Lease Violations

[Kathy Gunderson]

Newbie here to the forum, but not to real estate or landlord/tenant issues.  I have problem regarding lease violations and maintenance fees - my attorney is not responding to my phone calls ( I know, time for a new attorney).  Hopefully someone here can advise me on this issue.  Sorry in advance that this is long.

Background:  I purchased a lodge type custom home in the Ozarks Mtns (Missouri) on 25 acres of pristine woods - we moved from the west coast to semi-retire.  After 9 months, my husband was offered a position in Las Vegas, NV that we could not pass up.  Because it was the dead of winter and we didn't want to leave the house unoccupied, we found a young couple with 2 small children that desperately wanted to lease the home with an option to buy at the end of the lease (24 months).  They were well established in the area, have good jobs and good credit - their problem was they didn't have the cash for a down payment to purchase.     We leased to this couple with the agreement in the lease that they would perform all maintenance on the property with a reduced rent.  I am in the negative by $400/mo with rent, but was desperate to rent and move west. We figured and discussed with them that they were getting under market rent, that maintenance costs still would not bring them to the market rents - they got a good deal.  We moved and left the home unoccupied for 1-month. At the time, the deck (900 sq ft) needed to be stained and sealed. Not a hard job or even time consuming. This task needs to be done annually or the deck will rot.  I had a contractor set up to come and do the job, however the tenants said they would do this before they moved in and were happy that they could store some of their belonging in the garage before rent actually started. I left the material and supplies so that only their labor was needed.  

The lease also indicated and was agreed to that they would keep the property clear of brush and weeds around the home as it's a major fire hazard in the middle of the woods.  Also, there was a clause that they would allow the working cat to remain on the property and they would care and feed him.  The cat was necessary to control bugs, snakes and rodents.  They were thrilled to have him and not deal with copperhead snakes infesting the outdoor space near the house.  

This past weekend I made a trip to inspect the home and property. It's the first time I have been there in a year.  The property looked abandoned - weeds growing 3 ft high at the security gate and pillars, tree limbs down, driveway lights (3/4 mile driveway) all broken and destroyed due to driving over them.  The deck was not stained and sealed, but the husband attempted to do it on the steps with a product other than what we left for him to use - it was smeared on, gooped up and peeling - a complete mess. The rest of the deck has cracked planks, and screws coming up.   The upstairs bathroom has a leak at the tub drain - a slow but steady drip - the ceiling is ruined and it appears that mold is growing now. 

Ultimately, they have not done any maintenance at all.  I now have quotes and a total of $4,500 in repair costs.

My question is:  Since I agreed to a reduced rent and can't raise it...since they are in default and have 13 months left of their lease, can I legally take the total amount of damages, divide it by 13 months and bill them for maintenance in addition to their rent? Their security deposit doesn't come close to covering the costs.

I know that I can evict them, and need to get a court ordered eviction in Missouri, but I don't know about the maintenance fees - my attorney never addressed this issue in the lease.  It's my fault as I didn't pay attention when he wrote it. I was overwhelmed with moving twice across the country in less than a year.  

Any advise or opinion is appreciated.

[Marcia Maynard]

We bill for damages as they occur or as we discover them. You would do well to bill for the damages to your property because of what the Tenant did or failed to do. I wouldn't call it "maintenance". Since it is such a large amount, you could set up a payment plan with the tenant. Do what you need to do to get the property back in shape to save your asset.

Honestly, do you still want these tenants on your property? They are not likely to change. It is spring time, going into summer. This may be a good time to work out a move-out plan with them and get a better tenant. Everything is negotiable. 

Since they are in violation of the terms of the lease agreement, talk with them about that. Serve them with a "Notice to Comply" for each term they violated, or whatever the appropriate document is for your jurisdiction. If the can't come into compliance in the time allowed, let them break the lease without penalty to encourage them to move out quickly without causing more damage, or move to evict them via the courts.

Remember that "Common Sense is Not Common" and beware of depending upon tenants to do all of your maintenance/repair work. Rarely does it turn out well, especially if you are not there to check that is being done as needed and being done correctly.

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