First bad experience as landlor

[Ankan Basak]

So here is my story, my first bad experience as a landlord.

Bought a duplex, moved in to the 2nd unit, did a lot of upgrade in the house to rent out the 1st unit to a family. After few months, I moved out and rented the 2nd unit to another family. I never had a property manager so I never felt I needed one here. Trouble started between the 2 families right after.

The trouble escalated to the point they started calling cops on each other frequently. They will call me/text me complaining how the other family is making their life miserable. Soon they started hijacking my rent, basically telling me that if I dont evict the other family they won’t pay rent. Both tried to make a case that they werent feeling safe cus of the behaviors of the other tenant. I told them to install cameras. Then both families started sending me videos documenting what the other family was doing to them (like videos of yelling, throwing profanities, banging doors, etc). When I confront the family, they deny and turn around and send me evidence of what the other family was doing to them instead.

So, this was becoming a back and forth blame game. I knew both families were at fault but couldn’t tell who was initiating the fights each time, for me to build a case against a particular-problem tenant. So I told them that both will be out if they cant live in peace. Finally they both left, after realizing they couldn’t take it anymore. But in the midst of it, I lost 3 months of rent, and a lot of time from being stressed about this whole situation.

Now I am scared to get into multi-family. But should I be?

Looking back in hindsight, what could I have done differently? - Could I have started eviction the first month they missed on rent payment? What if they made a case that, as a landlord I didn’t give them security against the other tenant, as the basis of their non-payment? That could have turned out to be a long drawn court fight, which made me delay my actions and rethink my options. Instead, I chose to let the trouble play out its course, and letting them leave eventually. Was that a better choice?

What do you guys think?

[Jeff Copeland]

"Could I have started eviction the first month they missed on rent payment?" Absolutely, and I believe you should have. 

Your eviction case would have been for non payment of rent, and nothing else. It is highly unlikely that "I didn't pay rent because my neighbor yelled at me. I have video!" would hold up in court as an excuse for not paying rent. One thing has nothing to do with the other. Your job is to keep the property safe and habitable, not to mediate disputes between neighbors. 

I'm curious, why are you hesitant to pay a Property Manager? Clearly, their fee would have been a bargain compared to the 3+ months of vacancy you're dealing with.  And, as you have learned the hard way, professional management will either make or break the success of your rental portfolio.