How to accuse a tenant of a breach in lease?
Rental Property Investor · philadelphia, PA · Member since 2011 · 143 posts · 20 votes
I'm just curious as to how do you go about notifying and penalizing a tenant of a breach in contract. Such as smoking inside property, or having a unauthorized pet and etc... IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THEM WITH YOUR OWN EYES? ??
If you see it with your eyes fine. But what if neighbor reports it or someone else but can't be proven. Any help is appreciated guys.
When tenants move in, we explain to them the importance of the rental agreement and go over every term. We introduce them to our management style and what we value. We set our expectation up front.
If we get wind of something the tenant is doing wrong, such as breaking a rule or not following the terms of the rental agreement, we go about validating what we heard. We collect evidence. We observe. We listen. We smell. We find a project to work on outside the unit and keep our senses on alert. We do a maintenance inspection inside the unit. We ask questions like Columbo does. We catch them off guard. We tell them we value open and honest communication and need to ask them about something that has been bothering us. We ask direct questions. We take photos. We keep notes.
When we have sufficient information and evidence to validate our suspicion we tell them what it is we know and what we are going to do about it. One phrase in my tool box is "You know and I know _____________ is going on. That doesn't work for us. We need you to do ___________ by _________ date in order for you to continue to live here."
We get them to agree to a compliance plan; most of the time a verbal agreement is enough at this point. We tell them we will be back in a week to check on the matter. At the same time, we give them an invoice with charges related to the specific violation. This is a form letter that has various common violations and the fees we charge with boxes to check off. This usually does the trick. But if it doesn't, we serve them with a legal notice, such as the 10-day "Notice to Perform Covenant." Our approach is swift, firm, fair, and polite. If they don't comply, we tell them "This isn't working. Let's work on a move-out plan." If they don't move out when asked to do so, we begin the eviction process and follow through.
Depending on the situation, there is sometimes room for negotiation and flexibility, which helps us achieve a win-win and save the tenancy. We also allow the tenant to save face by not being too accusatory, but rather just stating facts. We also address the issues privately, not publicly. If the tenant does not feel threatened, they will be more likely to cooperate. This results in less rule breaking, less property damage and less undesireable behavior.
Remember, it is like a chess game. You need to be able to see several steps ahead; every move you make will result in a counter move. Anticipate what the tenant is likely to do and be one step ahead. Also, know landlord-tenant law better than your tenant does. Don't violate anyone's rights.
I'd go ahead and give them a 3 day notice to stop the bad behavior or get rid of the dog, or move. If they come back and say they weren't doing it (and you're sure they were), just act like you know better.
There's no law saying you will be penalized if you're wrong. Worst case scenario, the tenants really weren't doing anything wrong and now they want to move at the end of the lease because they think you're nuts :-)
Do you have a clause in the lease that allows you to inspect the unit or perform routine maintenance with 24 hours notice? As Spring is upon us, it might be time for you to go and change out some HVAC filters and get a look (and smell) at what's going on inside
@Blair Poelman is so right. We did inspections every 6 months, and told the tenants we'd be checking plumbing for leaks, and checking smoke detector batteries.
You don't want to inspect so often that they can say you're harassing them or affecting their quiet enjoyment, but you might be able to detect something going on.
Funny story: We knew we had a tenant with a rabbit (no pets policy), because the owner hauled trash away on weekends because we didn't have city pickup on weekends. He'd haul it to another property he had with large dumpsters (the one I managed did not have space for large dumpsters).
Anyway, the owner had discovered more then once, bags full of rabbit droppings and bedding. But, we had no idea who it was, out of 25 units. Well, I should say we couldn't prove who it was (we suspected a couple different tenants), until she moved out and evidence was left behind in the closet. But, she'd simply hide the rabbit somewhere else whenever we gave notice to inspect.
When tenants move in, we explain to them the importance of the rental agreement and go over every term. We introduce them to our management style and what we value. We set our expectation up front.
If we get wind of something the tenant is doing wrong, such as breaking a rule or not following the terms of the rental agreement, we go about validating what we heard. We collect evidence. We observe. We listen. We smell. We find a project to work on outside the unit and keep our senses on alert. We do a maintenance inspection inside the unit. We ask questions like Columbo does. We catch them off guard. We tell them we value open and honest communication and need to ask them about something that has been bothering us. We ask direct questions. We take photos. We keep notes.
When we have sufficient information and evidence to validate our suspicion we tell them what it is we know and what we are going to do about it. One phrase in my tool box is "You know and I know _____________ is going on. That doesn't work for us. We need you to do ___________ by _________ date in order for you to continue to live here."
We get them to agree to a compliance plan; most of the time a verbal agreement is enough at this point. We tell them we will be back in a week to check on the matter. At the same time, we give them an invoice with charges related to the specific violation. This is a form letter that has various common violations and the fees we charge with boxes to check off. This usually does the trick. But if it doesn't, we serve them with a legal notice, such as the 10-day "Notice to Perform Covenant." Our approach is swift, firm, fair, and polite. If they don't comply, we tell them "This isn't working. Let's work on a move-out plan." If they don't move out when asked to do so, we begin the eviction process and follow through.
Depending on the situation, there is sometimes room for negotiation and flexibility, which helps us achieve a win-win and save the tenancy. We also allow the tenant to save face by not being too accusatory, but rather just stating facts. We also address the issues privately, not publicly. If the tenant does not feel threatened, they will be more likely to cooperate. This results in less rule breaking, less property damage and less undesireable behavior.
Remember, it is like a chess game. You need to be able to see several steps ahead; every move you make will result in a counter move. Anticipate what the tenant is likely to do and be one step ahead. Also, know landlord-tenant law better than your tenant does. Don't violate anyone's rights.
I have a 24 hour notice clause in my lease. I would simply give notice of an issue. If I notice another issue I would provide a cease and dissess and go from there.
I have a fee in "smoking is notice" in addition to any costs. I find these fees help.
Thanks Marcia! That was the route I was already leaning towards.
And Elizabeth, I do have a smoking charge of 50$ for first offense and eviction for second in my lease. But no unauthorized pet penalty. Just a 150 non refundable pet fee for 1 cat.
I'm on my android which isn't tagging you guys. Thanks for the response. I'm a Calumbo kind of Landlord who always find something wrong with something else to find my true intensions