Comments on: How To Get Rid of Crazy Tenants

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:34:42 +0000

Who would want to be a landlord/landlady? I have had some problem tenants in my time but your tenants really take the piss. I hope they have moved out by now. Make sure you do the right checks next time and trust your instincts. If your first impression is these tenants are going to cause trouble they probably will.
Good Luck

By: Tom Thomas

Tom Thomas — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:56:40 +0000

Sounds like you should have done your homework on these tenants before they moved in. You should have met them first as this probably would have set alarm bells ringing. Getting references from family members is a stupid idea. Chances are these tenants were living with there relatives and they would have done anything to get rid of them! We live and learn.

By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:26:48 +0000

We currently have the most obnoxious tennantS in our rental house next door. They consist of a woman, man (we’re not sure if their married but they are foster brother and sister), and their three kids all under age 4. After screening them, checking their backgrounds, and talking to their references they seemed quite normal, or so we thought. She has already had an ambulance over there twice, as well as, the police. Two of her children have seisures and one has a brain tumor. Post moving in she has also been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Everyday there seems to be a new problem. If it’s not a angry swarm of bees its the heat not working, etc. etc. etc. Once while my father and I were sitting around the house we were startled by a loud pouding on our door, and guess who it was. Our renter, in hysterics, about how the dryer set the house on fire and it was burning up as we spoke. As my dad grabbed the fire extinguisheR and ran towards the house I called the fire department (yet another 911 call)
I was then left with the three kids as she went to “help”. I then receive a call from my father saying call the fire department back and say they will not be needed. Confused I did as I was told, and then went over to the property. There was absolutely NO smoke, NO black marks on the wall, and the dryer was still running. The only evidence was the smoke alarm going off, but oddly enough there was a lighter sitting right below the alarm. Hmm… We have just lately had multiple calls about the fridge being too cold or too warm. Everytime it is checked it seems to be running just fine. After the third “cry for wolf” my father promptly told her, “I will call a repairman for you, but if he says there is nothing wrong than you will pay for it.” She of course gets defensive and says “Well I’ll just buy a new one then!” And the next day the old fridge was sitting on her back porch. This is just a select few of some of the “instances” that have occured while they lived there. Oh and they have only been there 3 MONTHS!!! We still have 9 to go! LESSON LEARNED: DO NOT ALLOW YOUR POSSIBLE TENANTS REFERENCES TO BE FAMILY AND ALWAYS ASK ABOUT THEIR PAST RENTAL EXPERIENCES. WE LEARNED THE HARD WAY!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:57:41 +0000

Jason – excellent article!

Trisha – come on, just listen to yourself. Jason was stating the facts in HIS situation.

By: Trisha Hogan

Trisha Hogan — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:08:54 +0000

“High maintenance women!” With all due respect, even though your comment was in relation to
the woman you were referring to in your article, as a woman myself – I find your comment biased
and offensive. How about instead: High maintenance women AND men!

By: Cathy Taylor

Cathy Taylor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:10:51 +0000

Here’s more information on evictions:

Handling tenant eviction is never a landlord’s favorite duty, but you can make it easier on yourself by knowing the process and the laws. Tenant eviction can happen for several reasons, for example, you sell your property and the new landlord wants to rent or lease to different people.

Other times evicting a tenant can become a long, drawn-out process especially if the tenant is angry about having to move or is doing something illegal like selling drugs out of your property. Then your situation can become dangerous and you must take precautionary steps to ensure your own safety.

You definitely need to know and follow the proper, legal steps to evict a tenant so that you are not slapped with any kind of wrongful eviction lawsuit. Here we will outline the proper steps to take in order to evict your tenant legally and protect yourself from repercussion.

1. File with the county courthouse a Notice to Quit Possession (you can Google samples if you need one). This is the first step in legally evicting a person or persons from your property. You fill out the form at the courthouse with all the property information included and the names of each adult tenant that you want evicted.

You are required to give a reason why you want them evicted, for example non-payment of rent, non-renewal of lease, destruction of property, etc. You are required to give them at least three (3) full days to vacate the premises on the Notice to Quit. This notice is then served to your tenants via a state marshal.

2. If the tenant has not moved by midnight of the day you requested that they vacate the premises as outlined in the Notice to Quit, you will then need to file a Summons and Complaint order. The tenant will be required to appear in court, and they have two (2) full days after receiving this order to file an Appearance to contest the eviction. If they do not, you as the landlord have the right to request a Default Judgment for Failure to Appear against them and rule in your favor. If the tenant files a response to your Summons and Complaint order, then you have to go to court for a trial hearing on your case.

3. At the court hearing you and the tenant will meet with a Housing Specialist who is trained in mediating cases concerning landlord and tenant affairs. They will discuss the case with both of you and will assist you in working out a fair settlement. If a fair settlement is obtained, the judge will review it and then approve or deny it based on the information he or she has before them. You do not have to settle the case. You can push it to trial where the judge will preside over the case and make a decision based on the evidence that is presented.

4. If the judge rules in your favor, the tenant has five days – called a Stay of Execution – to vacate the premises unless the case is for non-payment of rent only, in which case the tenant can apply to get up to three months to stay if the full amount of back rent is paid to the court within five days of the judgment being rendered. If the judgment is based on a termination of lease by lapse of time, the tenant can apply for an additional six months Stay of Execution from the hearing date.

5. Once the judgment has been rendered, the tenant has a set amount of time to vacate the premises – either the five (5) day Stay of Execution awarded by the courts or a longer period of time applied for Stay of Execution. If the tenant has not left your property by midnight on that last day, you can apply for a Summary Process Execution which gives the tenant 24 hours to vacate the premises or else they will be removed by physical force.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:04:39 +0000

What is the tenant pays rent on time, but plays loud ampliphied music at times, refuses to take hazzardous wires out of attic, etc? He tells me I have to get the fire dept to tell him to remove them. The loud guitar he stops for a few weeks and then starts again. We called the police three weeks ago to finally put an end to the music and now he calls the cops every 3 days. Yesterday he called them twice. Once because I told him his wires violated national fire code 400.8 and again while I was in his apt repairing a window. He called 911 telling them I was an intruder and refused to take my shoes off (while working with glass).

What are my options? Do I have to evict? Will I win?

By: Winston

Winston — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:46:00 +0000

Jason,

Do you have any other questions that you ask prospective tenants?

By: Margo

Margo — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:50:09 +0000

I am a renter in a college town, and college students here- girls in particular – have a reputation for being difficult tenants. I find that, when looking for affordable apartments, I get classed with these younger, less responsible girls. People are hesitant to rent to me simply because of the college stereotype.

And I graduated from a university ten years ago….

I have a full-time job and I’m a responsible, dependable citizen and tenant. While I know just what you are talking about with the “crazy tenants,” since a few choice specimens have been my roommates, there are things you can do, from a tenant’s perspective, to prove that you are *not* one of the crazy ones yourself.
Be well-groomed. Be open and friendly, but not inappropriate. Be considerate of the time and commitments of your future landlord. Ask intelligent questions and offer pertinent information. This one is obvious, but be honest on any documents you are asked to fill out. Absolutely do not refuse a credit check. Why would you refuse unless you have something to hide?
And, once you have a rental agreement, stick to it. Treat the place you are renting with respect. Be clean. Do not be whiny about any repairs that are necessary. -Note – be sure repairs really are needed, and not simply your preference. And, again, obvious, pay your rent on time and in full and you will be the kind of tenant any landlord is looking for.
Works for me, anyway.