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All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Account Closed has started 2 posts and replied 10 times.

Post: Worst tenant you've had to deal with?

Account ClosedPosted
  • Posts 11
  • Votes 1
Originally posted by @James Wise:
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
Originally posted by @James Wise:
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

I'm just interested in hearing some tenant horror stories. What sort of tenants have you had to put up with, that were maybe hostile towards you? How did you deal with them? What sorts of things have you kicked out tenan

ts for? If anyone's willing to share their story, I'd be interested to hear it.

 Were do you wanna start? I have a lot of stories.

  • Have had tenants set cars on fire at my motel
  • Have had a tenant try to set my personal house on fire
  • Have had tenants throw couches out a 3rd story window
  • Had to evict a tenant 5x's
  • Evicted a tenant who drove off in an Escalade
  • Had a tenant crash his car into the house and then beat his girlfriend
  • Have had more overdose deaths than I can count
  • Have had gunshot to the face suicide in the apartment
  • Have had hanging suicide in the apartment on christmas of 2018

Woah man that's gotta be tough. What do you normally do when you come across a tenant that's committed suicide?

1st thing is to contact the police. Once they remove the body and clear that the unit is no longer considered a crime scene we contact the family and give them a few days to get the tenant's posessions. From there we trash the rest. Then we renovate the unit and put it on the market.

wow that sounds tough. It must be terrible to deal with

Post: Worst tenant you've had to deal with?

Account ClosedPosted
  • Posts 11
  • Votes 1
Originally posted by @Judy Parker:

Here we go again. A faceless poster asking questions that seem to be a "set up" for yet another Vice dot com article. People, stop taking the bait.

Ah damnit you got me. I was gonna title this: "I expose scummy landlords to prove how the capitalist system is corrupt and failing". I'm just a new person here, asking questions cus I'm curious. I ain't here for journalism lmao

Post: Worst tenant you've had to deal with?

Account ClosedPosted
  • Posts 11
  • Votes 1
Originally posted by @James Wise:
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

I'm just interested in hearing some tenant horror stories. What sort of tenants have you had to put up with, that were maybe hostile towards you? How did you deal with them? What sorts of things have you kicked out tenan

ts for? If anyone's willing to share their story, I'd be interested to hear it.

 Were do you wanna start? I have a lot of stories.

  • Have had tenants set cars on fire at my motel
  • Have had a tenant try to set my personal house on fire
  • Have had tenants throw couches out a 3rd story window
  • Had to evict a tenant 5x's
  • Evicted a tenant who drove off in an Escalade
  • Had a tenant crash his car into the house and then beat his girlfriend
  • Have had more overdose deaths than I can count
  • Have had gunshot to the face suicide in the apartment
  • Have had hanging suicide in the apartment on christmas of 2018

Woah man that's gotta be tough. What do you normally do when you come across a tenant that's committed suicide?

Post: Worst tenant you've had to deal with?

Account ClosedPosted
  • Posts 11
  • Votes 1
Originally posted by @Mike Franco:

The worst ones were filthy college grads several years ago. Lived like pigs, and one even punched 2 holes in a door just for fun.

2 of them came from well to do families, but still had no sense of responsibility, and collecting rent was like pulling teeth.

why was it so hard to collect rent? Was it stuff like college debt or did they just refuse to pay?

Post: Worst tenant you've had to deal with?

Account ClosedPosted
  • Posts 11
  • Votes 1
Originally posted by @John Underwood:

Wow this is very open ended. I have so many stories and non of them horrible.

Had one that kept calling the police on people that were hanging around house next door that I had just bought at that time. The ones that want to call you and complain about stupid stuff are a pain. I get them to calm down over time once they know I am going to take care of my property and fix stuff that needs to be fixed.

The ones that want to call and tell you their life story and why it isn't their fault that they can't pay the rent are the worst.

I generally text them and say I am in a meeting if they call and to please text me. They eventually learn to just text me.

You have to properly train new tenants to your expectations and consequences for not paying the rent or taking care of your property. Eventually you get into a routine where you have good tenants that mostly pay on time.

i think it's a difficult situation with people who can't afford to pay rent. Most of the time, they're working 2 or maybe 3 jobs and simply don't get paid enough. I think that's a big problem in the US that needs to be fixed. I sympathise with them but its a case of what can i do?

Post: Worst tenant you've had to deal with?

Account ClosedPosted
  • Posts 11
  • Votes 1

I'm just interested in hearing some tenant horror stories. What sort of tenants have you had to put up with, that were maybe hostile towards you? How did you deal with them? What sorts of things have you kicked out tenants for? If anyone's willing to share their story, I'd be interested to hear it.

Originally posted by @James Mc Ree:

You need to assess the extent of the problem: a mouse, a mouse family, a mouse army?  The smaller scenarios are usually easiest dealt with by traps and bait.  The latter may require an exterminator, sealing of the unit and a larger expense.  Of course, all this is in addition to addressing the tenant's hygiene as mentioned.

I spent about $1,200 on Terminix over the past 12 months or so on one property getting the house sealed and doing treatments.  While there were gaps for mice to get in, the tenant was definitely a major factor and still is.  I just ended the ongoing service and told her mice are her responsibility, as per the lease.  Unfortunately, she is terrified of them, so I don't know how this is going to turn out.  It seems she was in the "small family" category as the technicians never saw evidence of anything near the volume she was reporting.

I did learn the Teriminix $800 house sealing treatment can be had for much less if you get the Home Depot squirt gun and caulk-like sealer, then patiently explore every crack in your foundation.  Terminix did little more, but they had larger, fancier squirt guns and a professional grade caulk with poison embedded in it.  The lead tech recommended I go with the Home Depot treatment in the future to save money.

I am interested in advice as well as I don't know who to address the "whole problem" efficiently when tenant lifestyle is a contributing factor.  In my case, even though the tenant had the "call anytime" service, she never called them; but did regularly complain to me about mice.

Ah yeah, I'm wondering what someone in that situation and how to deal with the tenant would you consider kicking them out? 

Originally posted by @Ned J.:

IF the tenant isn't keeping the unit relatively clean and is not taking relatively basic and simple measures to help get rid of the issue....... i.e they are leaving garbage and food sources out...... then you can hire all the exterminators you want and it will only put a dent in the issue. Its not a matter of "confronting" them about the issues...... its about fully assessing the issue and tackling the WHOLE issue, not just part of it and expecting success. Realistic expectations..... the tenant cant be a slob and expect a simple pest control visit to clear the issue

If the tenant is keeping the unit clean and not doing things that attract the mice, then you are in a much better spot and have a better chance of taking care of the issue.

Another factor can be the surrounding units...... you may be clean but if the close neighbors are keeping trash and food around, again..... you can only put a dent in the situation since the real source is out of your control.....realistic expectations........ the tenant expects the issue to be taken care of..... but you have to point out issues that may prevent that from happening.

 So how can you be sure to effectively deal with it? Might it be grounds to kick the tenant out?

Originally posted by @Ned J.:

What does your lease say and your state laws?

As a landlord, mice damage your property..... I would not leave it solely up to the tenant to deal with it...... but you need to attack the source of the issues which is often tenant hygiene...... mice come and stay where there are food sources, moisture and warmth.....

 But can all of those really be helped? I mean the tennant obviously needs to keep their place warm, and they need to store food too. Would you confront the tennant then?

Is it the responsibility of the landlord? Should it be left to the tennant to deal with? What might they do if the landlord refuses to deal with it? I'm wondering what others would do in this situation