Shocked about how they live

[Val J.]

I'm becoming more of a hands on landlord based on advice I'm getting from folks on this forum. I'm having work done at one of my houses.  The repair guy told me about a spot in the ceiling in an upstairs bedroom. I head up stairs & on my way up the father (who let us in for the repairs) says "be careful it's a mess up there." Unsure what he meant I continued on to discover that EVERY room was a mess. There were SEVERAL Popeyes beverage cups that I guess they will eventually throw away, at the top of the bannister. .  Clothes were strewn on beds, floors and sofas.  No one room was cleanWhat do you guys do when your tenants keep the property in an utter mess? I was once told that you cannot dictate how people live when you're a landlord.  According to a relative at the house, what I saw was the rule and not the exception. Do you address it with the tenant or just let them live however they live? Share your thoughts.

[Rich Schmidt]

And, of course, you may be able to recoup some cleanup costs from their security deposit after they move out, if they've done more than "normal wear and tear" to your property.

You really can't control how well they clean the inside of the house while they're living there. If their messiness doesn't leave any lasting damage, and they clean it adequately when they leave, then it doesn't really matter, does it?