Inherited tenant questions.

[Kurtis Montgomery]

I bought a duplex fully occupied in June.  Tenant A is neat and quiet.  Tenant B is a woman that can't do anything for herself, but she pays rent on time.  In the lease and my initial inspection, the tenant did not specify she had a small dog or that she smokes in the house.  I did not know this until today she said the locks are broken and so I installed new ones, in part so I could get keys.  She was working from home with her son and he was smoking inside and then there was a the dog (I knocked on the door and I heard him go crazy and there was a dog bowl out when I changed the locks). 

My question is how do I broach this subject?

The duplex I bought for 55k and I get $500 per unit totaling $1,000/month.  Tenant A's deposit came with the property, Tenant B's deposit he used for money she owed him.  I worked out a deal with her to pay me $50 extra a month till her $500 deposit is satisfied.  This is a lower income duplex, but its bombproof.  Metal roof, block foundation on slab, the interior is all tile, including the walk-in showers, this place could withstand a tornado.  $500 is about market value and I'd rather not do a tenant turnover if I don't have to.

[Account Closed]

I would leave the tenant alone. The apartment is rented, they pay the rent and the smoke and dog are already there. Maybe, if you leave the tenant alone they will stay a hundred years and you will never have to clean up their mess.

When tenants move in friends, relatives and pets against your wishes you can increase the rent based on the increase in tenants and pets. That often works out much better than making waves and having to clean the unit and find new tenants who may never pay their rent and then move so you have to clean and rent the place a 2nd time.

I get a little carried away, myself, sometimes, and about a year ago I had a tenant move a friend into his unit and he refused to pay the additional rent I wanted. So, I evicted him. It cost me about $1,000 to clean and paint the unit. Usually, we have an apartment re-rented within a few days, but this apartment took about 8 months to rent and I lost $1500 per month = $12,000 + plus the cost to paint and clean. Shot myself in the foot on that one!