a concern and you can evaluate it accordingly.