Unhappy tenant what to do?

[Alecia Loveless]

I currently have a tenant who has been with me about 7 years, 3 of which have been house hacking my personal duplex. He is neat and clean and professional and has never been a problem and as such we have kept his rent very affordable, under market rent. His unit was totally renovated before he moved into it.

Last week this tenant approached my spouse at the post office and attacked her about my contractor and the fact that he no longer wanted this person working in this unit. He continued on bad mouthing my contractor in public by name for about 20 minutes while my spouse attempted to leave and shut him down.

The tenant was shaking and threatening to murder said contractor if he came back in his unit and was behaving unlike either of us has known him to behave.

When my wife returned home she recounted the experience and I called my contractor and asked him if he would be comfortable having someone else complete the upcoming window installation we were planning in the tenants unit and he said he would arrange something with another trusted person.

Today I spoke with a tenant from the newest building I have purchased and she told me this tenant told her I am a slum lord (which couldn’t be further from the truth) and that the contractor shouldn’t be trusted to do any work. She called me up and began threatening me and telling me she would turn the other tenants in the building against me and they wouldn’t allow this worker in their units. He is well known and respected in the community.

I plan on having a meeting with my spouse and this disgruntled tenant, but does anyone have any other ideas? I know you can’t win every one over.

I have a great deal with this contractor and can’t afford to lose him. I have no alternative but to use him in the event of a night call or an emergency for this angry tenant. Finding someone else would literally cost me 500X what I am paying now.

[John Underwood]

I would give notice that you will not be renewing their lease.