How to Deal with Verbally Abrasive Tenant

[Christopher Reynolds]

Hey everyone.  I have a tenant that I need help with.

Husband/wife, 4 kids.  Moved in about 6 months ago.  Month-to-month tenant.  Made some demands, I met them. Everything seemed great until St. Patrick's Day, I get a call from the local police saying there was an altercation at the apartment, and they say there was a domestic disturbance in the apartment.  There was an altercation, and he broke two exterior windows, the TV, and then left.  He was missing for a few days, but now he's back in their lives, although I'm unsure if he lives there.  I'm in contact with both of them, though they only call me back in an unreliable fashion.

They had a couple issues with the apartment and I said I would look into possible solutions.  Nothing major, just cosmetic stuff.  Their attitude was "don't worry about it, whenever you get to it is totally fine!" But since the altercation, she has turned into someone completely irrational and aggressive.  Instead of contacting me to solve these problems, she called the city's Health Department and had them walk through the apartment, and I received a notice to correct the issues.  They ranged from valid to silly.  I feel she was walking around looking for any possible defects for them to write down.  Of course, even the silly things are on the official report to correct.  The city wrote down everything she said and included it in their report, valid or not.

This happened in early July, and they have been withholding 100% of the rent ever since.  She says "ever since our last apartment, our landlord refused to fix stuff, we know our rights".  She brought up an issue with some outlets, and I called a local electrician to come by and look.  He called her to set up a mutually convenient appointment, and it was booked for nearly 2 weeks away.  She never leaves the apartment except to drive the kids places.  I am making every effort to fix their problems, and I believe she is delaying the electrician to come in to delay paying rent.

I called her just now to ask if there was any way we could get it done sooner.  I am nothing but professional when I speak to them, and she is incredibly verbally abrasive and refuses to let me talk, then hangs up on me.  

What are my options?  Obviously I would love for them to hit the road, but that might not be an option just yet.  Is there a certain protocol they need to follow when withholding rent?  I know Massachusetts is heavily favored towards the tenant, but surely I'm being taken advantage of.  Would I be able to hire an attorney to review this?  A local attorney represented me in an eviction (same unit different tenant, go figure!), and I liked his work.  I need to solve this major problem, and if I need to pull out my checkbook, I will.  Help me  Bigger Pockets, you're my only hope.  Thanks so much!

[Rob Beland]

@Christopher Reynoldsno need to run out and spend hundreds of dollars or even thousands to take care of this situation. I've been through a very similar situation in the past. The board of health came in and gave you a letter which outlines the repairs that must be made. You can give your tenant reasonable notice (24 hours is considered reasonable in MA) and you can go in to make the repairs whether or not they are home. They have to allow you to access the apartment. Just leave them a note on their door and leave them a voicemail and meet your contractor there at the specified time unless  you are taking care of things yourself. 

Let the health inspector know if they tenant is not being cooperative about letting you in. The health inspector is there because the tenant wants the items taken care of. The health inspector can call them and explain all of this to them as well. At this point they have withheld one month's rent (July) and I'm guessing they have not paid rent yet for August. 

The tenant has a right to withhold rent in MA but once the repairs are made and the health inspector signs off they must immediately pay you the back rent. If they don't you can evict them for non-payment of rent. The day after the health inspector signs off if they haven't paid for July and August serve them a 14 day notice for non-payment of rent. A judge may decide that they are entitled to some discount of rent for the time that the violations existed but we are talking about a month or so at the most and it sounds like the violations are minor so they have a weak case. 

If this is the first time you have served them a 14 day notice they can pay the back rent in full within 10 days and reinstate their tenancy. After the ten day period has expired if they do pay the rent you can accept it and give them a receipt noting that the rent is being accepted for use and occupancy only. This way you are not creating a new tenancy and you can continue with the eviction. You can then proceed with summary process and have them evicted. If they do pay within the ten days and reinstate their tenancy but they are even one day late again in the future, you can serve them a 14 day notice and they have no reinstatement rights. That was a one time deal within a 12 month period.

God luck. Save your money. Make the repairs, have a constable serve the 14 day notice and proceed with eviction. Message me if you have any questions anytime.