All Forum Posts by: Jessica Young

Update: apparently I misunderstood and there is no key with neighbors. I thought my husband left one with our realtor/neighbor as a representative of us as property managers. I hope I don't have to fly there but it is what it is. 

What to do when tenants stop communicating altogether? I have a full time job and children, mind you. And, a new found respect for landlords! :)

I did what you describe but she plays games with contractors and won't schedule times, tries to give them direction and requests, and make decisions as though she's paying for their service. She even called the AC company and they gave her the full reports of service as though she was the owner. These are nightmare tenants with constant demands and difficult, angry, frequent communication. I've posted in relation to them 3 other times in this forum. I wish I had a PM but their lease expires in 4 months. After this experience, PM all the way. I wasn't cut out to be emotionally tough enough for this, I admit. 

Quote from @Chris Davidson:

Quote from @Jessica Young:

In Florida, is it legal for the AC company to enter and perform a system replacement without us (landlords) or tenants present, if we provide access via a neighbor who has a key? 

We are out of state and have a very difficult tenant who plays games about access times then complains if the repairs take longer. She usually ends up agreeing to a vendor access time, but she has now stopped replying to my scheduling notices. I already know her not allowing access is a lease violation, but I still need repairs made. 

 What does your lease say? If the tenant hasn't given permission and you haven't provided the notice required notice according to the lease I wouldn't allow access. However if you have provided the required notice you should be fine. 

However why does a neighbor have the key? Without knowing the neighbor and your relationship to them this could open up some unique liability. 

We live out of state and wanted someone else to have a key for emergencies. The tenant had a tantrum yesterday and has stopped communicating so I'm not sure how to proceed. 

In Florida, is it legal for the AC company to enter and perform a system replacement without us (landlords) or tenants present, if we provide access via a neighbor who has a key? 

We are out of state and have a very difficult tenant who plays games about access times then complains if the repairs take longer. She usually ends up agreeing to a vendor access time, but she has now stopped replying to my scheduling notices. I already know her not allowing access is a lease violation, but I still need repairs made. 

Here's what happened:

2 weeks into first month with tenants, the one who is the point of contact sent videos and photos of wire shelves in a small kitchen pantry not having brackets and was worried they weren't secure, wanted to buy brackets and drill them herself, be reimbursed. We refused and said we'd like our professional handyman to do the work and to not put anything even slightly heavy on them until affixed.

While waiting to hear back from handyman, tenant put heavy things on shelves anyway, then wrote us that the shelves and all her things broke. She said we're lucky she was not injured (has since mentioned this 3 times).

When the handyman reached out to schedule a time to come evaluate and estimate (we live out of state), she texted him a dozen times with measurements and instructions about what he needed to do. He kept just asking to arrange access and gave up when she would not name a time. I asked her to stop contacting him and talked him into seeing the job through. When I gave her a 10-hour availability window the next day, she refused and said she waited long enough (it had been 4 days since the shelf broke). Handyman said he will work with us again only after she is out.

We hired another handyman who went in today and said that the pantry is not built correctly - none of the shelves are at studs and the pantry backs up to the electrical panel so it requires caution and know-how. It's original from 1980 and to be safe, needs to be totally rebuilt, which he detailed as a pretty involved job. We plan to renovate the kitchen, but not yet. I told the tenant the handyman can remove the wire shelves and put in a sturdy stand alone stainless multi-tiered shelf like people often have in storage spaces or garages. 

Tenant responded that is unacceptable, that they are overpaying for the place, that we are taking advantage and have landlord responsibility to find solutions, said they're living like squatters with things that should be on shelves strewn all over, wants us to offer $ credit for how terrible it is. 

The condo is fully furnished with 2 bedrooms, one of which has a large walk in closet and a dresser that takes up a whole wall. The other has a full size armoire and closet. There is another large closet adjacent to the pantry. In the living room, there is a huge storage cabinet. The kitchen has additional drawers and cupboards. The rental includes a large storage locker as well. In other words, a lot of room for things to not be strewn.

She also told me (for the second time) that the place would sit empty and unrented without them due to being overpriced and that they made a mistake renting it. (The price reflects the location, as it's a highly desirable neighborhood and a block from the beach, but is priced far less than the luxury condos in the same neighborhood. I don't think I need to justify this as no one forced them to rent it and we priced it according to our research.)

This is why I have offered to release them from the lease without penalty twice, an offer they refused. I pointed this out again today and gave a gentle reminder that September is not that far off (they're only renting for 6 months, anyway!). I also pointed out that the lease states they agreed to the condition and that they did two walk-throughs. 

Thoughts?

(A related question - how do you landlords handle high maintenance repair demands from tenants that end up costing you far more than the rent? At that point, you're paying to have renters, right? Makes no sense to me.)

The AC went out and needs to be replaced in my Florida condo within the first month tenants are renting it, complete with 3 visits from HVAC before the new unit is even installed. 

Would it be expected or normal to offer some form of credit to offset the inconvenience? Obviously I feel badly about it, and the tenants are angry. When things like pipes burst, major appliances die, or mold remediation is needed during tenant occupancy, is it just too-bad-so-sad for the renters?

(Please no "should have" judgement - we owned the place for a month with the AC working perfectly leading up to tenants coming in, and we had a formal inspection as part of the purchase process, of course. The system was 7 years old.)

My one concern about doing the "nice" thing is that these are big time problem tenants. In a different post I explain about how they have complained and asked for maintenance non stop, and how they routinely overstep their boundaries by trying to demand orders for things that are landlord decisions. I worry a discount this month will set precedent. 

To clarify...

We are out of state and can't go there in person. Husband and I are managing ourselves. Now that they have 4 more months, I don't think we're going to get a PM company on board for that. Would one even take us? I would want to disclose the issues.

The banking stuff - we did go through all of that before signing the lease and the lease establishes payment via check. So it's extra weird that we have had to revisit this twice.

I have told them they can move out without penalty if they're unhappy - twice - and they have chosen not to.

Quote from @Robert T.:

Quote from @Jessica Young:

The AC was in perfect working order when we left it - worked flawlessly for the month after closing and was part of the inspection when we purchased obviously. We're putting a high end unit with maintenance plan in place in an emergency turnaround time, plus had the company leave them a portable unit for now, so we did the max we could other than hopping in a time machine.

We are out of the state so we need to rely on a handyman.

They went through in the walk through and everything was noted as-is. 

Dramatic is the perfect way to put it. They could just say "this is broken" or such but they make it into a whole day of texting or more.

There is no need for you to be texting them all day. It's a simple text like you mentioned. Acknowledge the issue, offer a solution, once it's agreed upon set up whatever that solution is between the tenant and service provider and deal with the service provider from that point on. 

I try to draw that boundary by not responding immediately, then only responding with very brief, direct messages. They draw it out over a day long period or more with series of questions, comments, suggestions, opinions, photos and videos then say the rental is a hassle. They make scheduling maintenance take a day or span days. I have to read all their messages. I want things in writing, and I don't see how email would be any different, or I'd ask for that.

The AC was in perfect working order when we left it - worked flawlessly for the month after closing and was part of the inspection when we purchased obviously. We're putting a high end unit with maintenance plan in place in an emergency turnaround time, plus had the company leave them a portable unit for now, so we did the max we could other than hopping in a time machine.

We are out of the state so we need to rely on a handyman.

They went through in the walk through and everything was noted as-is. 

Dramatic is the perfect way to put it. They could just say "this is broken" or such but they make it into a whole day of texting or more.

I have tenants in my small condo with a 6 month lease. We are 5 weeks in. They are my first tenants there. 

Unfortunately, the AC went out twice for them and needs to have a new unit installed. They're angry at me, repeatedly texting that they can't believe it, even though I sent someone within one day both times and am paying for an emergency install of the new system. They wanted me to put them in a hotel room until it was fixed the first time. The second time, they called the HVAC company and got the repair history as though it's their condo, using the info as background to insist on a new system before the repair person was even there

They've texted dozens and dozens of times about everything they want repaired with photos and narrated videos, including:

-chair cushions they think are too "high" to sit on properly (the place is furnished)
-a wire shelf that doesn't have brackets holding it into the wall (which I said not to put anything on until the handyman comes, but they did and it broke, then they implied injury from heavy things falling)
-kitchen drawers that are sticky, one of which broke, who knows if they got frustrated with it and slammed it open/shut
-windows that don't slide like they are used to where they're from in Switzerland, so one is broken now
-nobody coming to take the recycling bin 20 feet to the curb for the 2-story, 6-unit condo building (a service not in the lease); it overflowed and was unsanitary per photos; they offered to take it each week and I said "sounds great" but they still complain about it overflowing

They scared off my handyman with the same communication style when he tried to just set up an inspection time. They would not name a time, and kept sending measurements and telling him how to repair it, while he kept saying he just needed to come look in person to determine next steps.

I talked him into sticking with us and assured him they are not going to contact him anymore. He gave me a 10 hour window the next day but my tenants refused the time frame saying they "waited long enough already." It had been 3 days. They ended that convo by texting that the place was "supposed to be a relaxing vacation rental and it's nothing but a hassle." But, it's not short term. It's a 6 month min and not listed as a vacation rental anywhere. 

A week later they finally agreed to allow someone to come look at all the various requests and give us estimates, but I had to pick a new person blind from an online search.

Then there's the rental payment situation. They wanted me to open a new bank account that accepts the money transfer app they have on their phones. Then they asked me to set up bank transfers from their bank to mine, which obviously no bank is going to let the recipient initiate. Then they insisted they were on the phone with their bank for an hour and their bank told them that's how it works and refused any next steps until I tried. After a half day of back and forth, they mailed me a check. This all happened TWICE, mind you. Both months the same requests and questions and insisting. Both ended with a mailed check. SO weird.

My question is, is this an atypical experience? In others' experiences, are tenants like this trying to build some kind of case? It feels off. Way off. These are intelligent, if not manipulative, people. Makes me nervous.

All of the above happened within a 2 week period and has taken a TON of my time. My husband and I have full time jobs and kids. It's been so stressful to say the least, and obviously the tenants think it's stressful on only their end, as they repeatedly express. They had excellent references, but it feels like they have never rented before and don't understand the boundaries of being tenants. I wish I'd included very clear info about maintenance requests in the lease, but alas there's nothing in there. 

Sorry this is so long, ugh. If you read all of this, you're a trooper lol!