Dealing with a Toxic Tenant

[Frank Jennings]

I bought my first investment property, a duplex, 6 months ago. From the start a tenant was very angry and difficult. He said he had bad experiences with previous landlords and he trusted no one. I have responded quickly to every issue associated with the property and I thought I earned his trust. I recently had to do mandatory remodeling as mandated by the municipality. I had to tear down an old deck and build a brand new one. Everything is in line with codes and is safe. He snapped on me because the 5 step stairway was too narrow and how could he ever move out large items like a couch. There are 2 other entrances, but anyway, I said if you have to use this entrance you can simply lift the couch over the stairway railing. That seemed to relax him. But before that it had been 2 days of offensive texts and arguing with him. I don't know how to deal with these situations and I'm sure this won't be the last issue. I honestly feel like he is going to sue me for nothing at some point. Any advice from your own experiences would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Bill B.]

I don’t know how long you plan on living. But my time is worth more than that. 

You have two decent options…

“This doesn’t seem to be a good fit for you, would you like out of your lease so you can find a new place?”

“I’ve hired a property manager, here’s their number…”

Ps. If they are month to month (otherwise when he current lease expires) you can guarantee their rental rate would be market plus 5-10% minimum. That will cover the PM. 

I only have a dozen properties but a BUSY month with a PM is an hour of work with 4 calls/texts/emails. The average is less than 10 minutes (mostly entering their reports into quicken software.) and 0 or 1 problems/calls/texts/emails.