THREATENED YET AGAIN WITH A LAWSUIT

[Elizabeth Schellhammer]

Hello BP Community,

HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THE TENANTS THAT MAKE US CRAZY?!??!?!?!!? I have been filled with anxiety for the past three days and it is emotionally exhausting.  My husband and I accepted a retired couple to live in our beautifully renovated Jersey Shore beach house/duplex. They passed the background/credit checks and seemed so sweet. It appeared that they just wanted to spend their days at the beach and on their boat. They took possession in July and it's been non-stop requests ever since. These requests did not seem innocent and always seemed to be laced with a hidden agenda (he's an ex contractor and wants to do work for money off the rent). They are a bit aggressive in their approach and honestly, I have grown not to like them very much. HOWEVER, I have prided myself with handling them as professionally and kindly as possible and honestly would not change anything that I have done (except maybe not rent to them, but how would I have known? ughh) 

ANYWAY, on Saturday morning at 2am, I wake up to a text and email from them berating me and making some pretty outrageous claims against me. They had apparently found mold in a closet earlier that week, but did not inform me and instead they explained that they called the code inspector and I will be receiveing a letter soon with all the work I need to do to the property. The email ended in telling me that they have acquired a lawyer. I was so upset that I could not fall back to sleep. I will copy the email and my responses below for your viewing pleasure:

Good Morning, I responded via text to you first thing this morning to let you know we would be at the property ASAP to address any issues. I would like to take this time to properly respond to your email. Please see our italicized responses to your concerns below.

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 10, 2016, at 1:09 AM, TENANT wrote:

Thank you for informing us that you believe there to be a mold issue in the house, this is the first we have heard from you that you presume there to be a mold problem. Adam remembers you mentioning in passing that you would like to rip up the carpet in the stair well, however, since you were moving two weeks later he thought it unnecessary. He does not recall any mention of there being a mold issue. As previously discussed, please send any problems or work order requests via email. We will gladly take care of any mold issue, within a timely fashion.

I'm sorry to hear you feel ill. We have lived in the unit and just moved out two weeks ago. We have never had an issue with mold or illness. However, we take your concerns seriously and will be there today to document the mold issue you have found behind the dresser. Whatever needs to be done to resolve the mold issue, we will take care of.

Thank you for checking on this issue... We were completely unaware of any code issue causing possible mold or water under the house. We look forward to the inspectors report and will handle any problem that is presented to us immediately. We take pride in offering quality, safe housing that is adherent to all codes.

Clause 7 in your lease in regard to pest control is a standard clause in any lease agreement. Also, having an apartment preventively treated for bugs is standard practice, this does not imply that we were aware of a pest issue prior to your taking possession of the apartment.

If you would like, you may provide us with your lawyers information and we can forward it to our lawyer so they may speak to each other directly.

Lastly, I am sad to hear that you feel "deceived by our professionalism" as we have tried hard to provide you with quality service. We never want our tenants to feel unhappy in the properties that we offer. If you would like to discuss a termination of lease, this is an option we can explore together. If not, we will gladly work with you to correct any issues.

Sincerely,

Beth and Adam 

If you are still reading, I commend you. I don't know if it's because I am 8 months pregnant or if it's because I my husband just accepted a new job and we moved to a new state and my stress levels have been higher than usual, but I am having a hard time with these tenants. 

After this email, we woke up Saturday morning, drove the 2.5 hours to jersey to document the issue. There was some mold in the closet being caused by condensation from the air conditioner. My husband attempted to clean with bleach and they freaked out stating that they wanted him to leave it for evidence... 

On Monday, I had a court appointed mold expert go to the property to test for toxins... in case they do take this to court. He says we have to wait for results but that it did not seem like a big deal and that he thinks these tenants have a hidden agenda. How annoying. I also called and got the code inspectors report and our maintenance man has started work on all the repairs. 

How can I rest easy worrying constantly that these suckers will try to sue us again? Over this or something else? How do you all handle the stress of this business? I am usually much better at crushing my emotions... 

Looking forward to hearing all of your valuable, thoughts, opinions and encouragements.