Dealing with a difficult tenant on a recently bought SFH

[Saijal Sindwani]

Hi fellow investors, I recently bought a single family home in Columbus which already had a section 8 tenant in place. I decided to try and manage it myself. I sent a friendly message to her saying that I am the new owner and reach out if she needs anything. Last week, she called saying that the kitchen flooring has holes in it and she tried to put tape on it but now shes dealing with a pest situation and they are going in those holes. So, I tried to help the situation by getting a contractor to go replace the floor and remodel the bathroom so that the house is nicer for her. Initially she was very happy and excited but after a day, she had a disagreement with the contractor and now she's not opening the door for the contractor to come in and finish the work. Contractor is being patient with her and trying to talk as to why she's not opening the door. Since I am out of state, I can't go there and talk to her and shes not responding to my calls or texts. I am out of options on how to proceed. Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions. 

[Kevin Sobilo]

Quote from @Saijal Sindwani:

Hi fellow investors, I recently bought a single family home in Columbus which already had a section 8 tenant in place. I decided to try and manage it myself. I sent a friendly message to her saying that I am the new owner and reach out if she needs anything. Last week, she called saying that the kitchen flooring has holes in it and she tried to put tape on it but now shes dealing with a pest situation and they are going in those holes. So, I tried to help the situation by getting a contractor to go replace the floor and remodel the bathroom so that the house is nicer for her. Initially she was very happy and excited but after a day, she had a disagreement with the contractor and now she's not opening the door for the contractor to come in and finish the work. Contractor is being patient with her and trying to talk as to why she's not opening the door. Since I am out of state, I can't go there and talk to her and shes not responding to my calls or texts. I am out of options on how to proceed. Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions. 

First off, make sure you are communicating appropriately with the tenant. With regard to the contractor, you want to give proper notice for when the contractor will come to do work and that depends on your state's laws and also your lease.

If you give proper notice and the tenant refuses entry, then I would talk to the tenant and explain to them that they are violating the lease and could be evicted if this continues. I would then follow that up with a lease violation letter aka notice to correct. If they repeat the behavior then I would move to evict. Since she is not responding to your calls, I would just move right to the letter.