Disruptive tenant and definintion of quiet enjoyment

[Mary lou L.]

My property manager (Unofficial he collects an sends rent and I hire him for repairs) sent me pics of the tenant parking on the lawn. There are complaints from neighbors about the tenant getting drunk and just being a boor and yelling at them.. No police reports, just neighbor complaints.

In the lease it states "Quiet Enjoyment" I took this to mean that no disruptive behavior and such, but on further research, it is interpreted as landlord not "bothering" tenant. (Granted this was from a pro tenant site. but I just wanted some advice on how to proceed. I am preparing a letter addressing the parking on the lawn, and let him know about the complaints.  Do I need police reports to corroborate the complaints? I do not want to identify who complained, If I do not have to.

This property is in Texas. If there are Texas landlords who might have advice regarding particular laws, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks!

[Marcia Maynard]

Hello all... I was enjoying some time off and didn't get back on my computer until today. Thanks for the mention @K. Marie Poe and @Nazz Wang.

@Mary lou L. Your situation is one faced by most landlords at one time or another. I would approach this by focusing on what you want the tenant to do, instead of focusing on what you don't want the tenant to do. 

The letter sounds like a reprimand and is not likely to go over well. If it were me, I would think about this particular tenant, their personality, their preferred means of communication, what history you have so far with him and other members of the household. Remember, with every move there is likely to be a countermove, as in chess. You need to anticipate that.

Find out what the tenant is doing right. Use the "Oreo Approach"... that is to mention something positive, then the negative, then a positive again. I would want to talk to the tenant in person, but I understand you can't do this because of the distance. 

This is what I would do: 

I would establish rapport with the tenant by checking in with him and introducing myself (or for you, reintroducing yourself). I would mention something positive about him that I had heard. I would then weave certain questions into the conversation, such as... "We hope everything is going okay for you. What do you like best about living here? If there anything that could be better?" Make sure the conversation is two way, so listen well to what the tenant is saying every step of the way.

"How's your relationship with the neighbors?" and after hearing his perspective, calmly say "Well that's interesting. I was under the impression there had been a disturbance, some excessive noise and some yelling. It"s important to us for all of our tenants to be able to enjoy the peace and quiet of their own home, and the neighbors to be able to do the same. Noise travels and can be disturbing to others. We even make mention about this in the rental agreement. Please reread your rental agreement. We need to be on the same page about this. Are we?" 

"How's the parking situation? We wish we had more places for you to park, but parking is limited to your designated parking space on the property or the street. Parking on the lawn is not an option here. The lawn needs to be maintained as a lawn, not as a parking spot. We would appreciate your keeping it that way." "We're glad you live here. Please contact us if you need our help in some way. Here is the best way to contact us..." 

If the problems continue, then the second step is like this: "Hi (tenant name), I'm calling today because I heard some things were going on at the property and I wanted to check in with you about it...." "I thought we had a clear understanding about this. What didn't you understand about this that last time we talked?" "This is what we need you to do....." "If you can't or won't do this, then we will do ......" "Your choice. What do you plan to do?" Depending on the answer... "Great! Glad to hear it." or "Well, that won't work for us, so let's talk about a move out plan."

If the problems continue after step two, then serve a legal notice to comply and let the tenant know this is not working for you and you need the tenant to turn this around. Let them know you are confident they can do the right thing.  If not, then they will need to find other housing.

If at any point the tenant is argumentative, confrontational, uncooperative, or is intentionally avoiding you, consider you may not be able to save the tenancy. If that is the case, then prepare yourself and the tenant to end the tenancy by mutual agreement. If that is unattainable, then prepare yourself to be able to proceed with eviction.