Snow removal Wisconsin duplex

[Kayla Marek]

My husband and I own a side by side duplex in the suburbs of Wisconsin. We signed new tenants to a lease in July and honestly they've been nothing but trouble since then. They break the blinds then want us to pay for repair. They broke the showerhead off out of the wall, $250 to replace (it was brand new). They call weekly and never leave a voicemail or text message. They brought their own washer and dryer and are now demanding we provide one. Now that we have snowfall, they are complaining about the shoveling they agreed to....

The lease states that they are responsible for all snow removal and weekly lawn mowing. We gave them a discount off of the rent for doing these services. The lease does not state how the snow is to be removed (shovel, snowblower, etc) and we told them it was up to them. They asked us if we would provide a snowblower and we said we would consider it. Then I read about the liability due to injury etc and we informed them that we would not be providing one. 

Now the female tenant is emailing me stating we need to provide a snowblower or plow service because the driveway is too big to do by hand. When I told her we would consider a plow for snowfall >5 inches, she was unhappy with this amount and states she wants her rent increased $100/month and be free of these responsibilities. 

Honestly, with snowfall here in Wisconsin, it will cost me much more for snow removal than $100/month. I don't want there to be bad blood so early in the lease but I don't know where to go from here. Do I increase rent $150/month or just tell her we can revisit the terms of the lease next year if she chooses to resign?

[Marcus Auerbach]

@Kayla Marek ugh - I am sorry you have to deal with this! This is not how it is supposed to be! Managing tenants well is not an easy thing and sometimes we learn best from the things that we try and did not work. In this case it sounds like you have established an unwanted behaviour model: they have learned that everything is negotiable with you, as long as they push hard enough, they will get something out of you. They are leading and you are reacting. Like Goethe said, are you the hammer, or are you the nail? You may not want to hear this, but you have enabled their behaviour.

You should think of tenants not as your customers as most people assume, but as your employees. And just like employees they need to be managed and trained. Clearly your guys need some training. 

- the terms of the lease are not negotiable and will not be reconsidered. Not the amount of rent, not the washer and not the snow removal. 

- If something breakes, you send a contractor and they get an invoice. If they don't pay the invoice you deduct it from their rent and send a 5 day notice. (check your lease about this!)

- communication is via email and if urgent via text message. You don't take phone calls from tenants and you don't call them - unless it is a scheduled call. You don't call tenant's back - reply via email.

The problem is that at this point it's tough to break that existing behaviour. This is very difficult, because you have already established the rules of engagement. It might be the best solution to hand them over to a PM and seize all interactions with them like Scott said.

When managing tenants you have to act and communicate like a corporation - I always think of United or Hilton. They will smile at you and say very friendly, but without any doubt: "No Sir, I am sorry, but you can not bring your elephant on the plane. Is there anything else I can help you with?" And they don't offer to reduce the airfare, because you could not bring your animal. 

I read a book a while ago written by two Navy Seal's called Extreme Ownership. They talk about the principles that they have learned leading toops in the toughest places in Iraq and how you can use that in your professional life. When things did not go the way they are supposed to, people tend to blame the circumstances. Jocko and Leif say when things go sideways you can say it was because they got in an ambush or they were outnumbered, or they had a vehicle break down or a because a team leader under them did not handle the situation well, so its his fault etc - but in reality, they have learned it was always their responsibility. As the leaders they should have better prepared, better planned, better trained the team leaders to prepare them for the situation. My point is, if your tenants behavie this way, it is ultimatley your responsibility, you have allowed and enabled that. I am not suggesting to be rude or mean, just in contrary, be very nice, friendly but also very firm. There are a number of great books about landlording, one of my favorites is Landlording on Autopilot, by Mike Butler. He is an ex-cop and has some serious street smarts about managing tenants.

All setbacks are great learning opportunities, best of luck and don't let this discourage you!