Messy amd careless renters.

Delton Witte · 2018-06-25T21:09:52-07:00

I should probably wait to post until I'm settled a little bit, but I'm fairly anxious at this point. I have been a landlord for almost three months. My wife and I bought the other half of the twinhome we had been living in and moved to the newly puchased side. About 2 weeks into the lease my wife arrived home to fire trucks. One tenant was making onion rings and a grease fire started. The oil burst up onto the walls and ceiling leaving a residue covering a large area. They said that they would clean it. I talked with my agent and she said my deductible was $1,000.00 and if I felt the damage was less than that I could have them clean it. While I was there I wiped the wall with my finger and the residue came right off, so I thought it was no big deal. Within the first month they LOADED the garage with junk. I believe they inadvertently bent the garage door tracks, anyway the complained that the door wasn't working and I had to have it serviced. They also incessantly complained about the residue left on their dishes by the hard water. I suggested and tried multiple fixes for them, but ended up calling someone to service the water heater as well. That apparently fixed the issue as I hadn't heard anything from them for almost 2 months until tonight.We have had close to 10 inches of rain in the last week. They text me and said that they had water in the basement and the washer wasn't working right. I went over and found lots of water there, they said that it had been like that for a couple of days, but they aren't down there much and didn't notice until it started smelling. My wife and I worked to mitigate the water troubles as best we could and actually that is not my greatest concern. While I was there they told me the washer is also leaking into the basement, but they thought "maybe that was normal." There was a dorm refrigerator box 3/4 full of trash that had been sitting in the area where the water was. It was pretty soggy...worse than I thought. While I was taking it out for them it broke open and my wife and I ended up cleaning the mess. I noticed a few drawers that don't have the faces on them in the kitchen (how does one break the face off a kitchen drawer? Never seen that before.) Nothing has been cleaned from the fire over 2 months ago. There was trash just generally about the kitchen.What should I do about the disorder, lack of notification of needed repairs, etc., can I do anything? Keep in mind these folks are also my next door neighbors.

Robert T.

Investor · Cameron Park, CA · Member since 2015 · 64 posts · 72 votes

8y

Assuming you have a written rental agreement you have to take charge and enforce it. Most leases have clauses about keeping the property clean and habitable. If not then you may be better off giving your tenants notice of termination and leasing to new tenants.

BTW - I like to look in prospective tenants’ cars when they visit the property to see how clean they keep their cars. I’ve also been known to drive past their current residence to see how they maintain it if they fill out an application as part of my screening process.

3 Reply

Chris Szepessy

Catskill, NY · Member since 2018 · 636 posts · 668 votes

8y

Yes, you need to get on them about keeping the place clean. It's only going to get worse and more costly when they move out if you don't do something now. The problem is, is that most dirty/messy people aren't going to become clean people just because their lease says they have to. Are they month to month or a year lease? Don't get discouraged with being a landlord over this. Just like anything, you gotta take the good with the bad.

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Kevin Sobilo

Realtor · Hanover Twp, PA · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes

8y

Don't take these issues to personally. The old saying goes "you pay for your education". You are getting a condensed taste for the issues landlords deal with.

Beyond dealing with this tenant. Did you screen these tenants well enough? That might be something you want to look at for next time around.

1 Reply

Gustavo Panosso

Investor · Debary, FL · Member since 2014 · 16 posts · 7 votes

8y

@Delton Witte Congratulations to you and your wife on becoming landlords. I find that some tenants are just dirtier and have more stuff than others. I'm less concerned about cleanliness than I am about damage to the property. There is no reason why the faces should be off the cabinet drawers or why a leak would not be reported immediately. I would have a friendly chat with your tenants (neighbor) clearly outlining their responsibilities according to the lease agreement. If after that, they don't clean up their act (pun intended) I would start posting the appropriate notices. Keep in mind, depending on your state's landlord-tenant laws (and judges) these may not be evictable offenses. Best of luck and keep us posted!

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Jim S.

Sterman, MI · Member since 2017 · 378 posts · 306 votes

8y

The face coming off the drawers is usually from slamming it shut. Some people are just rough on everything. The longer they are there the more damage they will cause. I would get rid of them as soon as legally possible.

4 Reply

Steve Vaughan

Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes

8y

We're there any red flags on their application? Less than stellar previous LL reference? Are they smokers? Wth?

Here I'd give them a list to correct in a 10 day notice to comply if they are in a lease, but each state is different. MTM? Terminate with notice. Say you have to conduct repairs if you have to. Sorry you are facing this only 3 mos in!

1 Reply

Jay HinrichsBusiness Member

Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes

8y

Originally posted by @Steve Vaughan:

We're there any red flags on their application? Less than stellar previous LL reference? Are they smokers? Wth?

Here I'd give them a list to correct in a 10 day notice to comply if they are in a lease, but each state is different. MTM? Terminate with notice. Say you have to conduct repairs if you have to. Sorry you are facing this only 3 mos in!

in my limited experience over the years these are full on hoarders and if the person lets this go this house will be loaded with crap within a year and basically destroyed on the inside.. If I owned it I would evict right now ... I don't think they can claim multi family owner occ.. were you can legally disregard federal fair housing laws.. as it sounds like two separate units they just happen to live next door.

however they got in is moot they are in and are in the process of destroying this rental..

I am with one of the others above who said basic sloppiness IE bed not made cloths on the floor dishes every where that's common.

But when you start loading the garage with junk.. have a grease fire then never clean.. broken kitchen cabinets etc etc.. these are not people you want in your unit.. Hoarders are real.. and in vary degrees I have seen it first hand.. Last year I demo'd 3 hoarder houses.

One I took an astonishing 300k pounds of garbage to the dump at the tune of 60k... now that included the house LOL.. but half of that was stuff they collected over 12 years.. I figured this guy had to basically go out every day in the year and bring back 100 lbs of junk.. LOL

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member

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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

8y

You have bad tenants. Give them written notice to move out in 30 days. No explanation, no judgment, no personal notes to try and avoid hard feelings. Tell them to move out and be done with it. If they refuse, then you'll have to start looking for a justified reason. Document all these problems. Take pictures or video when new problems arise. Odds are it will get worse before it gets better.

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Patrick Soukup

Rental Property Investor · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2015 · 273 posts · 127 votes

8y

Check your local landlord/tenant laws and see what the process is to get them out. 3 Days notice to comply/quit? Many times it is very difficult to evict tenants for issues other than financial non payment, especially if the tenants know the laws. Post them with the lease violations and the opportunity to comply with SPECIFIC results and make sure to follow up on the timeline you give them. In the meantime, contact a good real estate attorney who is versed with evictions and get that ball rolling.

These tenants sound like the ones who while you are processing the eviction (30 days or so) are going to do a number on your property. Be prepared.

Sorry you are going through this on your first rental!! :-(

1 Reply

Delton Witte

OP

Brandon, SD · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 0 votes

8y

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will try to answer all questions as best I can at this point.

We do have a written agreement and unfortunately, it is for 18 months as I offered a $75 discount for agreeing to the longer lease.

I like the idea of looking in prospective tenants vehicles, unfortunately it was a February evening in South Dakota when they came to look, so not a lot could be garnered from that.

We probably could have done a better job of screening. I used Houserie for credit and criminal background checks. References were pedestrian, not glowing, but not bad. Credit was not great, but there are two couples living there (sisters and their significant others). Due to their level of combined income and no past issues with rent payments, I made an exception on the credit and increased the deposit. Lesson learned on that. They do not smoke (Hey! there's a positive)

Excepts from the lease:

16.CONDITION OF PREMISES:

The Tenants hereby acknowledge that the said property is in good condition. If there is anything about the condition of the property that is not good, they agree to report it to the Landlord within 3 days of taking possession of the property. They agree that failure to file any written notice of defects will be legally binding proof that the property is in good condition at the time of occupancy.

18.TENANT RESPONSIBILITY:

Good housekeeping is expected of everyone. Tenant agrees to keep quarters clean and in a sanitary condition. The Tenants agree not to permit any deterioration or destruction to occur while they are occupying the property.

19.ALTERATIONS:

Tenant shall make no alterations, decorations, additions, or improvements in or to the premises without Landlords’ prior written consent, and then only by contractors or mechanics, or other approved by Landlord. All alterations, additions, or improvements upon the premises, made by either party, shall become the property of the Landlord and shall remain upon, and be surrendered with said premises, as a part thereof, at the end of the term hereof.

They acknowledge that they will be responsible for and pay any damage done by rain, wind, hail, tornadoes, etc., if this damage is caused by leaving windows open, allowing stoppage and/or overflow or water and/or sewage pipes, broken windows or doors, torn screens, broken door and window locks, etc. or any damage caused while Tenant has occupancy.

22.NOTIFICATION OF SERIOUS BUILDING PROBLEMS:

Tenant agrees to notify Landlord immediately if roof leaks, water spots appear on ceiling, or at the first sign of termite activity. Tenants also agree to notify the Owners immediately upon first discovering any signs of serious building problems such as foundation cracks, a tilting porch, a crack in plaster, buckling drywall or siding, a spongy floor, a leaky water heater, etc. If the tenant does not notify landlord in a prompt manner the tenant may be held financially responsible.

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Joe SplitrockPro Member

Moderator

Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes

8y

@Delton Witte I can tell you based on what has happened so far that it will get much worse. It is not a coincidence that all these things happened. These people are careless and they will not change. Ideally get rid of them now since it is good time of year to rent.

Let them know they are being abusive to the property and it needs to stop. Cite the garage door, broken cabinets, fire and failure to report a water issue which is a major violation. Write it up as a formal lease violation, giving them 30 days to remedy. Tell them they need repair the cabinets and fire damage in the kitchen. Inspect to make sure it is repaired. Put some type of monthly inspection process in place. If they give you any push back about paying for things or the inspections, offer them the option to move out. Tenants can become argumentative, but resist the urge. Just state calmly they need to take care of the property or move out. If they get disrespectful, end the conversation and offer to discuss when they calm down.

You want to create a documentation trail to evict them if it comes to that. Most people will become uncomfortable if you are in their business, so my guess is they will take you up on the offer to break lease and leave at some point. Stop being scared of vacancy. I have kept bad tenants too long and it always gets worse.

You are learning one of the hard lessons of rental properties. Vacancy is way better than being stuck with a bad tenant. These people will leave hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of damage, which you may never get back. A month or two of vacancy always costs less than a bad tenant.

It looks like your rental is local here, so feel free to hit me up on private messaging. I am happy to help you navigate through this.

2 Reply

Dennis M.

Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes

8y

Study your lease ,think of any violations that are occurring and write them down specifically what section they are breaking . Take a picture of the violation ( ex: take picture of the soggy garbage box and the busted drawers) save this in the event you go to court under a eviction . Judges hate he said she said arguments and you will have tangible proof if it comes to it and win . I’d Write up documents stating the violations . Post it on their door along with wording that states you are giving them a 30 day ultimatum to leave or go through an eviction . These messy people are fairly common in c class areas . Some folks are raised like animals and continue that thinking into adulthood .

1 Reply

Delton Witte

OP

Brandon, SD · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 0 votes

8y

I just wanted to come back and thank everyone for the responses and feedback. It hasn't gotten any better, but this first experience is almost over. I'm trying to think of all the things that have happened since this time....

-I replaced carpet in the basement and had some drywall work done where some had to be removed. There is also part of the basement that is unfinished and I had drywall hung in that area (no tape/texture), to make it feel a little more completed.

*I had one carpet installer leave because they did not have all of their stuff out of the room when he came. He charged me $75 and I had to find an alternate installer.

-The water heater began leaking shortly after posting this and had to be replaced, likely nothing to do with them, but you always wonder with people like this.

-I sent a letter outlining their violations of the lease, and things improved for a while.

-They complained about wasps and didn't give me an opportunity to do anything about it. Their trash is stored outside and typically hanging wide open, which I suspect attracted said wasps. They hired an exterminator on their own, which for some reason I felt like I should reimburse them for.

-They put an elephant spout thing over the tub spout, which caused water to flow back into the wall and down onto the ceiling in the basement, but had to cut a hole in the ceiling to figure that out. In turn more drywall work was needed.

*After this I sent a letter informing them I would not be holding them to the term of the lease and they could provide a 30 day written notice and move out at anytime. They told me they weren't damaging the property on purpose. I just walked back through the list of things that were avoidable.

-Exactly 3 weeks after telling me how it wasn't their fault and they weren't damaging the place on purpose, one of the unsupervised children used a lighter and started a fire under a bed in the master bedroom. The fire department had to come, but luckily the damage did not make it through to the subfloor. They provided their 30 day notice to me 2 days after the most recent fire and will be out by the end of October. Not looking forward to the clean up and repairs, but very glad that they are moving on.

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Messy amd careless renters.

Messy amd careless renters.

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