Hi All,
Seeking some legal/landlord advice for a novice.
I currently have my first rental for college students, its a 4bd, 4 bath apartment with individual leases and a shared common area, hall and kitchen etc. The 4 tenants have been living together for 2 years and I inherited the lease when I purchased the apartment.
Long story short, one of the tenants (alias: Ted) got into arguments with their other 3 roommates and their parents reached out about 2 months ago saying it was a hostile environment and unsafe due to coronavirus as the other tenants were bringing in friends and not staying safe. Following this conversation, I warned the other 3 tenants about violating any rules in the lease or creating an unsafe environment. Ted and their parents agreed to continue rent payments and used the bed/bath until the last day of the lease with no further arguments, but Ted was supposedly living in another apartment nearby.
Fast forward to today, their lease ended and the tenants left trash in the kitchen. Per the lease, I charged a $250 cleaning fee for the common area and split evenly between all tenants. Ted's parents are now threatening to sue in small claims court for the 60.00 cleaning charge and 10 weeks of rent as an abatement for a hostile living environment, and that Ted hasn't been "living" there even though their room still had personal items. Or I return the $60 for the cleaning fee. What's the best legal way to move forward? Any thoughts?
Thanks
