tenant trying to get me in trouble

[Richard Ma]

hi so my tenant filed complaint about the place is unhealthy and now I got a letter from the health department saying I gotta correct the following list. so first complaint is smelly odor from fridge, they told me to fix the odor but my question is isnt it the tenant responsible for their fridge and not me? why I have to help them clean it when its their fault for not cleaning the fridge. next complaint is rodent dropping, I see in the backyard there is whole bunch of rice in the backyard which the tenant did and trying to lure the rodent to come, now that I know they trying to get me in trouble. Do I have a case to kick them out? or i will get in trouble for retaliation?

[Theresa Harris]

Look up your local laws and see what it says about lease renewal.  Get rid of them ASAP.

I'd talk to the city and ask them politely how you are to get rid of the smell from the fridge when it is filled with the tenant's food which is causing the smell.  As for the rodents, call a company and have them come out and deal with it...take photos before and after so if the tenant does something (ie puts out more rice), you can show that the tenant is deliberately doing things to attract rodents.