Good tenant turned annoying....mentally trying not to be bothered.

[Michelle Brockway]

Good Evening All-

I have been scoping Bigger Pockets out for a little over a year (stumbled upon it while searching about real estate) and have been a little self-conscious about asking questions.  No one wants to sound dumb or inexperienced.  However, I must get this off my mind and hear from those who are/were in a similar situation.  So, here I am with my first major post...   

I currently am renting out my one and only house to a lady going on 4 years this April.  I originally decided to rent it out because I was planning on going into the Navy.  Fast forward 3 1/2 years, things have gone in a different direction - didn't go into the Navy.

My tenant has been great!  ...up until recently.  

Before getting into the issue/inner struggle, a little background on initial understanding/expectations needs to be put out there.  She was looking to buy a house in a different area after her daughter graduated from the local high school near my house (daughter was going in as a freshman at the time). She has told me every renewal she was going to stay until 2015.  Perfect!  I pretty much could count on her staying and paying my mortgage for 4 years.  She rarely requested any services/repairs except once a year for the older model air conditioning unit.  Almost the perfect tenant- paid on time..  She even informed me immediately she had a rent check return NSF and would pay the fee on next rent. :)   

Then...

It started about 6 months back when I informally informed her, that I will be needing the house back May 2015 (lease will not renew).  I thought I was being very fair.  I thought it would be better with almost a year notice instead of a 30 to 60 day notice.  I further informed her I will give her adequate, advanced notice prior to the lease renewal (thinking around January 2015).  Since completion of year 1, the lease has been on continuous renewal, as stated in lease, until tenant or myself stops it from renewing.  

She immediately fell silent - then turned annoying.  Annoying in the sense that I have placed going on the 4th service call.  One service call was on an issue she had been living with for about a year that needed an electrician to fix.  The second service call was on an issue she had been dealing with for about 2-3 months prior and that was taken care of about a month ago by a plumber.  This fourth service request also needs a plumber to fix a drainage issue in the kitchen. Would have been nice to have the plumber look at the sink when he came a month ago.  Granted it may not have been an issue other than the fact she states today the sink takes 10-15 hours to drain.  She wants to keep the faucet dripping over night due to the cold (yay!), but would like it to be fixed tomorrow.  Not sure I can get someone there that short notice.  Each service request costs me $100.  I have looked at tenant/renter law and realize she has the necessities taken care of - electricity, AC/Heat, and running water.  

She has also been late with rent twice now.  I sent her a certified and non-certified letter requesting the two months worth of late fees totaling $60.  She has talked to me in a rude way and said she will pay when she pays.  She did pay $5 one month and $10 the following month towards the late fees with rent.  I guess that is something and I should be happy.  However, I am not.  I am annoyed.

I did tell her she needs to tell me immediately when something goes wrong, but I feel she is getting back at me.  I am taking it personal.  How do I separate business from pleasure in this situation?  I know it is only a matter of 5 more months, but I plan to rent the house again when I no longer need it as a primary place of residence.  I need to know how to view this because I do not want to pay a PM to handle the house.  Please help!  Any advice wanted.

-Michelle Brockway

[Marcia Maynard]

Originally posted by @Michelle Brockway:

Good Evening All-

I have been scoping Bigger Pockets out for a little over a year (stumbled upon it while searching about real estate) and have been a little self-conscious about asking questions.  No one wants to sound dumb or inexperienced.  However, I must get this off my mind and hear from those who are/were in a similar situation.  So, here I am with my first major post...   

-Michelle Brockway

Michelle! Welcome to Bigger Pockets and stepping forward to be more involved! 

My take on your situation may be a little different than that of others. I believe it is a good thing to try to save a tenancy and to continue to nurture the landlord-tenant relationship, even after some disruption. Start with compassion and seek to understand.

Have you let your tenant know how much you appreciate her? Tenants improve with positive feedback. Ask her about her dreams and goals, maybe help her look for the next best place for her to live. Let her know you need your house back for your own use, nothing personal against her, and apologize to her if there was some misunderstanding.

About the service calls.... no need to be annoyed by them, they are part of doing business and are necessary for maintaining a home. It strikes me odd that you were glad she rarely requested any service or repairs. Either that means you were doing regular maintenance all along, or she was doing regular maintenance all along, or she was not reporting problems as they occurred, or you were not doing regular inspections and finding problems as they occurred, or else the house was new and nothing was going wrong. Four years of tenancy and only four service calls? Remarkable.

Plumbing issues are the number one maintenance need. We do annual plumbing inspections of all our units and bring along our plumber for that. Money well spent. If we go into a unit to deal with a plumbing problem at another time of year, we always have the plumber do a quick check of all the plumbing. That is being proactive. We charge the tenant for the repair if the plumbing problem was a result of something they did or did not do that they should have done. Sometimes we waive or reduce the charge if the tenant acted in good faith. We use the event as a teaching moment.

On the electrical problem, thank her for letting you know about it. If she was living with the problem for one year, then she is not reporting needs in a timely manner. If you set up a maintenance plan at the start with clear expectations, it can save you and the tenant some headaches. Here is an excerpt from our rental agreement that you may find helpful:

"MAINTENANCE OF PREMISES: Landlord will maintain all electrical, plumbing, heating, and other facilities and appliances supplied by Landlord in reasonably good working order. Landlord will perform periodic inspections of premises, no less than once a year, for the purpose of property maintenance and repair. Landlord will notify Tenant in advance of the inspection. Tenant agrees to allow Landlord timely access to premises to do maintenance and repair. Tenant will notify Landlord in a timely manner of any damages or problems as they arise, including damages cause by Tenant, malfunction of appliances or fixtures, and water/moisture leaks and spots. Tenant will care for the premises, keeping them clean and clear of debris."