New here and first bout with awful tenants

[Amanda B.]

Hi everyone! I am new here and still relatively new to renting my house out, even though I've been doing it for about 7 years now. I'm only on my second set of tenants.

My question/situation is:

I rent my old house. The one I ill advisedly bought when I got married for the first time at the tender age of 20, which was remortgaged once and has not increased in value at all since (and the taxes have gone up). It's old (1920's), needs some work and is in a relatively crappy (but not dangerous) neighborhood.

Anyway, I (STUPIDLY) rented to two guys with less than great credit thinking that they would be working all the time and be able to take care of maintenance issues on their own (in the lease). I have since had them get water on the floor and bring down the living room ceiling (something they deny, despite the plumber telling this to me) - I haven't made them pay for it, instead I had another plumber there and am now moving on to a roofer because there's nothing wrong with the plumbing. This water thing has happened twice now in a month or so, despite heavy rains and melting snow. The second time was almost immediately after I told them the plumber said they caused the issue. Since I can't prove it was them, I'm not making them pair or repair and am working tirelessly to track down and resolve the "issue". Also, the first time the plumber showed, despite me communicating with them since morning that he'd be there and being assured they'd be home, the one was upstairs with his girlfriend and couldn't be bothered to answer the door. 

A bunch of issues occurred - storm window "fell off", front door was broken in "attempted burglary" (according to on of them, other one said that the pane and the lattice work between "just fell off"), gutter fell off the back. despite the lease stating that they must notify me immediately, they did not. Had to send my son there (an hour away) to change a lightbulb, even though I asked if they had changed it and to fix the ceiling fan that "just stopped working" because they broke the pull chain. They refused to pay for this too.

I then discovered they had been smoking and scattering cigarette butts all over the yard, despite the lease stating that it's a non-smoking property and there is no smoking on or in the leased premises. They were keeping their trash in bags on the back deck and my husband and I observed and took pictures of rib bones spilling from a torn bag (lease says they have to have containers). House is not cluttered and everything was put away, but there are food crumbs all over the floor and the steps are full of debris like they haven't been cleaned since they moved in. They also opened a box of linoleum tiles I had in the basement and used them to create a walkway in the basement.

So to shorten this a bit, i talked to a lawyer and sent them a 30 notice of breach of lease. I gave them the option to fix all the issues, included an estimate of replacing the front door with the cheapest available door and asked that they pay the half up front so we can get the door scheduled. They took responsibility for the door, even though one of them claimed a burglary. I spoke with a lawyer so I know I'm within my rights, but man am I anxious because they have come back at me with so much BS that I keep second guessing myself. 

I gave them the option to get another estimate, by putting their preferred contractor in touch with me within the 30 days. I won't let them just have the work done, because who's to say WHO they would hire and what I would end up with?? The estimate is very high, but the door is a custom size. Now he's claiming I should only make them replace the glass and the latticework (basically repair the door) and I am not opposed to this, IF it can be done and I told them that.

They're just making me feel unreasonable and I know that's what people do, they try to justify their horrible behavior, but it's really starting to make me sick (literally) with anxiety. I don't want to have all this confrontation and I don't want to have to watch everything I do (they are not demanding that they be home when I go there, even though the lease only requires 24 hours notice for me to enter, regardless of who is or is not there).

I guess I'm just looking for some commiseration and support :-) It'd be useful to hear what others have gone through, how they've handled and the outcome. Or if you have any tips or suggestions. I'm in Pennsylvania (not Philly) BTW.

Thanks everyone!!

[Thomas S.]

Your awful tenants are nothing compared to what bad tenants are actually like. Most of your problems unfortunately are created by two factors. First you are emotional, there is absolutely no place for emotions in this business. Not sure how you can fix that but it is your primary problem. Second you must learn to operate your business as a business. You do not ask, you tell your tenants what they are responsible for and you never negotiate.  Lay down the law and never compromise on your decisions and actions. Stop giving them choices and tell them how it is going to be. Stop letting them off th ehook for damages they caused. S**t does not just happen unless something is worn out.

I can not commiserate only give advice. Your best option is to either non renew their lease or allow to let them out of th elease if you feel you can get better tennats. Frankly I do not believe they are that bad you simply must learn how to manage tennats. That is your real problem.

P.S. never expect tennats to repair or take care of problem, th evast majority of tennats are 100% irresponsible.