Dealing with Tenants who are bringing up laws.

[Louis W.]

Hi BP community,

I am pretty new to running a rental property. I recently took over managing a property for family in the San Francisco. I was discussing rent and property situation with my tenants, and they got pretty heated and threaten me with legal jargons. I am pretty ignorant of the laws and wondering how should I approach this issue going forward.

[Chris Szepessy]

Sounds like it might be best to NOT sign a new lease with them. Give them their 30 day notice (or whatever is necessary in your area) and find better tenants. When tenants start "threatening" to withhold rent or start throwing around legal terms, it usually doesn't end well. 99% of the time they have zero idea what they're even talking about. 

Is this your property or are you just managing it? From the little info we have, it sounds as if the tenants are mad that their rent is going to go up and they are looking for reasons for it not to.