Tenant constantly turns down heat thermostat for the property.

[Victor D.]

Hey BP crew, I'm looking for a creative solution from any landlords that have had problem tenants in the past. Specifically this situation involves a tenant that will turn down the thermostat to our buildings boiler, in the winter season if she feels that her unit is too warm. The major issue is when she does this the entire building turns cold and the tenants start to call and complain. Me being the "on call super" will always get the late night call about NO HEAT. I've bought it up to the landlord and we have changed locks and placed pad locks to the basement door but they always manage to be broken. Any suggestions on how to remedy this situation would be greatly appreciated!

[Russell W.]

Wow... breaking pad locks and seemingly picking other locks, this person is determined, and destructive! Seems like she is more hassle than what it's worth, so I would try using the "happy clause" to let her out of her lease (if you feel like you can easily fill the apartment). Confront her about the issue, mention that you understand she is not happy with the apartment conditions and that she can terminate the lease. If she declines, I'd mention that fiddling with building equipment is a breach of her contract (i.e. you can move to evict). I imagine that would get her to stop. 

Short of all that, you can hire a contractor to relocate the temperature controls to an inconspicuous location and disconnect the current control to become non-functional. The placebo effect works wonders