Alternative to Eviction: Rent Increases?

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If you can’t get rid of them, raise their rent . . .

Sometimes we end up in a situation where tenants aren’t the wonderful people we hope that they are. They throw out of control parties, damage the property, litter the property, have 10 people stay in the 2 br apartment, pay rent late, and so on. You get the point – undesirable.

Many landlords don’t want to have to go through the eviction process. Often times, evictions can be costly and time consuming.

If you’re close to the end of a lease (and you’re not in a rent controled area), why not just raise the rent? I’m not talking about raising rent 2 or 3 percent, but 10% – 15%. There aren’t many tenants who will put up with that kind of increase, and if they do, then it might be worth reconsidering keeping them around. Remember, the odds are they would be paying much more then typical market rents at that point.

Set the Ground Rules Up Front

To avoid all of this in the first place, you need to establish your guidelines up front. You cannot put up with bad behavior, or your tenants will walk all over you. Write a set of guidelines that they must follow with a schedule of fines and have them sign it with the lease. If they pay late, fine them and send out your written warnings preceding eviction process. If they damage the property, fine them. The key is to let them know you are in charge.

I can’t tell you all of the headaches I put up with at first because I was too nice. When I started to lay down the law, and got rid of the undesirables, landlording started to become a much easier process.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.