Whole building of bad tenants

[Michelle Marty]

Problem building. In my real estate career I've been pretty lucky so far. I haven't had any "bad" tenants. I've had a few that occasionally paid the rent late a few days or had to do more repair work than "normal wear and tear" after a tenant had moved out. Until now that is. I've inherited a problem building. I purchased 4 townhouses, all one structure. None, zero, zilch...of the tenants pay their rent on time. It was a huge red flag when, per the contract, i asked for the security deposits, and was told they had all used them for the previous months rent. The previous owner was very generous/stupid with them. I currently have 1 unit empty. Another tenant pays but has always a couple of days late. When she does pay its always accompanied by a compliant. Here is my rent but I need.... minor thatthings most tenants wouldnt even complain about or do themselves. I use a property manager so even though it's little things like replacing the weather stripping on the door And unclogging a toilet anyone with a plunger could unclog I have to pay fees. She's done this every single month. the next two tenants are headaches. I've sent out two eviction notices each. They always let it get to the final stages and the cough up the money then next month rolls around and they don't pay. And since I inherited these leases they included nothing about court costs or fees. Now one tenant is paying $25 more than the other two. She just happened to move in during the height of the renting season for the city and paid a little more for it. Now she's found out her neighbors pay less. So her last rent payment, which was 15 days late was $25 short. When she was notified it was short she said she wasn't paying more than the others. That it wasn't fair. She asked the property manager to ask me to lower it. I told the property manager no. Then she said in a very round about way i should reconsider because it is now at the low of renting season and I'd get $25 less now anyway she's afraid the tenant would stop paying and use the eviction time to save up money to move. I'd also have to fix the place up as I'm sure it would not be in broom clean condition. These 3 tenants have given me more headache than all of my others, ever, combined. What would you do?

[Jon Holdman]

What, exactly, does this PM actually do for you? Other than incurring a charge for every complaint from the one tenant? Sure seems like you're dealing with a lot of stuff and paying for a PM, too. Maybe time for a new PM.

I'd start by getting them onto new leases. If you're on month to month, give them whatever notice you need and put them onto a new lease. If they move, good riddance. Maybe you should bump the ones paying less up to the $25 higher rate. In the new lease, outline all the actual terms. Make the new leases month to month. That way, if you choose to keep them, its your choice. If you don't want the hassles, terminate their leases. Then there's no making a payment to stop the eviction. You're terminated. If they don't leave, evict.