My Tenants are slobs!

[Kevin V.]

HI all,

Looking for some advice on what to do with my messy tenants of 6 months in one of my SFHs.

Today I was building a fence at one of my properties and tripped a breaker for the outdoor outlet. I asked them to let me inside so I could flip the breaker back on. As soon as they swung the door open, I couldn't believe how much of a mess the property was on the inside of the house, because the outside has been tidy since they moved in. (they live in my neighborhood so I do casual drive bys) They do have 4 kids and cats, and probably do live a busy life, but the clutter, garbage, cat litter smell in the basement and overall dirty mess was way over the top.

When I did my screening, their former landlord didn't mention anything about them being slobs. I even did the "check out their vehicle while they're viewing the property trick". Seemed to be normal.

Other than the mess they've been good tenants thus far. Never had a had late payment and are nice people. I do have in their contract that "the tenant must maintain ordinary cleanliness of the property"

Do I send them a friendly reminder to keep the house cleaner? Just give them the benefit of the doubt of a long week and check in on them in a week or so? Wait til the end of their term in October and not renew? Or just let them be?

Thanks for your input!

Kevin