They are not very good tenants, so I would prefer to end their lease sooner or later.Right now, I am composing a letter to send them demanding payment for the remaining balance.

this is very common for milleneal/gen-z born after 1998, netflix generation.basicaly it's much more beyond that: everything is on-demand , no commitment, free trial is ok lifestyle :)

If you are a Tenant, report it to the Landlord and demand they repair it immediately or threaten to report them to the building inspector, HUD, or whomever will listen.That wall is lath and plaster.

I wouldn't ever consider trying to make her pay for something that she didn't offer (or demand) to pay for.

Rents are high because of the college population demand but vacancy is also on the higher side as well along with higher than average maintenance costs with the rental population.3.

and rental demand going up? 

All of these are in demand in my area.  

Step up and demand a W2+benefits, or that the entire conversation shifts to accurately represent that the person you are speaking with is a client, not an employer, and as such you are free to have as many clients as you wish (other companies), can do what you want, show up when you want, and so on.

This approach would only work in a high population area where land is at a premium and there is a great demand for “location”.

As far as the renters go, just remember the laws of supply and demand.