messy tenants in Nashville

[Ward Hubbell]

We have a tenant in one of our duplexes who is storing furniture, baby gear and other household items on the front porch as well as dropping cigarette butts off the back deck onto the sitting area of our tenants below. Based on what we can see, we also have concerns about the condition of the unit inside. This tenant is very erratic and mentally unstable so we are careful how we deal with her. Even though she usually pays on time we do not intend to renew when her lease is up in 5 months.  In the meantime, we would like for her to clean up and be assured the rest of the unit is not damaged. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Caden Wakim]

Hello, you can try telling the tenant that the mess must be cleaned up, and that the cigarette butts are not okay as the tenant below is upset by it, id try to have a nice conversation with her and see how that goes. As far as the unit inside, did you take a security deposit? An example I have with one of my tenants with a similar situation as you... I actually called her and asked if I could stop by and have a conversation with her, arrive, knock on the door, ask to step in, have a casual conversation about really anything, in my case it was about lease renewal... while you are inside, you can get a visual... or maybe if your lease permits, you can make access, you or your property manager with given notice. If none of this works, you may have to wait the 5 months and assess then, especially since you said she pays on time... just try to monitor the issue with the cleanliness by providing warnings or asking for it to be cleaned...