Potential problem tenants

[Michael Leo]

So I just signed a lease with a tenant for my property. The house is a converted single family house with the first and second floor being separate units. I am relocating from the area and thought it would be nice to see if someone would want to rent both the first and second floor as I have had issues with two separate tenants renting the units.

I signed a lease with a man. His girlfriend was there to see the place but did not want to be on the lease, she is a student and said might not be there much. They were talking about all the upgrades and changes they wanted to make which I thought might be kind of a red flag but I made it very clear any changes had to be cleared by me first in writing. Also he said he was handy and could take care of some maintenance issues including the yard so I made an arrangement where he mows the lawn for a small rent decrease.

So I put a lease in place with the man (girlfriend not on the lease). For a short time they would just rent the upper unit while I still lived in the lower unit before I move. Immediately they started completely renovating the yard, I feel like this was above any lawn maintenance I had in mind and they did not ask permission for this at all.

There was a small garage with a door that was opened/closed manually. Within a couple days of moving in they claimed that I told them there was a garage door opener and that they needed a lock for it which I made clear when they viewed the place was not the case.

Now the girlfriend is claiming the bathroom faucet is not draining fast enough because when she runs it for 5 minutes then turns it off it takes a couple seconds to drain. First she claimed that this issue would be solved by buying a brand new faucet, then she said she thinks the entire vanity needs to be replaced.

Then at 1:00 AM last night I heard dripping in the closet right underneath their bathroom. I texted them trying to figure out what was going on. She says they just showered and said she told me something was draining right. Also, they had already made some changes to the shower fixtures in the upper unit (another change they did not ask about).

I have a bad feeling about these people, I think they might be trying to take advantage of me. If anyone has faced a similar situation please let me know if you can give any advise. Thanks!

[Chris Seveney]

@Michael Leo

If they are making modifications you need to let them know it’s a lease violation. Yes you are going to have problems as they have already started and will not get better if you don’t put your foot down

This is why we always recommend a PM as many times people are to shy to be the bad guy/girl and it costs them thousands because at end of day it’s a business