Tenant asking to replace floor

[Tarun Mitra]

I recently purchased a duplex and inherited two tenants. One of the tenants (let’s call them Tenant A) has lived in the property for 9 years, while the other tenant (Tenant B) is a relative of Tenant A. Before the purchase, Tenant B's unit was renovated, and their lease is newer with slightly higher rent. When I acquired the property, both tenants were paying below-market rents. I raised the rents to bring them closer to market value, though still not at full market rates.

It’s now been four months since the rent increase, and Tenant A has requested hardwood flooring to replace the carpet, which I believe has been there since they first moved in. They mentioned that with the rent increase, this improvement is the least I could do.

At this point, I’m hesitant to switch to hardwood floors, as they’ve just started paying the new rent, and it would take some time for me to recoup the costs of such a change. However, if I were to proceed with this, I would likely need to adjust the rent accordingly.

I’m looking for advice from the community on how best to approach this situation. How would you handle this request, and how might you phrase a response to the tenant?

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Tarun Mitra:

I recently purchased a duplex and inherited two tenants. One of the tenants (let’s call them Tenant A) has lived in the property for 9 years, while the other tenant (Tenant B) is a relative of Tenant A. Before the purchase, Tenant B's unit was renovated, and their lease is newer with slightly higher rent. When I acquired the property, both tenants were paying below-market rents. I raised the rents to bring them closer to market value, though still not at full market rates.

It’s now been four months since the rent increase, and Tenant A has requested hardwood flooring to replace the carpet, which I believe has been there since they first moved in. They mentioned that with the rent increase, this improvement is the least I could do.

At this point, I’m hesitant to switch to hardwood floors, as they’ve just started paying the new rent, and it would take some time for me to recoup the costs of such a change. However, if I were to proceed with this, I would likely need to adjust the rent accordingly.

I’m looking for advice from the community on how best to approach this situation. How would you handle this request, and how might you phrase a response to the tenant?

My policy is similar to @Bruce Woodruff. They should be thankful they were below market rate for so long, and are still below market rate. I would not make any improvements at this time.

How far below market are they? 10%? 20%?