Should I allow this lease to renew?

[Ben G.]

I purchased a 4-unit multi-family last September, and with it I inherited two leased units. The first tenant is great, he pays his rent early, he's quiet, basically the picture perfect tenant.

The second tenant is a decent person, but he is very loud (gets into arguments on the phone all the time, disrupting other tenants), has paid rent on time only once since I've owned the place (all other times is between 3-4 days late), and I came to find out the previous owner signed a lease to him without every doing a background or credit check in a haste to get the unit filled before the property sold.

Both tenant's leases are up August 31st. I am considering not renewing the lease of the second tenant, because I am tired of him never paying rent on time, always screaming at someone on his phone, and I have no idea what this guy's creditworthiness is or what his background is criminally.

Any suggestions? I am currently thinking I will just not renew his lease, or I will ask him to complete a background/credit check before I make a decision.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Nathan Gesner]

I would not renew and I would NOT provide a reason. Just notify him that you will not renew his lease and it will terminate on August 31, 2018. You have no legal requirement to renew or to justify your decision. If you tell him it's because of late payments, he may try to convince you he'll pay on time. Then you'll let him stay and he'll be good for a while before slipping back into old habits.

Running a credit/criminal won't change the fact that he's regularly late or noisy. Treat it like a business transaction and move on.