How would you best approach this situation? (Shed Demolition)

Question

Hey BP Team,

Looking for some insight on a weird obstacle I’ve been facing.

I have a rather larger shed in the backyard of my duplex building that we want to demolish because it’s an eye sore on the property & some other minor issues. The issue is that my tenant has an old school car (maybe a 1950’s) in the Shed. The Car is my tenants, deceased fathers who has passed over 10 years ago and my guess is the car & everything in the shed hasn’t moved since then, including tools drilled into the walls.

We spoke to our tenant last month letting him know that we were going to demolish the shed & that he needed to start working on getting everything out of there including the car occupying the shed. Every week we’d follow up once or twice, also including meeting in person once or twice when we were at the prop for side projects to see how he was making out & we’ve been met with multiple excuses or just no responses from my tenant.

We tried to give him ample time as we know he had to find a home for the car which he supposably did find, even offered to tow the car for him with no extra charge or anything like that just to get it out and still nothing and offered to help him move things and provide a tarp for temp storage.

How would you guys' best approach this situation to get my tenant to act? We also tried saying the Shed will be demolished on X Day, but even that doesn’t seem to be pushing him & I don’t want to escalate the issue into a full-on dispute by demolishing the shed with their stuff still in it or me touching the items myself.

I’m leaning towards just not renewing his lease (maybe that'll get the car out) when it comes time, but is there anything else I can do to incentivize my tenant now without further escalating the issue into something crazy?

P.S- We bought this duplex in JAN2021 with inherited tenants- to make the situation stickier, my tenants living at the property used to own the property like 25 years ago hence why belongings like a car are still on site. Obviously buying in these situations in tricky, but I did get a great deal & both tenants have never missed a single payment.

Any thoughts? Sorry for the long post- wanted to capture everything :)

Adam Martin · Answer

The shed has been in place for quite a while and the unit is occupied by long term tenants.  It will cost money to get rid of the shed and while it is an eyseore to you it is a useful part of the home to them.  If you plan on getting rid of them and renting to new tenants I would understand but if you bought it with the intention of keeping them and rents relatively stable I don't really see this as worth the effort.  I feel like this comes down to you having the right to do this and the law is on your side but really is it worth it and what are you gaining.

Matt Devincenzo · Answer

This is a stick/carrot scenario...you have one final convo where you say this must be done by X date (Carrot) and as you wrap up that convo you hand him a 7/10/30 day (whatever is appropriate) notice and say if it isn't done by that date then you'll need to terminate his lease (stick). If he refuses then you move to evict if that ends up being the way it goes. It's not ideal in that obviously him cooperating as you've been trying to do is the best way, but since that's not working you'll need to escalate.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

I wouldn't offer them any assistance by getting another storage place, that's just asking for more trouble. You need it out ASAP, so I'd call an attorney and spend 1 hour with them to do this legally and do it right.

You've been more than lenient so far, time to take action, I'd say....

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Put your foot down. Give him a written warning that anything left in the shed after 11:59PM on [DATE] will be considered abandoned and disposed of as you see fit. Then do it.

I think one week is more than sufficient. Have a two company at the ready.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

I like @Matt Devincenzo approach. Offer the carrot while holding a huge stick in your other hand....works every time....

Jason Maguire · Answer

Thank you @Scott Mac, appreciate your help! I had a similar thought about using some form of temporary storage until he could figure things out & it was more of a verbal conversation we had & he did seem open to that. It's just getting the damn things from the shed into that tarp/ tent at this point!

Maybe i can put it in writing to make it more official & real for the tenant. Thanks again!

Scott Mac · Answer

Unique situation, you've been allowing him to store the car and tools for so long and now they need a new home.

Some of those old cars can sell for ton of money.

If it were mine, I'd make a deal with the renter, he pays for and puts up a tent garage for the new storage of the car and tools by the end of the month (you will have snow pretty soon) in the yard where YOU choose.

Then he can deal with the car and tools at his leisure (tools sold on Craigs list, and maybe get the car sold there too, or sell it to an old car dealer.

You have already been storing it for him, and this might get him to take action (without much pressure from you) (???)

https://www.harborfreight.com/10-ft-x-17-ft-portable-garage-62860.html

If the car is too rough for these guys to sell, they might know of a restorer who will buy the car (at a fair price):  https://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/?utm_source=Google%20My%20Business&utm_medium=Organic&utm_campaign=Google%20My%20Business%20Listing%20-%20DET

Good Luck!

Nate Sanow · Answer

Wow, that’s really interesting. Sounds like a good podcast story once it’s sorted out! Ha.

Okay my $0.02 is in my state the lease reads that a property owner only really has to provide 24-48 hours notice for access to a property and to make repairs. Sounds like you’ve covered your bases there, assuming that your state has a comparable rule.

If so, I’m wondering about a simple demolition of the doors and  roof. I sound like a cold heartless jerk. I’m half serious half kidding. If you get the sense of retaliation then you maybe have other concerns. But I bet it would expedite the moving of the vehicle.

The other thoughts I have now that I saw think are, what about him makes him a good tenant and how hard is he to replace? If you can get comparable or better rents, I suggest ending this lease without renewal when it comes time.

Then there’s the thought, is he actually really good? Is he willing to pay premium? Is he always on time and asking for little repairs? Then maybe letting the shed thing go is actually worth it. Only caveat there being if everything else is true, that he’s not manipulating you.

I probably didn’t really help but this is so unique my original thought pattern changed several times! Good luck making the right call. Sounds like the right call will be defined by so many factors.

Jason Maguire · Answer

Thank you @Nathan G.! This is great advice. Will keep the community posted

Jason Maguire · Answer

@Bruce Woodruff 100%, don't think verbal cues or text messages have helped at all so maybe a notice of termination may kick him in the rear a little to get moving! Love this community.

How would you best approach this situation? (Shed Demolition)

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