Problematic Tenant - What To Do

[Wesley Yu]

Hi everyone,

Wanted to ask for your feedback about a problematic tenant we're currently dealing with in an A neighborhood in the South Bay. Here's the gist:

0) House is professionally cleaned and painted prior to tenant move in.

1) Tenant moves in April 1, 2023

2) 2 weeks later, tenant complains that the front porch needs to be powerwashed, deck needs to be refinished because he might get splinters when is barefoot doing yoga, ants in the kitchen after he left pizza out the first night. Additional complaints include old kitchen tiles not being perfectly white anymore, requests us to bring mop, buckets and scrub it in his presence with extra effort. 

3) Upon visiting the property to take note of his complaints, we notice he has brought in an unauthorized pet cat, a violation of lease terms (lease states NO ANIMALS and a violation would result in a $25 penalty per day per animal)

Owners want him out and are upset about the cat, specifically because wife is deathly allergic. Would the first step be to email him telling him he is in violation of the lease terms with the cat and to immediately start charging him $25/day for the cat? Or to serve him a 3 day notice to quit or cure? Or just to talk to him in person (mind you, contractor is arriving this weekend to address some, but not all, of his requests) and see if he wants to leave, with a recap email? 

Owners want to be careful of CA law and do things properly. At the same time, having the notice served to him before talking to him first would immediately get him on the defensive, which isn't desired either. Owners did nothing to upset him; in fact they did the best to clean the house and paint it before his arrival.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Wesley Yu:

1. It sounds like you are managing this property. If that's true, you should already know the answer, otherwise it demonstrates you are not qualified to manage for others.

2. The Tenant may be making these complaints in an effort to get out of the lease. I would let them know the cat is aunauthorized and that their complaints are unwarranted. I would give them a one-time opportunity to terminate the lease and leave by a specific date without penalty. If they insist on staying, let them know they must remove the animal and pay the violation fee, and that the property was rented "as is" and no additional improvements will be made.