Tenant arguments may escalate to violence

[Palmer Wilkins]

I bought a short sale multifamily building last winter and have been taking care of the deferred maintenance and increasing the occupancy with new tenants appropriately screened by my property manager. All was going well except for a few recent smaller issues that seem manageable.

The issue is that last weekend two different tenants began fighting over one stealing another's cutlery. These two are existing tenants from the previous owner who was a slumlord and rented to anyone with a pulse.

One tenant has an alcohol problem, let's call him drunk tenant. The other one seems to have a drug problem and has been one I'd like to get rid of anyway. Let's call him crazy tenant. The two had a big fight with raised voices. It scared my other tenants. Especially the new ones.

Both tenants were sent 7 day notices to cure or face eviction. It turns out that crazy tenant is still causing problems with the drunk tenant. Also, he was apparently seen stealing the bike of another new tenant and has a guy now living in his unit that just got out of prison.

I have to get rid of this guy. This kicker is that he said if he gets kicked out, he's going to come back and kill the drunk tenant.

I'm thinking I will instruct the property manager to kick them both out--the drunk first and then the crazy one--but I'm afraid the crazy guy will retaliate in some way.

The police are aware of the incident, but feel like they won't do anything until something really bad happens. I'm all about getting rid of these tenants, but the threats are what are stumping me and my property manager.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[Palmer Wilkins]

Thanks for all of the replies to my initial post. Looks like all is sorted out somehow.

Luckily, the crazy tenant's lease is up at the end of this month October. We didn't renew his lease, but offered him $250 and his full deposit if he moves out 15 days early. This "concession" was disguised as "this will help you with your moving costs." Of course, the "bribe" was to get him out of there without tearing up the place. It seems he has accepted the terms. He was told his drunk nemesis won't be renewed either.

The drunk guy won't be renewed, but he has a long time left on his lease. If he acts up, we'll start to moving towards an eviction.

I documented everything and had the police beef up the patrols in the area at the time the crazy guy received the information that he was going to have to move. So far, all seems OK. Fingers crossed. He should be out of there this weekend.

I inherited this tenant and am now appreciating the background checks that all new tenants must undergo.