Tenant Cat Fight Getting Out Of Control

[Jo Ballagh]

Hi fellow landlords! My google searches are getting me nowhere.

I have a four plex. The walls are extremely thin thanks to a really bad builder/inspector and my lack of insulation knowledge.

That being said, my tenants all hear each other through the walls. Luckily, for the last two years, they’ve tolerated it. I have had amazing tenants.

One unit recently vacated and I received the best ‘on paper’ applicant. Good job, credit score, background check and references. They paid rent and deposit before moving in and set utilities up immediately. No red flags. (I’ll call them “Unit 4”)

One week after Unit 4 moves in I hear that the cops were called. Someone parked in Unit 4’s parking spot to wait for a tenant in Unit 3. Unit 4 lost their mind and began threatening the driver of the parked car with a piano leg (yes, a piano leg).

After hearing both sides, I tried to do some mediation because I failed to introduce the new tenant to their neighbors. Maybe it was my fault they got off on bad terms. We had a Coombaya session and they both agreed that they each over reacted. That was about a month ago.

Two nights ago, I get video from Unit 3. The videos are of the shared wall with Unit 4 at 1:40am. Unit 4 is yelling obscenities and slamming kitchen cabinets. The cops were called and Unit 4 was was issued a 12 hour DC (be quiet or we will arrest you).

I call Unit 4 and leave a message letting them know I heard about an incident and asked them to call me back. I haven’t heard from them.

I’d like to offer Unit 4 to leave because this is the 2nd time this has happened that I’ve been notified about (I know this has been ongoing because Unit 3 doesn’t complain until it’s bad). This has become a very hostile environment and I will lose my long standing tenants in Unit 3 if it continues.

Also: I self manage the property and have recently moved out of state.

What would you do? Please send me your advice or lessons learned! I’m so blown away by the behavior and don’t envision it ending.

[Jessica Bridges]

You need to hire a property manager since you have moved out of state. That will help you in the future with issues like this. Your tenants "Unit 4" seem to be a little on the crazy side. If the problems continue, I would definitely offer them the option to vacate. I also recommend giving a 7 day notice to cure, so it is in writing that they need to act appropriately. You should have verbiage in your lease regarding disturbances. This is usually something I would have the tenants work out so we are not involved but I agree with you not wanting to lose a good tenant over something like this.