Hold-Over Tenant w/ Pet Dilemma

[Pete Harper]

I recently purchased a 10 unit complex and have a dilemma with old tenants.  I have at least three current tenants with pets not on the lease. Previous PM was out of town and was not diligent about watching the property. We have gone through and updated to our leases to with pet addendums reflecting they have pets.  Recently while doing a external site inspection we discovered one of the units is in really bad shape.  There is a broken window and the smell of pet urine and feces is overpowering.  The tenant has been refusing access to repair the window, no doubt to hide the pet problem.  Judging by the smell and what I can see through the front window the place is a total wreck, looking at over $5000 in new flooring and repairs.

My dilemma is the damage has been done, what should we do going forward?  They are signed up to new lease and paying on time the past 4 months.  Do we evict or do we let them run out the lease and non-renew at the end of lease?  If we go the eviction route we will get them out earlier however there is the added court costs etc.  If we let them run out the lease it will be less confrontational. Either way the damage has been done so the repair costs will be the same. Damage deposit doesn't come anywhere close to paying damages.  Tenants are not likely to pay should we get a court judgment.  

[Joel Case]

If it were me and the tenant pays on time and doesn't cause me any headaches and is near market rent, I would keep them in that unit as long as possible. They have already done the damage and are the one person who doesn't mind living there in it's current condition. You are going to have to fork over the money to fix it once they move, that's not going to change, why be in a rush to spend your capital?