Adding "House Rules" Mid Lease

[Lynn Hill-Torres]

I have a townhouse and converted the basement to a unit. The two tenants share the laundry room/utility area, which is just outside the basement tenants unit. The tenant who lives upstairs formerly lived in the basement before we moved out. The current basement tenant actually lived there previously too. So, I say all this to say, both tenants know what it is like to live in that basement. 

I am at the point where my upstairs tenant is not neighborly. He has late night (and loud) company, plays music loud and late and does his laundry well into the night (like after 1 am). He does NOT work overnight. When the basement tenant sends a text to keep it down or tried to set an agreement not to do laundry after 10 pm, the upstairs guy will almost "punish" him by not giving him his mail or do laundry even later or tie up the washer and dryer all weekend and still play his music loud, or be loud in general. He had a fight until 4 am on a Thursday. 

My basement tenant has asked if he can move. He's added me to their text message conversations and then is called a snitch for trying to resolve things that are clearly issues. The neighbors next door have also complained. 

He usually pays early every month, this month will be the first time he's late and he told me about it beforehand. This is his second year with us. While he was in the basement, we never had an issue, but since we moved out, and he came upstairs, he's showing out!!!  .....and costing me money. I like the guy, but ...dang.

We gave him a sweet deal since he would have to be more concerned with the tenant below as there is no separate utility for the basement, he would have to be mindful of noise and place the basement tenants' mail in his mailbox out back. 

So far, this isn't working and I'd like to instill house rules. Can I do that so early in the lease? While I think he's not being neighborly, some of these offenses fall under my counties nuance laws. Can I send him an Addendum and have him sign it?