Tenants not paying full rent

[Zain B.]

Hi BP Nation,

Thank you in advance for reading my post. You have been great all along!!!

So I might have been unlucky and gotten one of tenants from hell.

Situation

First, my tenants decided to make alterations to the property which they are clearly not allowed to perform without the landlords consent per their lease. They figured, what the hell, let's just do these alterations, landlord would never know. The alteration they performed was related to the toilet which started leaking. They didn't bother notifying me (landlord). Then when the water from the top unit started flowing into the bottom unit, I was notified by the tenant in the mid level unit that there is a leak in the ceiling. When I entered the apartment (with the tenants permission) to see what's going on, the toilet was leaking. I fixed the damage at my cost and reminded them that no further alterations are allowed (my mistake number 1 - should have charged them for it but this was right before COVID and they were already complaining about the high rent in their lease given other landlords were reducing rents to fill vacancies). I reminded them that they have signed a lease and both parties (tenant and landlord) need to abide by the lease. Property is located in Jersey City which is close to New York City and rents all around have declined due to high vacancies.

When my contractor went to fix the toilet, my contractor realized that the other bathroom also has the toilet running non stop. They claimed that how they got the unit which is incorrect because my family stayed in the unit prior to turning it over to these tenants. No leaks before. In any event, the leak in bathroom 1 and leak in bathroom 2 resulted in my water bill spiking up more than $1,000 (above and beyond the norm). I ate that expense too after the tenants threatening not to pay rent and we were in the midst of COVID. We compromised and said, we will pay the excess water bill if the tenant continues to pay rent (mistake # 2). Tenant decided to pay $2,100 which was short $750 for the month of March (pre-agreed to defer $750 for the month of March). Starting April 1st, tenant continues to pay $2,850 which is full rent per their lease. Lease expires in March 2021.

Then I got another call from mid level tenant in September that the roof is leaking again. I went upstairs to check and the tenant now installed a water filtration system in the kitchen sink. Said the water quality in Jersey City was not good. Asked why they installed a water filtration system without the landlords permission after the first incident, they said that this was installed before the last incident and the warning provided. I reminded them that "no alterations are allowed" was in the lease from day 1. In any event, enough was enough, asked them to pay for the damages to rectify the situation and they just wouldn't pay. Damage was detected early on and a plumber fixed the damage for $200. We agreed that the damage would be split 50/50 as the real source of the problem couldn't be determined. According to me, problem was because they added the water filtration system. According to them, it was due to a faulty pipe which froze and busted. In any event, it was only $200 and they paid $100 (mistake #3).

I have made repeated requests for the tenants to pay the $750 of rent due from March and the tenants have just ignored my requests. I called and sent text messages and they just choose to ignore it. At one point, they agreed over text that they would pay $750 in the month of October. But then, one of the tenants is concerned that the $1,000 extra change for the water bill from early March would lead me to deduct that from their lease (which I assured them that I would not). Still they refuse to pay $750 which is due from March 2020.

Request

At this point, I just need some guidance to ensure that they do not continue to run over my request as they please. What's due is $750 (from March 2020) and the total rent amount is $2,850 per month which they have continued to pay starting April. The verbal agreement was that to give them a break for the month of March (i.e. defer $750) and they will pay the balance as soon as they all resume work which they have starting April. Some were working during the pandemic from home. They have also indicated that they are willing to vacate the apartment if its not working out for me. They mentioned this because they want to take advantage of the lower rent in the area (similar property will rent for $500 less now vs. pre covid when they signed their lease in Jan 2020). Any advise on how to get them back on track and make the $750 defered rent payment would be greatly appreciated. The biggest concern is make sure that they do not continue to pay or not pay the rent according to their wishes and abide by the terms of the lease.

P.S. I contacted an attorney who suggested to file a "non pay eviction" starting Nov 1. The tenants are volunteering to leave and hand over the apartment if I allow them to get out of their lease. Should I just allow these tenants to vacate and look for a better set of tenants? All of these guys (6 in total) have good credit and immigration papers in the works (both of which I think they care about). Some of them work for respected companies like Accenture and don't think want an eviction on their record. Or is there another way out of this situation?