Worst tenant ever - I missed a giant RED FLAG
Rick BassettBusiness Member
Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes
Bassett Property Management5108 Reviews
Worst tenant ever - I missed a giant RED FLAG
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@Rick Bassett I had one of those. Like you, I chose to ignore comments she made during our face-to-face interview/screening. This was back when I was a still-learning landlord.
This woman was just like your tenant and finally after she concocted a ludicrous story about the upper tenant, I sent her a notice to vacate.
She called a lawyer citing that as long as she paid her rent on time, I could not ask her to leave. WI law allows landlords to ask tenants to leave without giving a reason.
That was her last attempt at sucking the life out of me.
Like you, the champagne was on ice and when I finally checked her out (without incident by the way and she cleaned apartment spotless) we popped the cork right there in the apartment!
Good riddance! Any tenant now that is a PITA (pain in the ***) goes on a month-to-month and when I've finally had enough, they are sent packing!
Hope all works out for you and thanks for the entertaining story!
35 Replies
- Broker, Investor, Property Restorer · Fox Point, WI · Member since 2012 · 288 posts · 120 votes10y
Had nothing to do with YOUR particular case @Rick Bassett, I wasn't trying to make any point related to whatever your circumstances are/were, but instead making a whole different point related much more to the jurisdiction ANY property is located in. We've probably all heard the oft repeated one about (fill in some current celebrity here) who rents some swanky pad in Beverly Hills or some fancy part of LA and proceeds to completely trash this multi million dollar home.
Instead, I'm talking jurisdiction and my point is borne out well by the comments here on page two. The first three comments are all asking about specific landlord/tenant issues or strategies-and they live in three different states!!! Not even looking up those state's laws, I'll bet Texas is a hell of a lot more landlord friendly than WA or certainly CA, where I do know (thanks to one of the times I can count on one hand that I watched a "reality tv" show end to end, just 30 min about some crazy dude who was the last resort for frustrated as hell LA area landlords! Thing was, crazy dude got results but apparently in CA, if you get stuck with gamer tenants like one landlord client of the crazy eviction dude had with his beachfront condo and the 20 or so squatters there, common practice according to crzy eviction dude, who even found an illegal hooch still inside and called LAPD, is STILL PAYING THEM TO LEAVE! It was great for 30 min, never watched it again though!)
If someone is in one state, sure you can get ideas from out of state landlords, but sure as hell better run em by your attorney first, since what may fly just fine in TX may get you whacked upside the head by the judge in CA! Beyond that, my whole point is even here in WI, two counties bordering each other and just these two make up 85% of the metro area's population and they're court rulings are NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENT. You need to know that inside and out before even considering eviction or even contacting tenants about a possibly sticky situation, unless you like lighting hundred dollar bills on fire for fun!
- Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes10y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
"Worst tenant ever"? "Crazy"? Really?She pays the rent and keeps the place in decent shape, yet she merits those monikers, ostensibly because you don't like being inconvenienced by your customer?
"Passive [Investment]" is a tax/financial term; it does not mean you can be a lazy, hands-off landlord. If your tenant has no heat then you need to address it right away, no matter what the cause. Spiders and mold are also issues worthy of your attention.
Ignoring a tenant's calls is immature and unprofessional. Tenants are customers who are paying you good money: they deserve good service and in that sense, you are supposed to be their "servant". Too many landlords only want to collect the rent money and do nothing.
Real estate investing, be it flipping or landlording, is hard work. If you're not willing or able to work thusly, you should probably just invest in other areas that truly are "passive" e.g. stocks/bonds, etc.
Yes really, she's a terrible tenant who got great service from us and who moved into our freshly rehabbed home that was in perfect brand new condition.
We go the extra mile to provide a top notch product and service but there are limits on how much time can be spent on a passive investment. That's our business model.
The issues she reported (dozens of them) weren't real issues, she just wanted to be constantly serviced so she felt that she was getting her monies worth.
Read the posts Art, most of the others on this thread understand this type of toxic tenant.
Rick
Bassett Property Management5108 Reviews - Broker, Investor, Property Restorer · Fox Point, WI · Member since 2012 · 288 posts · 120 votes10y
@Account Closed's comment popped up while I was typing mine, so I saw it once mine was up and don't want to pile on, but I do agree with Art, but must add on to the mold issue, which I didn't see in the OP, till now.
I also agree with @Jay Hinrichs mold is usually created by a tenant, but also sometimes by an owner being neglectful, but whatever it is it is one of those issues for my renovation biz, even though I now know much more on mold (got great info from a mold removal guy here on BP too) and even though most mold is NOT the toxic strain, can be cleaned up relatively easily and IF the moisture source is eliminated, will not return. Yet, try telling that to a buyer who does the usual thing majority of them do simply hearing the word "mold", they run right out the door and will NEVER even consider buying my well rehabbed, usually higher end home.
For a landlord, I know it all too well as my brother was put through hell by a totally bogus mold claim from an insane tenant, who went so far as to even claim in her long list of horrible maladies that her newborn son had a deformed, ummm well you know, the one part guys really don't want to be born with it deformed! Now, he had the best possible outcome, his ins co happened to have a $50k mold claim coverage included and they covered ALL legal fees and case was dismissed with prejudice, since it was so obviously BS.
Yet, I had to watch my brother go through about a year of often pure hell, since as this unfolded, he had no clue if he'd lose and who knows, when you're talking about things like a baby born with a deformed you know what (later conclusively proven to be a totally unrelated birth defect!) you can easily blow right through 50 grand when the verdict and judgement amounts are announced and after 50k, he's paying out of pocket. It even took a toll on me and rest of my family, knowing our brother who' worked his a** off to get where he is could soon be bankrupt, due to this nutjob and her mold money grab BS!! (AND guess which county it was in the jurisdiction of here? Yep, the one where the judges hate landlords and LOVE tenants!) MOLD AIN'T NO JOKE, even though several good mold testers told me they can find mold in EVERY home!
- Millersville, MD · Member since 2016 · 1 post · 0 votes10y
I always follow my gut, it will save you in the long run. Landlord 10 years, rented several long term rentals for others, so far so good!
- Broker, Investor, Property Restorer · Fox Point, WI · Member since 2012 · 288 posts · 120 votes10y
Lastly, I'll say that @Rick Bassett I don't disagree with you at all, even in a perfectly rehabbed or even new home, the insane tenant can and will make life hell!
Originally posted by @Ruben Dominguez:
What Mike Makkar said. We put a clause in the lease that tenants are responsible for the first $100 of any repair (sans the water heater, roof, or AC) and that will deter any frivolous repair requests. Just have to be careful that tenants call you when things aren't working so it doesn't lead to larger issues.
For those that have a tenant repair fee (like $100 noted above), how do you keep a handle on the 'Jack of all trades' or a 'friend of a friend who is a 'plumber' that the tenant may hire and may cause more damage in the long run?. Or worse yet, not report a small problem for fear of being hit with the fee and the small problem snowballs into a big repair? (Our previous tenants were not permitted to do any repairs, not even change a washer).
- Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2014 · 11 posts · 7 votes10y
@Shanequa J. I will PM you. @Mags S. We do not let the tenant call whoever they want. They still need to come to us for any repair and we will call our normal maintenance people and if applicable we will bill them for the $100 fee. Water heaters, roof leaks, A/C issues, sewer issues, or other major repairs are not included in the $100 fee and we explain that to them so they are not afraid to call us. We explain to the tenant that if they fail to notify us of a repair (especially any type of water leak even a small one) they will be responsible for the full cost of any additional damage to the property caused by failure to report. We also inspect the property at least once per year.
@Account Closed
I absolutely believe that she was terrible as a tenant. My family has managed an RV resort, motels and hotels and uppity people who complain day and night can be absolutely the worst. Hospitality is basically just people complaining all day long.
Knocking on our door at crazy hours, threatening to sue, wanting to cut down trees to fit their 3-slide out RVs (ridiculous), and some probably had some sort of pathological disorders. (Those tenants drained my family because you can't pin them down for something tangible and they turn you into the bad guy.)
Sure he probably didn't lose tons of money, but mentally I can see this draining the life out of someone.
- Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes10y
An update on this tenant - Instead of her moving out by 11:59pm on the 30th as agreed, she dragged it out for another 24 hours until 11:59pm on the 31st which prevented our team from getting in there yesterday to make turnover repairs. She left a giant pile of trash / furniture on the street, which she was told not to do, the Town will likely cite us for this today or tomorrow.
She's been obsessing about getting her security deposit back on the spot, we told her that we don't do that as we have up to 30 days to mail it to her after move out. Today I will let her know that we will paying someone to remove her trash mountain out of her security deposit...just a tiny bit of Karma.
I didn't expect her to go out easily but at least she's gone and the house is in OK shape, bittersweet.
Rick
Bassett Property Management5108 Reviews - 10yRebecca KnoxBusiness MemberSpecialist · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
This isn't my story but a friend of mine had a rental property. The tenant paid all utilities except water. Spring arrived, and the water bill starting going up dramatically.
Turns out the tenants were running a car wash out of the property. (Lock outdoor water spigots)
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