Smoking Tenant Caused a Fire

[Brian Detlefsen]

Today, I got a call from one of my tenants saying that he smells smoke in his apartment and he called the fire department. When I got there, the fire department located and extinguished the fire. It was at the base of the building, where the foundation and rim joist meet. They extinguished the fire and said that it was caused by a cigarette butt. There were 100’s of cigarette butts laying directly around the area.

There is a young couple with a toddler in the 2nd floor studio apartment directly above. I get noise complaints about them on a regular basis. They refuse to control their toddler and have told me this to my face. They are heavy smokers and they go out onto the 2nd floor deck and throw the butts on their wood deck and on the cement patio below. I am 99.9% sure that this was caused by one of their cigarette butts.

I have asked them on several occasions, face to face not in writing, to not throw their cigarette butts on the ground. They say that they won’t anymore, but they continue to throw them everywhere.

Additional info: They are on a month-to-month lease and are always 3-4 days late with the rent. I have everyone else set up on electronic rent pay thru Cozy, but they refuse because they don’t have a checking/savings account. They pay rent with a certified check. The young couple and their toddler live in a studio apartment. I inherited these tenants with the apartment.

I’m trying to figure out what my options are given that it is the middle of winter and the COVID-19 is still going on. Any suggestions?

[Greg M.]

I'm assuming that there was not enough damage to get your insurance company involved. 

Sounds like the best solution is for these tenants to be gone. You aren't controlling them and they don't care. Since they are M2M lease, give them the required 30/60 days notice of non-renewal. I'd also get the eviction paperwork started. You'll probably need to go this route.

You can also change terms in the lease with proper notice. Make it a non-smoking unit including the balcony and have wording about noise. Increase the rent, etc...