All Forum Posts by: Christopher Reynolds

Thanks @Rob Beland!  Interestingly, the property is the next town over from you.

The repairs are not purely cosmetic, although that's how they were initially proposed to me.  There are some light sockets that had loose covers, and I said I'd replace the covers and they were satisfied with my answer.  After the freakout, it became a "serious safety issue" and she called the City.  It's strange, the serious issue can now wait 2 weeks to be fixed even though I have an electrician waiting to come in and solve their problem.

If there are issues with the apartment, I need to fix them no matter who is in there.  I'm still going to hire an attorney because of the extremely hostile demeanor she has towards me.  I don't trust her, I feel she's the type that would claim I assaulted or threatened her, or some other nonsense.  I might be able to not spend as much money, but I can be assured I'm following the letter of the law.  

@Patrick Connell Thanks for the reply.  Refusing to make the repairs is probably the worst idea imaginable in Massachusetts.  Somehow I knew you were in Texas when I read your post :)

@Shaun Reilly Yes Massachusetts sucks for this kind of stuff.  It doesn't seem she is following ANY guidelines, just saying "we are not paying any rent until the situation is solved".  If there are any guidelines she needs to follow with rent withholding, she's not following them.  It would be helpful if they were cooperating with the repairs, but they are not.  They don't want the problems solved, they want to create more problems for me so they "don't have to" pay rent.  Lawyering up.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Thanks everyone.  I wouldn't even think of moving forward with eviction until all the repairs are completed.  Even after that, I'm worried about being blamed for using retaliatory eviction. I think an attorney's advice is best here.

The husband is back in the picture, but I'm just not sure he lives there.  She said they were out celebrating their anniversary yesterday, so he's back to some degree.

Hey everyone.  I have a tenant that I need help with.

Husband/wife, 4 kids.  Moved in about 6 months ago.  Month-to-month tenant.  Made some demands, I met them. Everything seemed great until St. Patrick's Day, I get a call from the local police saying there was an altercation at the apartment, and they say there was a domestic disturbance in the apartment.  There was an altercation, and he broke two exterior windows, the TV, and then left.  He was missing for a few days, but now he's back in their lives, although I'm unsure if he lives there.  I'm in contact with both of them, though they only call me back in an unreliable fashion.

They had a couple issues with the apartment and I said I would look into possible solutions.  Nothing major, just cosmetic stuff.  Their attitude was "don't worry about it, whenever you get to it is totally fine!" But since the altercation, she has turned into someone completely irrational and aggressive.  Instead of contacting me to solve these problems, she called the city's Health Department and had them walk through the apartment, and I received a notice to correct the issues.  They ranged from valid to silly.  I feel she was walking around looking for any possible defects for them to write down.  Of course, even the silly things are on the official report to correct.  The city wrote down everything she said and included it in their report, valid or not.

This happened in early July, and they have been withholding 100% of the rent ever since.  She says "ever since our last apartment, our landlord refused to fix stuff, we know our rights".  She brought up an issue with some outlets, and I called a local electrician to come by and look.  He called her to set up a mutually convenient appointment, and it was booked for nearly 2 weeks away.  She never leaves the apartment except to drive the kids places.  I am making every effort to fix their problems, and I believe she is delaying the electrician to come in to delay paying rent.

I called her just now to ask if there was any way we could get it done sooner.  I am nothing but professional when I speak to them, and she is incredibly verbally abrasive and refuses to let me talk, then hangs up on me.  

What are my options?  Obviously I would love for them to hit the road, but that might not be an option just yet.  Is there a certain protocol they need to follow when withholding rent?  I know Massachusetts is heavily favored towards the tenant, but surely I'm being taken advantage of.  Would I be able to hire an attorney to review this?  A local attorney represented me in an eviction (same unit different tenant, go figure!), and I liked his work.  I need to solve this major problem, and if I need to pull out my checkbook, I will.  Help me  Bigger Pockets, you're my only hope.  Thanks so much!

Ah yes! Here's how it went.

Hired a local attorney, showed him the steps I took before hiring him. He was apprehensive, as most of the people who start before hiring him usually screw it up, and they need to start completely over.. He said everything I did was fine, and we could proceed without starting anything over. Made me feel good about the homework I did to that point. 

We went to housing court, and sat before the mediator. The mediator reviewed the facts, and told my tenant that the judge would almost certainly remove her from the apartment within a week or two, unless we could come to an agreement. 

Nobody said anything for a while, and I came up with an idea. The apartment was always relatively clean, and I suggested if she was to leave the apartment in the same condition it had always been in when I had seen it, if she agreed to me keeping her security deposit, I would let her stay until the end of December so the agency that was helping her could have time to get her a new place. She started crying and thanked me.

This is my business and I take it very seriously, but the lady has kids, and she would literally be thrown on the street if we hadn't come to the agreement. My attorney shook my hand and said I did a good thing. I could have put another couple months rent into my pocket with another tenant, but I would have felt bad about everything if I had done that. I feel like I made a good decision for everyone.

I'm finishing up doing some renovations and painting in the apartment right now, and I'm signing a lease with a new tenant on Sunday. Happy times. Thank you everyone for the advice. People like you are why this community is so wonderful.

@Bryan N. What if they had more adults they wanted to add?  The plan was for the daughter to be here temporarily, and now they want to have her move in permanently.  Are you suggesting we add her to an amended lease at no cost?  We'd consider doing it at a slight increase in rent.

Thanks for all the replies.  They initially said (to me, before they had submitted an application) she would be staying a few weeks, and at lease signing, they said a few months to ex GF at lease signing.  I was unavailable to attend lease signing, and they brought this up to ex GF.  There was a lapse in communication between me and her, and I wish we had caught it.

@Marcia Maynard   Occupancy limits don't apply here.  They are extremely needy and sometimes pushy tenants, and we don't want to renew their lease when it ends.  They are also very nice people, and we'd like to keep everyone happy whilst being fair to everyone too.  The daughter is also nice, and we had no problems during her stay in the apartment so far. Also, you are correct in your statement of everyone's intentions not being in sync.  This is mostly my fault, and is not typical of our landlording skills.  Ex GF and I own the house jointly, and she actively manages it, although all the tenants know me well, as ex GF and I are still very close, and I spend a lot of time there.  A meeting of all parties is likely needed.

@Richard C.  We signed a lease with two occupants, and now they want to add someone.  How would this end up poorly for us in court?  Both parties agreed to a lease, we are honoring our side.  What kind of a rent increase would be appropriate? I'd consider adding her for a 10-15% increase in rent. I would never consider adding her with no increase.  

@Mike Hurney  Can you just talk to a mediator?  I've spoken with one in an eviction hearing, but I never thought to speak with one because I assumed you needed to file for a court hearing to access them.  

Thank you for your replies! 

Hello everyone.  We have tenants who moved from another part of the country to live in our 3 family building.  They mentioned having a daughter that was moving up here too, and would be staying for a few weeks when she arrived here.  I wasn't present for the lease signing (my ex-GF and co-owner/landlord) was present, and they said it was for a couple months, and "we told him all about it".  I wasn't happy they exaggerated about it, but whatever.  We had them write a note saying she would stay with them until February 28th, and we took her ID and other information.

Today, we receive a text message from one of the tenants saying that "we need to add daughter to lease as she's unable to find permanent housing, let us know how to do this as soon as possible".  We are not interested in having her move in permanently, especially at the current rate.  Only the two tenants are on the lease, their daughter is not mentioned in it.

What to do?  My ex GF still lives in one of the units, and might not feel comfortable to tell the tenants what I would like to tell them (please go find some sand and pound it), but we surely don't want them to assume they can move in another adult into the unit without any changes.  Has anyone encountered a situation like this?  Thanks much!

Thanks for the advice everyone.  It sounds like an attorney might be the right way to go, since it's my first time.  With all the technicalities, and Massachusetts being so tenant friendly, it's probably a wise choice. Estimated cost for an eviction attorney's fees?  Or does it vary wildly based upon different factors?

For the two properties we've purchased, the only tenants we've had problems with are ones we inherited!  Thanks for the help everyone.

Also Phil, I realize the intent of your message, but don't discredit "free advice on the internet".  The wonderful resource of Bigger Pockets is exactly that :)