How to Deal with 4 Kinds of Problem Tenants, #2: The Hotel Guest

Are problem tenants making you rethink why you voluntarily sacrificed your personal time to be a landlord? The stress of dealing with tenant issues is a huge drain on any self-managing landlord, but there are ways of managing your properties intelligently to mitigate these stresses.

This article is part of a four-part series, where we’re looking at the different kinds of problematic tenants that landlords have to deal with all too often. Even with thorough screening and aggressive background checks, a couple of sneaky tenants might still slip by under your radar, and this is a guide for how to handle it when they do.

Today, let’s look at the type of tenant that we like to call the “Hotel Guest.” These are the tenants who think they’re staying in a 5-star hotel, where bell boys and housekeepers attend to their every need. They call you up in the middle of the night, take up all your time with complaints and requests, and treat you like their personal concierge. These tenants are harder to spot during screening, because, unfortunately, “danger: very demanding” won’t be part of any background information they’re required to provide. But still, it’s not impossible to weed them out from the get-go.

1. Thorough Tenant Screening

You need intense and rigorous screening before accepting any tenant. This includes everything from their employment stability to how they behaved in their previous rental. To find out if an applicant has a history of Hotel Guest behavior, call up their former landlords and be thorough with the interview. Don’t be satisfied with yes/no answers - dig as deep as you legally can to get truly useful tenant information. If you work with a property management company, they should have an in-depth tenant screening process that can spot any concerning behaviors.

Head to for more tips on screening tenants. Prevention is always better than a cure!

But if you’re already stuck with a demanding tenant, here are some tips on how to deal with them:

2. Be Clear in Your Lease

You have to be crystal clear in your lease on what services are included and which aren’t. You can even have a clause stating something like, “this is not a hotel, but a rental. Tenants are responsible for manageable repairs and maintenance themselves,” just to prevent any misalignment in expectations. List down the things they are responsible for (e.g. lawn care, kitchen appliances, small repairs, replacing things they damaged, etc.) and the things you will help them with, to avoid any confusion. Also, add a lease clause stating they are responsible to pay for the first $xx of any and all repairs, just like you would with an insurance deductible or copay. This will help keep them from calling you for every little thing (although some still will - at least you can remind them that you’re going to charge them for it).

3. Remind Them of the Lease Agreement

Are you losing your patience, because it seems like your tenant has amnesia and forgot that they’re supposed to take care of their own minor problems? Take the time to re-explain all the things written in the lease document. When proper reasoning is presented, most Hotel Guests calm down and stop bugging you with every little thing. Keep a straightforward attitude to earn their respect, and tell them to call up the plumber themselves!

4. Set Professional Boundaries

Remember that you’re a businessperson, not a concierge. Don’t succumb to their unreasonable requests, because this is setting a bad precedent. Don’t answer their 10 PM calls half-way through a movie with your family on a Sunday - draw a line as to when your “office hours” are, and stick to it! Warn them if they call outside of business hours, it better be an actual emergency (like something life-threatening), not a personal emergency (like a running toilet), and that they’ll be charged a penalty for violations if they do call about a non-emergency in the middle of the night.

Setting these boundaries is about saying no to the things that will harm your business. As a landlord, you have the choice and the responsibility to say no when requests are not required, and will take time and money away from more important things, like maintaining your work/life balance and managing your overall portfolio.

Our world is not composed of perfect people. Unfortunately, that also means that you’ll sometimes end up with less-than-perfect tenants residing in your property. Whether they’re asking you to change their shower curtain or assemble their new DIY bed frame, follow these tips to help you deal with Hotel Guests without letting them consume too much of your valuable time.

Keep your eyes peeled for the third part of our How to Deal with Problem Tenants series!

Any other tips we missed on how to deal with a demanding tenant? Share them below!

Image Courtesy of chepté cormani