Tips on handling problem tenants

[Jinhee Park]

I inherited some problem tenants who couldn’t pay rent for months and were hostile in my recently purchased fourplex. I had dreaded having to undergo a lengthy and costly eviction process. But I offered $200 cash for keys and they are voluntarily gone leaving the property in a clean condition today. I’m so relieved.

As a landlord, it’s better to swallow your pride and settle for a small loss than try to go through an ugly eviction process for weeks or months and end up losing thousands of dollars on legal fees, lost rent and rehab fees.

[John Warren]

@Jinhee Park great work! Make sure you have the tenants sign the proper legal documents turning over possession of the unit to you and that they hand you the keys before you give them the cash! 

Dealing with problem tenants is what scares so many people away from this business. As you demonstrated, with proper education it is not too difficult to deal with these types of folks. I just went through this last year with a lengthy eviction at one of my value add deals in Berwyn, IL, and the unit has long been renovated and rented out for top dollar.