Tenant is claiming "Mold issues" Doesn't want to pay rent.
Hey all,
I have a tenant that did not pay rent on time this month. So, the day rent was late I put a 5 day noticed on their door. He came out and got the notice very quickly and called me after I had just driven off. He claimed that it was bs, blah, blah blah. Then said "well, what about these repairs you haven't made?" To which I said, "I was unaware these repairs need to be made. You need to tell me about them in order for me to know to fix them. And, also in Oklahoma I don't believe small repairs is a reason to not pay rent." He agreed and said that he would be paying me within the time frame.
The next day I got on the phone with some of my repair men who all said they could start work the next day. I messaged the tenant asking if that was all right. No response. In the next few days I tried to get a hold of them without any luck.
Tuesday of this week rolls around and the tenant calls saying how their family has been getting sick, and that their cat just died due to their being health risks in the home. She said "it is probably black mold." I told her I was assuming they wanted to move out, to which she said yes. We agreed they would pay a half month's rent and move out as quickly as possible. For their health concerns and so I can just be done with their ordeal.
They are wanting to back out of that agreement now. I'm not even sure I really believe that they are having these mold issues, because I know if it were my family and it really was an issue with the home, I would have left immediately. They were also late with their rent last month as well. I am somewhat hesitant to file for an eviction on Monday morning on the chance that they aren't lying about the mold and decide to take me to court about hazardous living conditions, even though I knew nothing about them.
Sorry for the long post, but what would some more experienced people do? I know every state will vary in law depending on the "uninhabitable conditions" but, I'm not even sure that is actually the case here. Any input would be greatly appreciated.