How to Handle Challenging Tenant in 5-Bedroom House Hack

Question

For context, we live in our primary residence and rent out the other rooms in the house.

One of the tenants has been causing issues with other tenants. One tenant already moved out, and another one is thinking of moving out because of this challenging tenant.

The challenging tenant has been inappropriately communicating with other tenants in several aspects

1. Communicating with other tenants unscheduled. One alleged instance was when another tenant was getting ready for work and the challenging tenant insisted on discussing a matter right there and then.
2. Using an aggressive tone during a past verbal confrontation
3. Using demeaning and sexual language during confrontations. The challenging tenant irrelevantly refers to the other tenant’s sex life when confronting them.

Multiple tenants have independently expressed similar complaints about the challenging tenant.

Reading the lease ( Copy of Lease ) more carefully, we realize now that it could be stronger in areas of being able to terminate the lease - a lesson learned for future tenant leases.

The challenging tenant’s lease ends in August 2024, but we were wondering if there is anything that we can do to terminate her lease early based on the lease that we signed.

Ricardo R. · Answer

@Kayla Weigel I will try to help you a bit, I'll send you a DM on BP hopefully you can leave us a review. Also, it goes without saying that you should consult an attorney; Okay briefly reading over your lease agreement, it's a good agreement but it is very loosely written and does not provide for many remedies prior to eviction so... that is something you should look to improve on moving forward, there should be an escalation of force in as $XX fee until rectafied and THEN otherwise eviction, also you should number your lease clauses.

Regarding the current situation first and formost, I understand you live in the property as well but you should certainly take on a 'HANDS OFF' approach in regards to internal disputes amongst Tenants; you are after all a landlord, not the ethics police nor the real police.... if other Tenants have issues such as those they should inform you and then they should contact the police... if it's not police worthy than it is more than likely just internal bickering.

Okay, now reading over your lease agreement as I noted earlier and as you mentioned, it could be better but, there is one clause 'Noise/Waste' that could apply here, is the Tenant creating a nuiscance? possibly... but to proceed with this you must get everything in writing... meaning that when other Tenants complain to you, you need to have them do so in writing (email is fine; not text) otherwise you should inform them that you won't be able to assist. IN ADDITION once you do have the complaints in writing, section 'Disputes' in your agreement REQUIRES you to attempt to find a solution with the problem Tenant before escalating. Again, you should be able to put this into motion as long as you start a paper trail now, if you haven't done so already; you want accounts from different Tenants covering different instances in writing to show a pattern.

I will mention it once more, you are landlord/investor - not the ethics police, nor the bickering police, nor an investigator - aside from property maintenace issues and rent, nothing else is your resposibility nor should you involve yourself in issues other than these.

Moving foward: 1) Enter into month-to-month leases instead of yearly (term) - they are the SAME to YOU but month-to-month give you all the leverage should this occur again in the future. 2) You should add a clause to elaborate on and expand on the current 'Noise/Waste' clause and the new clause should focus mostly on nuiscance and violation of other Tenant's quiet enjoyment and the remedies (fines) leading up to eviction if the issue is not corrected. 3) You should add a clause to protect yourself from the other Tenants (the good Tenants) ensuring to clearly spell out that you are not resposible nor do you guarantee that other Tenants will abide by the lease nor is it your respobility to enforce the lease vs. other Tenants, nor do you guarantee safety. 4) This is the most imporant one that will fix most of your issues: Because you are adding #3, you will now add yet another clause that gives ALL Tenants the right to enforce the lease in regards to your new 'Noise/Waste clause 2'  against any other Tenant who violates it and will idemnify you and hold you harmless, ensure to limit the right to only the pertinent clauses ---- essentially, if Tenant A complains to you that Tenant B is making funny faces at them... you can inform and remind Tenant A (in writing) that if the issue is a problem they have the right to pursue legal action vs. Tenant B as per your new clause... the end... you are no longer stuck in the middle nor are you the bad guy (you will however still retain the right to pursue Tenant B via fines or the same, but ONLY IF YOU CHOOSE and can be done so in conjuction with other Tenants)

I hope this helps, I send you DM on BP, I would truly appreciate if you can assist.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

I don't have time to read your lease and will accept your claim that it's weak.

My recommendation is that you give them a written warning that you have multiple complaints from the roommates and that this is their final warning. It is important that people feel safe and comfortable in their living space. One more violation will result in termination of their rental agreement.

Study roommate agreements and strengthen your rules. You can also keep everyone on a month-to-month rental agreement, allowing you to remove anyone with a 30-day notice.

Hardy Vibert · Answer

@Ricardo R.

Absolutely solid advice I couldn’t agree more :)

Ricardo R. · Answer

@Kayla Weigel no worries, BP doesn't allow links but I did send you a DM, if possible you can just quickly type it and leave it that way. Reagarding month-to-month, yes that's a misconception... I a perfect world yes but in reality and in a judges eyes... if someone is on lets say a 5 year lease and they want to leave in month 2.... there is nothing you can do to stop them nor can you go after the 5 year payout, the most you can do is keep their security deposit but even so... that is not a given. So... if all is the same and the only thing a yearly lease do is 'bind' YOU then why not go month-to-month... and in fact since month-to-month automatically renews there is no 'event' for the Tenant to shop around every year. Something to consider.

Kayla Weigel · Answer

Thank you so much for the thorough assessment of the lease and situation. We have certainly realized that this lease is too weak and will be strengthening it for future tenants. Initially, we thought a month-to-month lease was to our disadvantage (the landlord) because of the potential overhead of them leaving after only a short period of time and us having to re-fill the room. But, we now know that it can actually protect us in situations like this.

We have reached out to a lawyer in regard to this situation and will be working with them on building a better lease.

Thanks again and would be happy to write a review if you send a link!

Melanie P. · Answer

This tenant lives in your home. Contact them by text or email and tell them you need to set up a time to meet with them about a serious issue at the property. At the appointed time, face to face, tell them first how much you appreciate them as a tenant, that they pay on time, etc. Then move on to explaining that your and their situation is much more like a family than a landlord/tenant relationship. You don't have to like everyone in your family but everyone must be respected. And give them two examples - calling the one tenant a whore and being aggressive when talking to people in the house. Tell them this is very serious, that they should take a break from trying to resolve issues in the house and instead send a text or email with their concerns, make sure to be polite and do not insult anyone because if there are any more instances "we will have to ask you to leave." We do not want to see you have to go so please stay under the radar here for a while.

This person has been difficult their whole life. They can modulate their behavior when called on it. The key is to communicate clearly, dispassionately and to use keywords that represent a serious consequence to motivate them to change.

How to Handle Challenging Tenant in 5-Bedroom House Hack

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