Just bought my first MFR...Inherited Tennant Issues!

[Derrick R.]

Hi BP, hoping I can get some good ideas on my current little predicament.

I just closed on a triplex on the 30th of November and each unit was already rented. The previous owner filled me in about one of the tenants that wasn't the greatest tenant in the world and the landlord let the tenant slip on a few things. The lease is a month to month.

-The previous owner allowed one dog, which is listed on the rental agreement as a staffordshire terrier ( but could be a pit bull?). The tenant now has 3 total dogs in the unit. I do not want any dogs at all in the unit.

-Each unit has a courtyard and there is some piled up junk within the courtyard

-Tenant's son, who is not on the lease, is living at the unit. A few days ago, one of the other tenants (who is an ideal tenant) called to complain because of an uproar between the problem tenant and the son.

-Rent payments consistently go to the grace period on the 5th of the month or slightly late. I called the tenant about 3 times and sent text messages, with no response until about a day later when I was about to post a notice of late rent and explain that if the tenant didn't pay on the 5th, they would get a 3 day notice. Tenant finally got ahold of me and settled up.

I want this tenant gone. With the previous landlord's lease still in affect (which is month-to-month), I can serve a 30 day notice, but this wouldn't have the tenant out until the 31st of January. Or I could just serve a 7 day notice now to have the tenant potentially fix the problems. Still, if the tenant did fix the problems, I would want them out of there by the end of January.

I also have not had my new lease signed by the tenants yet. Do I go ahead and have the tenant sign the new lease and tell them right now that they will have to be gone by the end of January? I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about this without it turning into a huge mess. Thanks in advance for any replies.