I suspect my tenants father in-law is breaking things on purpose

Tacoma, Washington
General Landlording & Rental Properties
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I suspect my tenants father in-law is breaking things on purpose

Jack B.
Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Tenant has lived there for a month and has had 4 service calls. Each one the father in law "finds" the issue. Except the house never had any of these issues with previous occupants and went through inspection without these issues.

Today was the final straw. The father in law sends a picture of water all over the floor in the basement (split entry type basement not a true basement) and his assessment of it. I go and inspect and there is literally no leaks upstairs, no water lines in this section of the house and no rain for days outside and no sign of moisture intrusion from outside. It literally looks like the father in-law poured water all over the floor from a bucket. While there is some water where the trim is at the wall, that could also be from pouring water there to make it look like the source of the water. There is no water damage in the ceiling, wall, ANYWHERE. There is no sign of moisture ANYWHERE other than the floor as if someone poured water on it, 5 gallons of it. 

I call my plumbing guy who will come take a look later today and he agrees if no signs of moisture intrusion outside or leaks from upstairs especially without drywall damage, it sounds to him like the father in-law who is always there and "discovers" these things is doing it.

I've since given the tenant notice to vacate. He is some hot shot dentist who yelled at me to leave his father in law out of it. I told him no, the facts are clear, his father in law is always at the house when this happens and there is never any explanation or cause for how it happened, whether it's today's issue or another days different issue. The father in law sounds like he has some mental health issues and is a busy body going around making up problems...his daughter told me he is a really handy guy and can help fix things around the house if I like and I told them no. Especially since he didn't know anything about plumbing when I asked him some basic questions...I wonder if they were going to try to use him to get a discount on rent for "repairs" he did....

Anyone ever seen anything like this???

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
4y

I don't recall ever having something like this, but it sounds like you're doing the right thing by terminating.

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    4y

    I don't recall ever having something like this, but it sounds like you're doing the right thing by terminating.

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  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    4y

    Once had a tenant that was deliverately damaging the property, so it wouldn't pass city inspection, so they could justify not paying rent.

    We finally caught a break when we got pics of their tools they were using to mess up the kitchen floor we'd just repaired. 

    Once we got the Writ of Eviction, they had the nerve to ask if they could apply for another of our rentals.

    You may want to make sure your lease has a clause allowing you to cahrge a tenant the first $x of any and all repairs. In Michigan, we can do this if the lease is at least 12 months, so check with an attorney to confirm what you can do.

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  • Joe S.Pro Member
    Investor · San Antonio · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    4y
    Quote from @Drew Sygit:

    Once had a tenant that was deliverately damaging the property, so it wouldn't pass city inspection, so they could justify not paying rent.

    We finally caught a break when we got pics of their tools they were using to mess up the kitchen floor we'd just repaired. 

    Once we got the Writ of Eviction, they had the nerve to ask if they could apply for another of our rentals.

    You may want to make sure your lease has a clause allowing you to cahrge a tenant the first $x of any and all repairs. In Michigan, we can do this if the lease is at least 12 months, so check with an attorney to confirm what you can do.


     I wonder if we could ask for the tenants to pay the first x in repairs in Texas? Our PM does not have that  language in the lease agreement. 

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  • Joe S.Pro Member
    Investor · San Antonio · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    4y
    Quote from @Jack B.:

    Tenant has lived there for a month and has had 4 service calls. Each one the father in law "finds" the issue. Except the house never had any of these issues with previous occupants and went through inspection without these issues.

    Today was the final straw. The father in law sends a picture of water all over the floor in the basement (split entry type basement not a true basement) and his assessment of it. I go and inspect and there is literally no leaks upstairs, no water lines in this section of the house and no rain for days outside and no sign of moisture intrusion from outside. It literally looks like the father in-law poured water all over the floor from a bucket. While there is some water where the trim is at the wall, that could also be from pouring water there to make it look like the source of the water. There is no water damage in the ceiling, wall, ANYWHERE. There is no sign of moisture ANYWHERE other than the floor as if someone poured water on it, 5 gallons of it. 

    I call my plumbing guy who will come take a look later today and he agrees if no signs of moisture intrusion outside or leaks from upstairs especially without drywall damage, it sounds to him like the father in-law who is always there and "discovers" these things is doing it.

    I've since given the tenant notice to vacate. He is some hot shot dentist who yelled at me to leave his father in law out of it. I told him no, the facts are clear, his father in law is always at the house when this happens and there is never any explanation or cause for how it happened, whether it's today's issue or another days different issue. The father in law sounds like he has some mental health issues and is a busy body going around making up problems...his daughter told me he is a really handy guy and can help fix things around the house if I like and I told them no. Especially since he didn't know anything about plumbing when I asked him some basic questions...I wonder if they were going to try to use him to get a discount on rent for "repairs" he did....

    Anyone ever seen anything like this???

     It definitely sounds like you’re dealing with a nut case. 
    we had one house where the tenant was constantly making frivolous service calls. For example one time they sent in the service calls saying they killed three spiders. Another time they sent in a service call saying the toilet stunk when they flushed it. Another time they sent in the service call saying we need to fix the fence and the fence was brand new. 

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  • Bruce Lynn
    Real Estate Broker · Coppell, TX · Member since 2011 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y

    We charge a trip fee.  So every time they call they're going to pay a fee.

    There are pros and cons about this....con is they don't call when there is an issue.

    Pro is they fix simple stuff...or live with it.

    If FIL is not on the lease, I would advise them the tenant needs to call and I tell them to follow up in writing to protect themselves and have a record or what has been requested.   No one likes to write letters anymore or has stamps....so that can help resolve what is serious and what is bogus.  Also it gives you record of the bogus requests if they do make them.

    If there are so many maintenance issues with them, you might want to advise them you need to start doing monthly inspections with a checklist and pictures....most tenants don't want you in their space that often, so that may also help shut it down, or help you catch unauthorized tenants or other violations....or fix anything that might be trouble.

    Good luck.

    1Reply
  • Bo SmithPro Member
    Hinton, WV · Member since 2026 · 1k+ posts · 373 votes
    8mo
    Quote from @Jack B.:

    Tenant has lived there for a month and has had 4 service calls. Each one the father in law "finds" the issue. Except the house never had any of these issues with previous occupants and went through inspection without these issues.

    Today was the final straw. The father in law sends a picture of water all over the floor in the basement (split entry type basement not a true basement) and his assessment of it. I go and inspect and there is literally no leaks upstairs, no water lines in this section of the house and no rain for days outside and no sign of moisture intrusion from outside. It literally looks like the father in-law poured water all over the floor from a bucket. While there is some water where the trim is at the wall, that could also be from pouring water there to make it look like the source of the water. There is no water damage in the ceiling, wall, ANYWHERE. There is no sign of moisture ANYWHERE other than the floor as if someone poured water on it, 5 gallons of it. 

    I call my plumbing guy who will come take a look later today and he agrees if no signs of moisture intrusion outside or leaks from upstairs especially without drywall damage, it sounds to him like the father in-law who is always there and "discovers" these things is doing it.

    I've since given the tenant notice to vacate. He is some hot shot dentist who yelled at me to leave his father in law out of it. I told him no, the facts are clear, his father in law is always at the house when this happens and there is never any explanation or cause for how it happened, whether it's today's issue or another days different issue. The father in law sounds like he has some mental health issues and is a busy body going around making up problems...his daughter told me he is a really handy guy and can help fix things around the house if I like and I told them no. Especially since he didn't know anything about plumbing when I asked him some basic questions...I wonder if they were going to try to use him to get a discount on rent for "repairs" he did....

    Anyone ever seen anything like this???


    Wow that's wild but honestly not the first time I've heard of manufactured maintenance issues. One thing that saved me in similar situations - start documenting everything with timestamps and photos BEFORE they report it. Take pics of problem areas weekly so you have a baseline. Also helps to have your contractors text their findings instead of just verbal so you have written proof when things don't add up. Have you been keeping detailed records of each service call?
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