How to get rid of problem tenants?

Question

A few years ago I had some people that were nothing but problems. They had rattlesnakes that escaped and the game wardens were called in. Finally they thought they didn't have to pay rent because they spent all their money in a casino.

I had their electric and water disconnected. The city removed the electric and water meter. These guys were welders. They understand electricity. They used 2 big scissors wrapped in electrical tape to jump the 4 lugs in the meter box. I told the city, and they cut the lines at the pole.

I found someone else doing a STR in my town, this was their first.  I gave my problem tenants the number of the other STR.  2 problems solved.  Got rid of my tenants and filled up my competition with some deadbeats.  A year later I met the lady that rented to them.  She said they left, but left a lot of their things in her STR.  They were going to pay her a storage fee, but that never materialized.

How do you deal with problem tenants?

Erik W. · Answer

Well, I don't dump my problems on someone else...though perhaps one could argue that the STR owner should have done a better job verifying.

The methods for getting rid of bad tenants are pretty standard and straight-forward:

1) Eviction

2) Non-renewal

3) Cash for keys

4) Illegal process (aka "Self-help")

Eviction is the most common for me, and 99% of the time due to non-payment of rent.  While Missouri does have a "Warrant of Habitability" default assumption for rentals, it doesn't excuse the tenant from paying rent unless they follow a detailed process.  Most don't even know the process, so they just decide not to pay rent and then come of with all sorts of reasons (some real, some fake) for why the property is bad and therefore they don't have to pay.  Nope, the judge has tossed them every time I've been in court.

I keep my places clean, safe, and functional, btw.   When I mentioned "some real" reasons above, that refers to other court cases I've witnessed while waiting my turn.  One LL had a hole in the floor of the bathroom.  Tenant brought a photo to the court.  Judge asked, "Did you pay the rent?"  Tenant, "No."  Judge asked, "Did you follow the legal process for withholding rent for a home having serious defects?"  Tenant, "Uhhhhhh, what's that?"  Judge, "We find for the plaintiff (LL).  Next case."

Eviction for non-payment is always cut and dry for us.  Maybe not so much for others.

Non-renewal is also pretty simple but takes longer if they've got many months left on the lease.  Still, I have used the threat of non-renewal a couple of times to settle down nit-picky but otherwise decent tenants.  Some states require you to give a reason and that it be "legit" according to the law.  Mine doesn't.  I can non-renew for any reason or no reason.  I usually choose no reason.  Gives them nothing to fight or argue about other than what they make up out of thin air.

Cash for keys is exactly what it sounds like: LL pays tenant $X to move out, turn over keys and possession.  Can be faster and cheaper than an eviction, but like most here I only would do this as a last resort.  Most times, eviction is faster and preferable.  Our courts are about 3 weeks from filing to court date and then 3-5 days until set out day, so pretty quick.  We also do't have to allow a grace period for rent and don't have to post a Pay or Quit notice.  So I can evict the day rent is late if I want, but I usually wait 7 days.

Illegal self-help process involves things like the LL shutting off utilities, removing the front door, intimidating the tenant physically, entering the premises when the tenant is gone and throwing all their stuff on the lawn, etc.  Don't do it for any reason, no matter how terrible they are.

As always, though, the best solution is careful, diligent screening up front.  That's another topic, though.

Erik W. · Answer

@Paul Sandhu, "There was no lease.  Just a verbal agreement to pay $400/week...I could have had them arrested for trespassing if I wanted,"

In most states, what you had is considered a month to month verbal rental agreement, so no you could not have arrested them for trespassing.  I am not an expert on Kansas law, but unless a licensed KS attorney told you this was true then I doubt you could have done anything other than taken them to court.

It is also illegal in most states for the LL to request turn off of utilities, even if they are in his name and the tenants are not paying.  Again, see what I mentioned above regarding "self help" evictions.  In most cases, the LL can take no action to deprive the tenant of utility services.  All you can due is sue them for non-payment and attempt to collect.  However, if the tenants have utilities in their name and the utility company has a policy to shut off due to non-payment, that is another story.  Be careful though: some utility companies attach the unpaid balance as a lien on your property.  See you state laws &/or contact your utility company to learn if that is the case.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

@Erik Whiting  My town is the equivalent of the wild west, and things seem to run that way for as long as I can remember.  What you mention is probably true in better municipalities.  Police have even told me to put up a "No Trespassing" sign on all of my properties.  That gives them a little more authority with their work and with any charges should it end up in court.  So I have "No Tresspassing" signs on every front and back door now.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

We bought that property at the sheriffs delinquent property tax sale.  Those problem tenants were the first tenants.  They happened to live next door in a house that was eventually demolished.  The first 6 months of their gross rent paid for the purchase price of the house.  After 6 months is when the problems started, gambling/rattlesnakes/not paying rent.

Ken Latchers · Answer

If I were doing several month stays like you were, I would have an agreement for up to 30 days and if they were reasonable, I would then extend them. 30 days of short term rental and they do not have any tenancy rights you can basically just put them out. A lot of bad tenants start out pretty quickly being that way and the 30-day short-term intro is an easy way to show them out the door

Paul Sandhu · Answer

@Jon Arsenault My local police and utility department referred to that house as "Rattlesnake Ranch".  They didn't like my tenants, I didn't like my tenants, other people out in the country didn't like my tenants because they suspected they were poaching deer.  The tenant let me hold on to his AR10 for a $500 loan.  There was no lease.  Just a verbal agreement to pay $400/week.  Utilities were in my name, so all I had to do was ask the city to disconnect them.  Those problem tenants had nothing in their name.  I could have had them arrested for trespassing if I wanted, but I wrote their employer a nasty letter.  A few months after they were gone (one guy was the superintendant) their company was blackballed by the refinery.  The way they treated me was the same way they treated their work and their employer.

I had known and rented to the problem tenant for 5 years.  He'd been no problem whenever he rented from me the first 5 years.  I suspect gambling and chemical dependency were an issue.  After he left, I found a package of synthetic urine in his bedroom.  Also a package of 5 marijuana seeds showed up in the mailbox.  It came from England.

One guy from the company who was staying somewhere else deposited his paycheck to his bank with some phone app.  He then went to Wal Mart and had it cashed.  Wal Mart then refused to cash any checks from their company.  I had 4 houses with guys all from the same company that couldn't get their checks cashed (and couldn't pay rent).  So I cashed one persons check from each house and kept the entire houses rent from that one guy.  It was up to him to settle with his housemates.

Jon A. · Answer

@Paul Sandhu, I am aware that your properties are STR but I thought it was illegal to disconnect power and/or electric while the unit is occupied. Or is that state specific? I thought that was the problem with the computer programmer guy that was squatting in the unit that got so much attention in the news at one point. I forget where it was but there was a very long thread on here about it.

Merle Brubacker · Answer

And I see I didn't read your post as thoughlerly as I thought... sigh.  You did get the tenants out.

There's a guide to tenant screening here on Bigger Pockets that has help me a lot to formulate rules to keep you out of trouble.

Merle Brubacker · Answer

Hello,  I am in no way qualified to answer this because I'm new/starting out myself, the advice I've taken to heart is to make sure the lease agreement is stringent enough to eliminate the majority of the bad situations.

As far as dealing with your current problem I would go over your lease and see if you can get an eviction process started, or do a cash for keys deal so you can move on with the property.

Best of luck to you.

How to get rid of problem tenants?

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