Tenant Abusing Washer / Dryer

[Sam K.]

I live in a multifamily home where I rent out the second floor to a tenant. The unit has its own washer/dryer and the utilities are on a shared meter for the whole house. The tenant lives by himself but has his kids over occasionally for the weekend. 

My problem is that the tenant seems to be abusing the washer/dryer. He recently started working from home, and it seems like the washer/dryer runs nonstop during waking hours. He is doing at least 10 loads of laundry every single week, which to me seems insane for a single person living by himself. (Also, it isn't just that he's working through a backlog of clothes or something like that, this high usage has been going on for months and months) I believe he has some form of cleanliness OCD, both because of this and because when he moved in initially he made many other requests for things to have extra cleaning, additional painting, or to be replaced. 

The utilities bills have been around 30% higher than they were for the prior tenants (which was a couple with a child), but I'm even more concerned about all the additional wear and tear he's putting on the machines. I feel like its only a matter of if, not when, that he breaks down the machines and expects me to replace both of them.

The lease stipulates "reasonable" usage of utilities. But I'd rather not get into a he said/she said argument about how many loads of laundry he's doing and whether that is considered reasonable or not.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to handle this? I was considering looking at getting a payment system for the washer/dryer like you would have in an apartment complex or laundromat. Does anyone have experience with those and how much they cost to install/maintain?

Thanks.

[Thomas S.]

There are all kinds of band aid solutions to the problem all of which do not directly address the problem. Best solution is change your lease at renewal to bill for water or jack his rent to cover the cost (add some to pay to replace washer and dryer when needed). I would opt for the higher rent to simplify my life and If it is too much he will leave. Hopefully you will get a better tenant next time.

If you do noting and he stays 10 years it will cost you a fortune. Act now.

I personally never invest in multi units that are not separately metered due to the consequences of having irresponsible tenants. Look into separate metering for all utilities.