Do you let tenants do any work?

Question

I am just full of topics.  New question....

Do you let your tenants "alter" their apartment in any way such as paint, wallpaper, shelves?  Also, would you let them paint to work off any back rent?

If you do either tell us what you would allow, how you handle it, and if you pay for anything.

Brendan O'Brien · Answer

Paint: okay only inside their unit.  No other work inside or outside the apartment.  Colors: your approved (with brands and numbers so there's no mistake).

The one exception you might make is if the tenant is a skilled (and if appropriate, licensed) professional.  For example, if he's a licensed electrical contractor, he can obviously do electrical work anywhere.

The downside is that if you fire the contractor, you lose the tenant, and vice versa.

The upside is that the tenant probably won't quit you because he knows he'll lose his contracting work if he does so.

Doug Block · Answer

Doh! I'm new at all of this and, as you can tell from my name, I've made some mistakes in my rental acquisition. I did allow a tenant to do some work for me. He most definitely over-charged, but fortunately, it at least looked good. He has asked to do a couple other things but I think I'll be declining those requests from now on....wish I had stumbled upon this place earlier. I look forward to learning a lot!

Eric Wang · Answer

The only thing I allow my tenants do is yard work, since thats what he does for a living.  I keep it separate from the rent.  I write him check the 3rd week of the month.  No matter what you decide to do, keep it separate from your rent.

Lynn Z · Answer

You have got to meet the tenant at the paint store and agree on a choice of paint because if you go by their swatches they'll switch colors and material on you.  Easy way to wind up with a purple room  This just happened to us.

They never have equipment-ladders, dropcloths, brushes--heck, they can hardly come up with a deposit but they want to paint.  Also, there's no way to know if and when they're going to finish the job.

Unless it's a borderline condition of an apartment and you have nothing to lose, don't let tenants do any work at all.

Tom C · Answer

I have a tenant who is also a Maint guy for a local company. He has asked me several times if could do certain things around the house to fit their lifestyle.. I have never GIVEN him permission to do any of them or have I ever paid him to do any of these changes.

Joshua Dorkin · Answer

That is a very interesting look at this topic.  I never even thought of it.  Can any lawyers out there verify this (sounds right to me)?

Michael Rossi · Answer

Has anyone said that you should NEVER allow a tenant to do any work?  Just kidding!  However, beyond the fact that most tenants are completely incompetent when it comes to things like painting, fixing things, etc, - you need to be concerned about the legal issues.  If you agree to allow a tenant to paint, they can easily be judged (in court) to be your employee.  Are you withholding taxes?  Are you providing worker's comp?  What happens if they slip and fall while painting?  THEY WILL SUE YOU!

NEVER ALLOW A TENANT TO WORK FOR YOU!

Mike

Scott Weaner · Answer

This reminds me of a story of an apartment I rented as a student.  when we moved in the unit was not in great shape, and we were too naive to ask for a good cleanup.

We volunteered to paint and clean the carpets.  All we wanted was money for the paint, and the landlord agreed.  A friend had done professional painting and he helped.

The landlord then refused to pay, saying that we picked the wrong color.  We used flat white!!

Michael Shadow · Answer

I have let one tenant paint and it was only because she is a professional painter and she showed me the color she wanted to paint the room before painting it.

I went in to see her work about a week after she moved in and saw a caulk gun laying on the floor and I thought I left my caulk gun in her apartment, then I realized my caulk gun is orange and the one on the floor was yellow.  Then I started looking around the apartment and she had caulked all the trim work before she painted and it looked better than the caulk jobs I do (and I'm picky).

That being said she is the only tenant I have let paint an apt.

I have thought about charging an additional fee per month to let a tenant customize the paint in their apartment (I have to approve the colors first though.)  Has anyone else ever done this?

-Michael

Garry Martin · Answer

I agree with everyone who does not let tenets do work.  I just evicted a tenet who was 2 months behind in his rent.  He was renting a sfh that needed some painting and the back porch needed sheetrock.  he claimed he had someone who would help him.  You all know how this ends, the painting never got done, the sheetrock was done so poorly that I had to remove it and start over.  So I lost 3 months rent (2 months behind and one moth for the eviction), and a few hundred bucks in materials that I get to buy twice.  as All Cash said, never, never, never again.