How do I appease a very high-maintenance tenant?

[Sharon Cohen]

Hi, this is my first time posting on BP, though I've been a longtime podcast listener and forum browser.  I bought my first rental property, a 2 bd 1 ba condo in Prince George's County, MD, about 8 months ago.  My property manager rented the place to an elderly lady who appears to be suffering from dementia but is assisted by her daughter.  Since renting the property to her, we've been responding to complaints on a nearly weekly basis.  I've had the carpets cleaned twice, replaced the washing machine, rewired the dryer, replaced light fixtures, hired pest control services, replaced blinds, realigned door frames, and had multiple calls out to plumbers (some of them frivolous).  I don't have time to investigate all of these issues personally, so I rely on my property manager to triage these issues and advise me on how to remediate them.  He's been very frustrated with the tenant-- several of the service people he uses won't go back to the unit because the tenant is unresponsive and/or difficult to deal with-- so he's asked me to reach out to my own networks.  Currently, I'm asked to help find someone who can repair a dishwasher that is not "rinsing properly" and can address a possible mice problem.  My property manager says the pest control company made three visits in the past two months, and they can't find anything, but she says she still hears them at night.

I want to be a responsive landlord of a thoroughly functional apartment, but I'm afraid I'm spending money on frivolous complaints.  My property manager is doing the best he can, but at this point he's being managed by her more than the other way around.  The tenant doesn't want to move out, though we've offered to let her break her lease with no penalty.

Any advice on how to reset expectations? One idea I'm toying with right now is to ask the tenant to retain her own pest control services and to send me the bill if they find evidence of a rodent problem, but I'm not sure if that's legally defensible. Also, since this is a condo, I'm not sure at what point a rodent problem becomes the HOA's responsibility. Regarding the dishwasher, the easiest thing to do may be to just replace it, but I'll gladly consider any other creative ideas.

Thanks for any advice, I'm scratching my head here and this experience is definitely dampening my enthusiasm for diving deeper into real estate investing.