How to deal with Landlord Paranoia

Question

I have a tenant (45 year old man with a son of 5 years old) that is making me paranoid. I cannot determine if he is lying to me regarding his personal situation or if he is a really unlucky guy.

He is a new tenant this month, and paid his first months rent on time, and he has a 3 month deposit. But everytime we schedule to meet he shows up very late.

The biggest contributor to my worry is that he stressed the fact that he needed to move in as soon as possible several times, but after I handed him the keys he was still not moving in after two weeks.

As my apartment is in a very popular school district and he has a son as stated above, I was worried that he just rented my place to get an adress that give him the rights to send the kid there. Once the kid would be accepted into school, he could move and still have the kid belong to the school.

So suspecting foul play, I started contacting other landlords in my area that had posted their flats after I signed the contract with him, asking them if they were being approached by him. The following day, they all replied that he had not done so...

On the 16th day after takeover he spent one night there and has since been away.

I will let him be for now, and try not to think about this. I will also monitor him paying rent very closely.

I am very interested in hearing suggestions from the community as to how I should handle this situation moving forward.

Mary B. · Answer

Less caffeine, more yoga... my coin.

Kudos,

Mary

Rick H. · Answer

Learn to make "Binary Decisions" (yes/no) and live with the results.

You will make mistakes. Don't beat yourself up or spent too much time examining the place where you fell.

Your tenant is paying you to rent housing and is responsible for living up to the contractual agreement, your policies and local laws.

If you don't have written policies that you enforce consistently, that's the place to start and these will free you up. Otherwise, you're meddling.

I have a friend who's a nun and she tells me her favorite mantra is 'Mind My Own Business'

James Wise · Answer

Do not over think this.

If rent comes in on time I would not give it another thought.

If rent does not come in, file for eviction. You have a 3 month security deposit, you will likely come out whole or ahead.

Sarah Shockley · Answer

I just encountered a similar scenario.

One of my tenants' leases is up in a month. They already told me they need a larger apartment (and I don't have one available they can move in to), so they plan to move out.

Tenant didn't pay his rent.

Like a schmuck I assumed he was going to move out early, and use his security deposit as his 'last month's rent', which would be a problem if the apartment was less than immaculate when he moves out.

After a few days I emailed him, asking if he was going to do the scenario above (or pay his rent), and saying the security deposit is there for a reason.

He told me he wasn't moving out early, and apologized for paying rent late. (He then paid his rent, and late fees.)

A man wiser than me said to be "wise as serpents, and innocent like doves."

It's certainly reasonable to have doubts about people, and also to do what you can to not get taken advantage of. I don't think that means you "don't have the temperament to be a landlord."

You have a three month deposit, purpose of which is to help mitigate your risks. Honestly I suspect that's the most risk mitigation you can do in this situation, and I think you've done a fairly good job of "preparing for the worst." Now all you can do is try some yoga, and wait and see!

Randy E. · Answer

I had a tenant move out in November of last year and the house needed some work done to it, so I left it vacant through December while I had the work done.

Near the end of December, I had a new tenant lined up.  The tenant paid so he could move in on January 1, but he didn't move in.  The house sat vacant the entire month of January.  I don't think he moved anything into it.  He had gone through a divorce in November and moved in with a friend in December.  While he had adequate income, it turned out that he was still helping his ex-wife financially and after paying the first month and security deposit for my house, he didn't have enough money for utility deposits.  Also, he was very busy and didn't have time to move.  So, he continued to stay with his friend -- it was a very convenient situation for him, and for the friend who was a single father and appreciated having someone around to help him with his boys.

February came, the guy paid me the rent for February and he moved a few items into the house, but still he did not "live" there.  Eventually, he moved in near the end of February.  That was nearly two months after he signed the lease.  Now, it's August and I can honestly say that so far he's one of the best tenants I've ever had.

It happens.

M Marie M. · Answer

Try not to get sucked into tenant drama.

Yes, it is possible that he's just using your address to get into a great school district. Is that illegal?

I gather he signed a lease. If he doesn't sleep there does that mess up your insurance or create any other liability?

For some people they make mountains out of molehills and make normal transactions stupidly complicated. So don't get pulled into the why or the drama.

Richard C. · Answer

Yeah, you are being paranoid.

I can imagine many, many scenarios where a person might need to "move right away" in the sense that they need to lock down where exactly they will be living, but not need to actually physically move for a few weeks.

The school aspect is one of them.  Perhaps he needed a signed lease on an apartment in order to get his child registered for the coming year, but does not actually feel the need to occupy it until the school year actually begins?

In any case, your part of the deal is to provide the premises as agreed, and to repair and maintain it as required.  His part of the deal is to follow the lease provisions, pay the rent, and exercise reasonable care toward the property.

This other stuff is, frankly, none of your business.

Account Closed · Answer

Problem= house messed up, money owed. Do you have a problem???? from what I read, the answer is no.

you may be right about your tenant's intentions,  but who cares!!! because is your house messed up? no...does your tenant owe money? no.....so you don't have a problem.

Account Closed · Answer

@Morgan Nilsen  I don't know if you're just new to this but it may be that you don't have the temperament needed to be a landlord.  I don't mean that in an unkind way.  It's not for everyone and it can be stressful.

I don't see grounds for worry here based on your description and if a problem develops, you'll just have to deal with it.  That's the nature of the business.  Good luck!

Account Closed · Answer

This is an interesting scenario! I think maybe right now is a little too early to worry about it, but lets say you are 3 months down the road and the new tenant is still "missing" from the unit, I would like to ask the more experience landlords the following questions:

• Part of wanting to have a tenant in the home as soon as possible is not just so we can lower vacancy cost, but also having someone in the home maintains the general condition of the home. It would be a serious problem especially if this tenant signed the lease and never transferred utilities under his name after @Morgan Nilsen cuts utilities on his end. Things can start breaking fairly quickly due to weather, not to mention squatters might start to notice the home is vacant (assuming this is a SFH).
• Assuming it is 3 months later and Morgan realizes he needs to go check on the unit and serves his 24-48 hour notice. If the tenant isn't there to receive the notice, can he still enter the premise knowing full well that the tenant never really moved in in the first place?

How to deal with Landlord Paranoia

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