How to Deal with Verbally Abrasive Tenant
Hey everyone. I have a tenant that I need help with.
Husband/wife, 4 kids. Moved in about 6 months ago. Month-to-month tenant. Made some demands, I met them. Everything seemed great until St. Patrick's Day, I get a call from the local police saying there was an altercation at the apartment, and they say there was a domestic disturbance in the apartment. There was an altercation, and he broke two exterior windows, the TV, and then left. He was missing for a few days, but now he's back in their lives, although I'm unsure if he lives there. I'm in contact with both of them, though they only call me back in an unreliable fashion.
They had a couple issues with the apartment and I said I would look into possible solutions. Nothing major, just cosmetic stuff. Their attitude was "don't worry about it, whenever you get to it is totally fine!" But since the altercation, she has turned into someone completely irrational and aggressive. Instead of contacting me to solve these problems, she called the city's Health Department and had them walk through the apartment, and I received a notice to correct the issues. They ranged from valid to silly. I feel she was walking around looking for any possible defects for them to write down. Of course, even the silly things are on the official report to correct. The city wrote down everything she said and included it in their report, valid or not.
This happened in early July, and they have been withholding 100% of the rent ever since. She says "ever since our last apartment, our landlord refused to fix stuff, we know our rights". She brought up an issue with some outlets, and I called a local electrician to come by and look. He called her to set up a mutually convenient appointment, and it was booked for nearly 2 weeks away. She never leaves the apartment except to drive the kids places. I am making every effort to fix their problems, and I believe she is delaying the electrician to come in to delay paying rent.
I called her just now to ask if there was any way we could get it done sooner. I am nothing but professional when I speak to them, and she is incredibly verbally abrasive and refuses to let me talk, then hangs up on me.
What are my options? Obviously I would love for them to hit the road, but that might not be an option just yet. Is there a certain protocol they need to follow when withholding rent? I know Massachusetts is heavily favored towards the tenant, but surely I'm being taken advantage of. Would I be able to hire an attorney to review this? A local attorney represented me in an eviction (same unit different tenant, go figure!), and I liked his work. I need to solve this major problem, and if I need to pull out my checkbook, I will. Help me Bigger Pockets, you're my only hope. Thanks so much!