Tenant wants to add insulation

[Aric Adams]

In Atlanta GA...

Tenant complained that the heating units in the property were not working properly. I sent a tech out to check on the heating units work fine. The tenant claims that the tech mentions  that the property could be better insulated and/or your landlord could get a stronger heating unit (none of this is in the report I was given).

I did look into what it would take/cost and its really not feasible to do the improvement to do while a tenant is actually living in the unit. Many companies cite safety, logistical, etc concerns doing a Spray Foam + drywall improvement with someone living in the unit.

I was going to communicate this with the tenant and offer her the option to break the lease early but before I got to that part - she hangs up the phone. 

Now she is claiming that she is withholding rent at the courthouse until all her issues are fixed. This is a clear violation of her lease but she says I she can't get evicted because of the moratorium...

Any repairs that have needed to be made - I've made. This is not a repair though as the existing unit is is great condition.

This tenant has been a problem since she's signed the lease 3 months ago... 

Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[John Teachout]

Don't give in to extortion. If you insulate this property for her, next thing you'll be changing the color of the shingles.

Did she provide an affidavit of being unable to pay rent to do being affected by covid? If not, she's likely mistaken regarding being evicted. I would immediately post her with a 3 day pay or quit notice and let her know you will be proceeding with the eviction process at the end of the 3 days. (I've posted several times during the past year and every time the tenant miraculously found money to pay the rent). I'm out of town but will posting a property as soon as I get back to Georgia on Friday.

If this goes to court make sure you have a copy of the report the HVAC company provided to you and her.