Do I have to Renew this tenant? HELP

[Jeff Lucas]

Hey BP!

I have a sticky tenant situation. I purchased a property last September and inherited a tenant (young disabled veteran) who had signed a 12 months lease expiring at the end of May. There is however, one line in his lease, which was written in by the previous landlord, that says, “if tenant decides to renew lease at end, 30 day notice and the rent shall remain the same.” Yes, the sentence doesn’t make grammatical sense, but you get the idea.

Over the last year, I have had nothing but issues with the tenant. He was 1) Ticketed for domestic disturbance, 2) Has harassed the tenants upstairs for making too much noise [they are now moving out], 3) Was 30 days late on March rent due to the government shutdown [was able to get rent assistance from the County], 4) Smokes in the house [though I have no way to prove it], and 5) Told me in December that he needed to terminate his lease early because of the noise upstairs, but hasn’t been able to find a new place for the last 4 months.

Eventually he agreed to finish out his lease, but now has expressed interest in renewing for another year. Since he lives in the bottom unit of a duplex, I know that this will only lead to another year of complaints and drama with the new tenant upstairs.

What I’m trying to figure out is:

• 1)Do I have legal grounds for non-renewal given the verbiage in his lease from the previous owner (“if tenant decides to renew lease at end, 30 day notice and the rent shall remain the same.”)? Can I argue that he broke the lease in March since he paid 30 days late? I didn’t serve a formal notice, but we have plenty of emails documenting the issue.
• 2)If I am required to renew, can I use my lease, or do I have to use the lease from the previous owner since that is the one with language around an obligation to renew?
• 3)100% of his monthly income is government stipend. He has had trouble qualifying for a new rental, and he wouldn’t pass my income, credit score, and background requirements either. Is this grounds for non-renewal?
• 4)How would you handle this situation?

Any advice you have would be a huge help!

Thanks,

Jeff L.