BiggerPockets

Hubby and I have multiple units out of state in Michigan. What that said, we have contractors doing the work for us, and overseeing things, while they communicate with us. I just had someone sign a lease on Monday, and she later called me to tell me that the bathroom was leaking under the sink, and the basement had water in it. When I originally advertised this property, I advertised it as an efficiency with/a small room that can be used as a small bedreoom/den...due to the size of the room (the porch was enclosed to create the room). So although the room has windows, a door, and a closet, I didn't feel right calling it a one-bedroom. It also has a basement, which is unusable for anything other than storage because it's one of the ORIGINAL Michigan basements. Anyways, that's a little background...when I spoke to the tenant yesterday about the leak, she obviously sounded unhappy, so I asked her were there any other problems? She said, "well, there's just a lot of little things"...I proceeded to tell her that I am not a slumlord, and I rely heavily on my contractors to tell me the condition of the properties, but that if she gives me a list, I'll be more than happy to fix all reasonable requests. I JUST received her list. Take a look at it. And keep in mind that her rent is $325 a month, she has a dog, and she has NOT moved her things in yet...she has signed a lease, received her keys, and has given me her prorated 1st month's rent and her security deposit. Take a look at her list! What should I do? I will definitely fix all of the reasonable issues, but I do NOT want her as a tenant going forward...I want to evict her NOW!

Radiator in kitchen is hanging off the wall
no outside light- no bulbs, they are broken on the ground outside
no screens on any windows. The porch has a screen but it is all ripped up
paint on porch windows are chipped off
door frame was not painted, on the inside and outside, also where they added new wood for the lock.
No dead bolt
Dining Room(hardwood) Radiator control wires are exposed and this radiator does not work
Living Room(carpet area) top left corner of the window you can see through it
Trim around that window has not been sealed in, or painted.
all trim around the base of the room has paint drips and roller marks on them
smoke alarm in LR does not work
Smoke alarm in bed room does not work
kitchen ceiling at corner leaks water
water running down wall by bathroom in kitchen
kitchen ceiling has cracks from damage
bathroom door frame is not painted
bathroom needs to be repainted.
bathroom sink leaks underneath. The bottom of the cabinet is bowed and may have mold, it is wet.
Stopper is missing for the sink and the tub
tub seal is not sealed, just a few finishing nails are in it. There is a gap toward the bottom that is 1/2 inch wide.
toilet tank lid is cracked and broken, it has been glued
floor seems really soft next to toilet.
cove base is pealing off, and bubbled around the room
switch plate is not screwed on right, with the screw sticking out at an angle
no basement door
stairway is not painted, the walls are DIRTY
Basement walls are chipping with paint falling off
Moldy paneling laying on the raised part of the basement. In the far corner there is white stringy mold under the panels.
no furnace filter
duct tape on tub drain
tub drain leaks
carpet in basement is wet
no sink stoppers in the kitchen
mold under the sink in the kitchen
no shut offs to any of the water lines to unit 1
stove is coated with grim and dirt, on top and down the sides
no blinds on any windows
drip pans on stove are filthy and filled with grim
carpet in LR has stains and paint spilled on it
kitchen outlet on wall with the door to the apartment is loss, it moves back and forth
Oven handle is falling off
Broken circut breaker in the fuse box, a couple are not in the box right
ghi's are bad in the kitchen and bathroom
all drawers in the kitchen are nailed shut except for 1. The drawer to the left of the stove is falling apart.
flooring under the stove has dead bugs and possible mold
fridge drawer is not on a runner, the shelf to this drawer is cracked. The fridge has a lot of filth in it as does the freezer.
no closet doors in the bedroom
No overflow valve on the water heater--pressure relief valve
window in bedroom latches, and handles.
window in the bedroom is also painted shut. They painted over cigerette butts by the old lock...
counter tops in the kitchen have chips, nickle size, and knife marks all over the tops of them. The edge toward the basement door is all chipped up and missing.
On top of the upper cabinets there are two syringes aith needles attached, and garbage on top.

Presumably she saw the place before she signed a lease, and presumably she is doing a walk-through (which apparently she has already done, hence the list).

Now it's up to you to decide what you're willing to fix and what you need to leave as-is.

I think your tenant is right to expect certain things to be repaired (leaks), but some things (like nicked countertops) were there when she first saw the place. She can't expect you to change them now.

Sounds to me like she's throwing everything at you, knowing she is not going to get it all.

I'd simply come back to her with the things you're willing to do and see how it plays out. Sounds like some of these things you're going to have to do regardless of who moves in.

We had the same dream, but its fading...

Thanks, guys (Hi Josh!!! I feel honored to get you on my thread. You're a super star! :)). My dad told me to get rid of her ASAP...he told me that she will be a problem from here on out. Yes, I signed the lease, but she has not moved her things in yet. I'm wondering what my rights, and hers are, legally (I'm not expecting any legal advice here...just want opinions). My dad told me that I should change the locks, and let her know that we found something majorly wrong with the apartment that we need to fix prior to renting it out, and refund her money...fix all the necessities like any leaks and non-working smoke detectors, and re-rent. Yes, she saw the place before she rented it, and LOVED it. She knows she's getting a LOT for her money because I could really be charging around $450 for the place, considering it's "technically" a one-bedroom with a basement for plenty of storage space.

Somebody here is obviously not telling the truth. Either the list is bogus (hard for me to believe that, it's pretty detailed), OR the landlord is a slumlord, OR the contractor's description of the condition of this property is inaccurate. I can't say who isn't being truthful here, though my guess is door #3 :D

As the landlord, have you seen the place? Did you perform a walkthrough with a checklist to establish the condition? Did you walk through with the contractor before move-in, so that any needed repairs were identified?

Here is a thread with a contractor list for things to look at:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/56971-punch-lists-for-contractors

I'll take a slightly different perspective here. While I agree that a tenant who identifies all these issues up front may be a problem on an ongoing basis, many of these items really should be dealt with. Some of these are piddly items that are perhaps just part of the deal for $325 a month. Some are serious hazards and would be code violations in my area. Some sound like real problems in your property that I would want to fix if this was mine. The place sounds like its not very clean. Who ever did some of this work did a sloppy job (paint over cigarette butts? really?) and I'd never use them again.

I don't rent my units with these sort of issues. There are quite a number of items on this list that I would address. OTOH, I don't have $325 units, so maybe this just comes with the territory.

i agree with jon...almost all of those items would violate minimum housing code in my area...i would also ask the contractors what the heck they've been doing...lol...that sounds like some pretty basic stuff that they shouldn't have missed

it's possible this tenant saw the work being done or saw a contractor, and loved the apatment, because she was thinking it would be fixed correctly...the more i read that list, the more i think, almost everything on that list is a code violation...i think you need a new contractor

No intent on slamming here - just pointing things out for all to learn from.

This is almost sounding like a confession. If it should not be rented out in it's current state, then you shouldn't be signing a lease (unless it is to begin on some future date where the corrections to the premises are in place).

Jon's post is spot on IMO.

It's almost as if the contractor wrote it for her, isn't it?

(Follow the money...)

Sounds like a really rough area you are renting out in.

Syringes and those other details are just gross.

I don't know how this property ever could have been deemed (rent-ready) regardless of the finishes.

Low finishes to high finishes everyone expects a clean place to move into.The list that was given I don't know a quality renter in any rent range that would move into a property in that shape.

I think you definitely do not want anyone moving in there.

I don't think the list is that unreasonable.