Landlord push over or hard a$$

[statsman]

And this is why I never wanted to be a landlord. HAHA! What a nightmare!

We moved from California to Texas a couple weeks ago. People in California said we should have rented our house rather than sell it. We weren't interested in being landlords. Not in the same area, let alone 1,700 miles away.

 

[AprM]

And this is why I never wanted to be a landlord. HAHA! What a nightmare!

I was a landlord for 5 years. It was a nightmare. We had the same tenants the entire time and they paid on time but broke EVERYTHING. And we never held them responsible for the repairs. We never raised the rent. When we finally asked them to leave so we could sell the place they stopped paying and wouldn't give us access to our property. After several legal threats they vacated but not before totally destroying the inside. $20k later in repairs we sold the rental for a $35k loss.

The rental was my first home purchase and although I learned a lot I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.

Never. Again.

 

[Amethyst]

The lease we used, had a clause about when the tenant was owed hotel costs. Basically the unit had to be uninhabitable. Not just down one bathroom out of three!

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I always read how the majority on this forum have had bad experiences land-lording. Its been the opposite for me.

One property my down payment was $5700. Its now worth 1.3 million.

Another I borrowed the down from a third rental. So zero out of pocket. Currently worth over a million.

All due to massive California appreciation. But money is money.

And by picking good tenants my problems have been minimal. I wish I would have bought a lot more than I did.

I would never try to be a landlord 1700 miles from my home, however.

 

[street]

By the sounds of it, you've been an extremely good landlord. In my mind, it's obvious that if he is in violation of the lease, you hold all the cards.

It's really what your preference is. If the $100 DIY job will suffice, then go for it - don't inconvenience him, and don't deal with the additional hotel costs or his demands...do a good enough job until the lease is up, then decide if you want to pay to do the full job.

^ this

 

[brucethebroker]

Check your lease, or call your attorney re: the motel business.

I would never pay for a motel-people are way too picky. We had a kitchen pipe break a few years back. Our renters were without water in the kitchen for a week, then had their flooring replaced. We reimbursed 50% of rent for the days they were inconvenienced. Everyone was happy. (Our lease does not specify giving a Motel allowance...)

BTW, girlfriend needs to get on the lease, or get out. Send a cert. letter.

 

[HadEnuff]

I own 32 rental homes. I don't know where to begin. No way would I ever spend that much to replace a tub or pay for a hotel. That's what renter's insurance is for.

Tubs don't crack on their own unless perhaps it was plastic?

I'd tell him the repair is going to take X amount of days. For the loss of partial use of the home (he has access to water elsewhere in the home for washing) you will reimburse him for 50% of the rent for the days the shower is being repaired. If this is not acceptable then you will give him 30 days to vacate during which time he can use the shower but then must vacate so you can make the appropriate repairs.

Never in a million years would I waste my time or money for such an entitled person. His girlfriend is not your problem.

I had a house in Florida in August that needed an AC repair which was going to take a week. I reimbursed 50% rent for the days they had no AC. They were beside themselves thrilled as they never asked for or expected a thing. They decided to stay with friends or family temporarily.

Let me repeat, some things are beyond your control and can only be fixed as fast as they can be fixed. That's what renter's insurance is for. Are you going to replace their food if the fridge malfunctions? Good grief, we had a hurricane evacuation and no electric for a full a ten days last year and no tenant of mine would think it was their landlord's responsibility to pay for their accommodations.

A new bath tub only cost a few hundred bucks. I replace with cast iron which are more like $400. Might pay around $2500 for the surround to be retiled. An acrylic tub with surround is a pretty inexpensive and a quick fix. It takes a day, maybe two if you do the tear out the day before. And then you'll need the plumber to hook it back up.

Bingo!!

 

[HadEnuff]

I always read how the majority on this forum have had bad experiences land-lording. Its been the opposite for me.

One property my down payment was $5700. Its now worth 1.3 million.

Another I borrowed the down from a third rental. So zero out of pocket. Currently worth over a million.

All due to massive California appreciation. But money is money.

And by picking good tenants my problems have been minimal. I wish I would have bought a lot more than I did.

I would never try to be a landlord 1700 miles from my home, however.

I was a landlord, briefly. I came to the conclusion the only way it would make sense for me would be if I lived in an area where a decent appreciation on the real estate would be a reasonable expectation. I did not live in such a place, so I got out of the business.
Having said that, I have relatives who are making a go of it, in the same area, and in fact are continuing to buy more rentals. They seem to do well with it, but it's a lot of work, and I worry sometimes about the kind of people they have to deal with. I do, in fact, worry about their safety.

 

[Amethyst]

A rental is just a means to an end for renters; a garment they wear, then discard when it no longer suits them. To them, landlords aren't people. Also, all landlords are rich and that means landlords can afford to share!

People use various dodges to get away with relatives, lovers, subletters, and pets who aren't on the lease. We're all familiar with the service-dog dodge.

For people, there's the "he's/she's my babysitter" dodge, the "just letting friends stay while they find a place" dodge, and the indignant, "But she's family! She had no place to go! Any decent person, etc. etc." dodge.

You have to be willing to throw them all out and re-rent, if one won't sign a lease. If you are the least bit worried about re-renting, or about being sued for something, they've got you where they want you.

BTW, girlfriend needs to get on the lease, or get out. Send a cert. letter.

 

[kgtest]

I currently find myself in a bit of a pickle...

Should I say take it or leave it do the epoxy repair, and fix the bath when he leaves if needed, or capitulate and pay the extra $300-$400 for him to stay someplace he wants. OH another thing the girlfriend isn't on the lease so technically he is in violation of his lease.

I can re-deploy the tile guy to my personal residence to update my own bathroom.

Thoughts and comments welcomed.

I always take the appraoch of "This is my business" with the rentals. That means, do what is in the best interest for your business. If a short term epoxy fix is the best for business, do that.

If caving to your tenants demands is best for business, then do that.

Worst case scenario - You spend the $5k on the new tub, the 10nights in a $140/nt hotel for the tenants. Possible outcome, tenant is happy and stays a long long time, or they are unhappy sue you and you lose them as a tenant while being out $6500 (but you got a new tub) plus some legal expenses if they sue.

Best case scenario - You epoxy the tub, the tenants stop complaining and use it as is for like the next ten years. You never get sued, you keep the tenants and you only spent like $5 on the epoxy.

Of course there are 100 different outcomes, but my point is, meet in the middle. I would honestly start planning for a new tenant. Or I would try to explain to them you are being as fair as possible with the situation for the best economic outcome of your business. If the endeavor costs a lot of money likely you would be forced to pass the cost onto the consumer (the tenants) in the form of rent increases.

Once they realize you aren't Mr Moneybags, maybe they will begin to use their reasoning skills and common sense and understand you, like them, is just a regular guy trying to make a living.

 

[kgtest]

Oh, another thing to think about... capital losses. IT sounds like they will be inevitable in this situation. Do you need some tax loss harvesting for the year? If so, maybe this is an opportunity to fix the problem and get better tenants, while taking the tax loss against a high income year, for instance.

After all, this will be a business expense either way, that can offset any gains and save you $ on taxes.

 

[kgtest]

A rental is just a means to an end for renters; a garment they wear, then discard when it no longer suits them. To them, landlords aren't people. Also, all landlords are rich and that means landlords can afford to share!

People use various dodges to get away with relatives, lovers, subletters, and pets who aren't on the lease. We're all familiar with the service-dog dodge.

For people, there's the "he's/she's my babysitter" dodge, the "just letting friends stay while they find a place" dodge, and the indignant, "But she's family! She had no place to go! Any decent person, etc. etc." dodge.

You have to be willing to throw them all out and re-rent, if one won't sign a lease. If you are the least bit worried about re-renting, or about being sued for something, they've got you where they want you.

+1. Don't rent to bad tenants. I've been sued before. I didn't win, but I didn't lose. It did waste some of my time and money but I learned some things in the process. Which means you simply epoxy the tub until the lease is done.

I would honestly let this tenant go, take it as an opportunity to reset, do some additional repairs, painting, carpet cleaning, and re-rent at a higher rate to attract a better quality tenant.

 

[Amethyst]

Very good advice. Still, renters are people, and people vary. I don't think anyone can pat himself on the back and say "I will never have tenant issues, because I Know People 100%!"

The worst (in terms of causing trouble for us) were a couple with 800 credit who had sold their house (they even owned a rental themselves) and wanted to sock away some dough for a few years while deciding what to do next. So they had no rental history, no landlord we could call to get a sense. If we had had a crystal ball, though....

+1. Don't rent to bad tenants.

I would honestly let this tenant go, take it as an opportunity to reset, do some additional repairs, painting, carpet cleaning, and re-rent at a higher rate to attract a better quality tenant.

 

[Luck_Club]

I would honestly let this tenant go, take it as an opportunity to reset, do some additional repairs, painting, carpet cleaning, and re-rent at a higher rate to attract a better quality tenant.

After solving the current problem another problem has popped up. This could all be coincidences, but since about September, I have had "issues" galore with this house. I'm sensing something is amiss.

During 1 visit by a plumber and a friend, the plumber called and didn't want to be left alone with the woman in the house. I had a friend monitoring the situation, and he said she is bat crazy **** FACED at 2 in the afternoon. This coming from a sailing buddy who has regularly witnessed quarts of scotch evaporate on a 3 hour tour.

I'll evaluate this business situation and decide if the $245 eviction plus potential damage is a better play than 20 more months of crazy.

 

[rodi]

Luck_Club - the drunk woman is the girlfriend, right? And she's still not on the lease? Sounds like you have grounds to make changes....

...unless the rental is in California.... Unfortunately, in California there's something called 'de-facto tenant'. We have language in our lease that prohibits house-guests for more than 10 days in a row or 14 overnight stays in a 30 day period. We lost a previous tenant when we insisted her boyfriend be added to the lease... that's ok... with him not on the lease, she could move out - and we would have to go through eviction to get rid of him.... Regardless of what state your rental is in - you need to get the girlfriend on the lease or out of the house.

 

[Amethyst]

That is a red flag. Tradespeople, who fix people's houses, have seen it all and are usually mellow...but when their hackles go up, it's to be taken seriously.

The wacko with the 800 credit rating triggered several tradespeople who reported back to us after fixing one thing or another at the townhouse. He would stand over them while they worked, make remarks about their work, and act irritated for no reason they could see.

After solving the current problem another problem has popped up. This could all be coincidences, but since about September, I have had "issues" galore with this house. I'm sensing something is amiss.

During 1 visit by a plumber and a friend, the plumber called and didn't want to be left alone with the woman in the house. I had a friend monitoring the situation, and he said she is bat crazy **** FACED at 2 in the afternoon. This coming from a sailing buddy who has regularly witnessed quarts of scotch evaporate on a 3 hour tour.

I'll evaluate this business situation and decide if the $245 eviction plus potential damage is a better play than 20 more months of crazy.

 

[Joylush]

That is a red flag. Tradespeople, who fix people's houses, have seen it all and are usually mellow...but when their hackles go up, it's to be taken seriously.

The wacko with the 800 credit rating triggered several tradespeople who reported back to us after fixing one thing or another at the townhouse. He would stand over them while they worked, make remarks about their work, and act irritated for no reason they could see.

I absolutely do not tolerate interference or abuse of my tradesmen. They have my utmost respect. I have a good relationship with all of them who bend over backwards for me. I periodically give them unexpected bonuses and they repay me tenfold by taking great care of my tenants needs. You disrespect my tradesmen I have no use for you!

 

[hotwired]

opinion from owner of 53 units

Qualifications: Purchased and managed 53 units of "class B" (lower middle class) rental units in Waterville Maine since 2009. My thoughts: You could give a choice: Stay in the cheaper hotel and you do the wonderful tile job (maybe show a picture). Stay in the more expensive, and he waits for you to get home and you fix it, and it's 2 years before he gets the nice tile job. Explain budget, and how it's imperative to stay under. THEN, tweak your lease to avoid this in the future. EVERY TIME I have a misunderstanding, and it's not covered in the lease, I make sure to add it. I also have a "summary" of important lease points whereas 90% of even great tenants don't fully read and dissect their leases.

Otherwise, this is a value judgment. ONE THING that's important though: This HAS to be on YOUR terms. You CANNOT allow the decision to come from a place of the tenant having pushed. That will "train him" how to treat you. Every word and action you show others is training them how to treat you.