Tenant we'd like gone

[James S.]

Hey all,

We bought a house in the spring with a tenant who has been in the house for about 8 years. He is a bit older, has a good job but we've had quite a few headaches since taking over the house.

The biggest one is that we keep getting blight notices for him not taking care of the property in a pretty strict community. One just lead to a misdemeanor ticket which i'm being summoned to court.

Another is he's complaining about his furnace not being efficient enough and threatens to leave.

Called demanding an electrician to ground his wires because his cable box fried from not being on a surge protector, threatens to leave

We increased his rent slightly when we purchased it, which is still $200+ under market, threatens to leave.

He's paid every month but is always a week or two late and claims it's insurance related getting back paid. When we took over the home we were of course told he'd never been late but once or twice in 8 years.

The empty threats to leave don't really bother me. We try to be fair as possible and have made improvements to the home to make him more comfortable. What does bother us is the blight notices and what could happen now when it snows... I can't keep fighting tickets all winter and dealing with trying to get him to repay them on top.

The only idea I had without going completely through the court to get rid of him is pull out a 30 day notice agreement to move. I'm sure he'll toss another threat my way, in which I would happily hand him the option.

What are the communities thoughts/suggestions? 

[Frank S.]

Originally posted by @James S.:

Yea, ideally i'd like to wait until spring for the greater pool of tenants. It's a great house in a great safe location where comps are getting a few hundred more a month. The 30 day notice to vacate might be what we are looking for. 

His lease has been up for years I think. The last home owner let him go month to month and had a property manager dealing with him. 

Raising the rent and adding it as maintenance isn't a bad idea. .. that way I can make sure it get's done, at least until spring. 

If he doesn't have a lease, check your local ordinance. The last thing you need is a tenant-friendly attorney hunting you. Is it 30 days, 45 days, two months or maybe you can't get him out. Be careful. Do you have a local REIA in your area? Talk to a rental company, they may help.

A few months without rental income is fine and should be expected (vacancy), use that time to clean up the place paint, cabinets, LED lights, etc. and get more money.  Money doesn't justify annoying tenants - well, sometimes it does.  

Good luck,