Problems with tenant BEFORE she moves in...HELP!!!!!

[Katrina P.]

Hubby and I have multiple units out of state in Michigan. What that said, we have contractors doing the work for us, and overseeing things, while they communicate with us. I just had someone sign a lease on Monday, and she later called me to tell me that the bathroom was leaking under the sink, and the basement had water in it. When I originally advertised this property, I advertised it as an efficiency with/a small room that can be used as a small bedreoom/den...due to the size of the room (the porch was enclosed to create the room). So although the room has windows, a door, and a closet, I didn't feel right calling it a one-bedroom. It also has a basement, which is unusable for anything other than storage because it's one of the ORIGINAL Michigan basements. Anyways, that's a little background...when I spoke to the tenant yesterday about the leak, she obviously sounded unhappy, so I asked her were there any other problems? She said, "well, there's just a lot of little things"...I proceeded to tell her that I am not a slumlord, and I rely heavily on my contractors to tell me the condition of the properties, but that if she gives me a list, I'll be more than happy to fix all reasonable requests. I JUST received her list. Take a look at it. And keep in mind that her rent is $325 a month, she has a dog, and she has NOT moved her things in yet...she has signed a lease, received her keys, and has given me her prorated 1st month's rent and her security deposit. Take a look at her list! What should I do? I will definitely fix all of the reasonable issues, but I do NOT want her as a tenant going forward...I want to evict her NOW!

Radiator in kitchen is hanging off the wall
no outside light- no bulbs, they are broken on the ground outside
no screens on any windows. The porch has a screen but it is all ripped up
paint on porch windows are chipped off
door frame was not painted, on the inside and outside, also where they added new wood for the lock.
No dead bolt
Dining Room(hardwood) Radiator control wires are exposed and this radiator does not work
Living Room(carpet area) top left corner of the window you can see through it
Trim around that window has not been sealed in, or painted.
all trim around the base of the room has paint drips and roller marks on them
smoke alarm in LR does not work
Smoke alarm in bed room does not work
kitchen ceiling at corner leaks water
water running down wall by bathroom in kitchen
kitchen ceiling has cracks from damage
bathroom door frame is not painted
bathroom needs to be repainted.
bathroom sink leaks underneath. The bottom of the cabinet is bowed and may have mold, it is wet.
Stopper is missing for the sink and the tub
tub seal is not sealed, just a few finishing nails are in it. There is a gap toward the bottom that is 1/2 inch wide.
toilet tank lid is cracked and broken, it has been glued
floor seems really soft next to toilet.
cove base is pealing off, and bubbled around the room
switch plate is not screwed on right, with the screw sticking out at an angle
no basement door
stairway is not painted, the walls are DIRTY
Basement walls are chipping with paint falling off
Moldy paneling laying on the raised part of the basement. In the far corner there is white stringy mold under the panels.
no furnace filter
duct tape on tub drain
tub drain leaks
carpet in basement is wet
no sink stoppers in the kitchen
mold under the sink in the kitchen
no shut offs to any of the water lines to unit 1
stove is coated with grim and dirt, on top and down the sides
no blinds on any windows
drip pans on stove are filthy and filled with grim
carpet in LR has stains and paint spilled on it
kitchen outlet on wall with the door to the apartment is loss, it moves back and forth
Oven handle is falling off
Broken circut breaker in the fuse box, a couple are not in the box right
ghi's are bad in the kitchen and bathroom
all drawers in the kitchen are nailed shut except for 1. The drawer to the left of the stove is falling apart.
flooring under the stove has dead bugs and possible mold
fridge drawer is not on a runner, the shelf to this drawer is cracked. The fridge has a lot of filth in it as does the freezer.
no closet doors in the bedroom
No overflow valve on the water heater--pressure relief valve
window in bedroom latches, and handles.
window in the bedroom is also painted shut. They painted over cigerette butts by the old lock...
counter tops in the kitchen have chips, nickle size, and knife marks all over the tops of them. The edge toward the basement door is all chipped up and missing.
On top of the upper cabinets there are two syringes aith needles attached, and garbage on top.

[Jon Holdman]

I'll take a slightly different perspective here. While I agree that a tenant who identifies all these issues up front may be a problem on an ongoing basis, many of these items really should be dealt with. Some of these are piddly items that are perhaps just part of the deal for $325 a month. Some are serious hazards and would be code violations in my area. Some sound like real problems in your property that I would want to fix if this was mine. The place sounds like its not very clean. Who ever did some of this work did a sloppy job (paint over cigarette butts? really?) and I'd never use them again.

I don't rent my units with these sort of issues. There are quite a number of items on this list that I would address. OTOH, I don't have $325 units, so maybe this just comes with the territory.