How do I appease a very high-maintenance tenant?

Investor / Builder · Lake Mary, FL · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 14 votes

10y

Hi Sharon,

First of all congratulations on jumping into Real Estate Investing and welcome to the Investor family.

My opinion, after 14 years of owning rentals and working with property managers is that your property manager messed up in the screening process. However, it is very difficult to predict what a tenant will do after they move in. Most of my bad experiences with tenants came when I didn't do a thorough screening of applicants, especially checking prior landlord references.

In this case I feel sorry for the tenant who has a medical condition that is effecting her actions.

My recommendation is that you speak with the daughter and approach her from a stand point of wanting to 'HELP' her mom. It sounds like her mom would be better cared for in a residential assisted living situation rather than a condo by herself. Hopefully the daughter is mature enough to see the condition of her mom's mental state (not in denial) and help in getting her to a more appropriate dwelling.

Whatever you do, DON'T GIVE UP!!!

This is just an experience that you will learn from and although it may seem like a horrible experience, it will soon pass. Hopefully, you'll be sharing this experience with other rookie investors in the future and have a good laugh at all the events you'll be able to share.

I hope this helps and hang in there.

I would definitely ask for a discount on the management fees.

Andres

3 Reply

Nathan MillerPro Member

Property Manager · Grants Pass, OR · Member since 2009 · 429 posts · 201 votes

10y

Hi Sharon,

This rental is a business, so don't let personal feelings about the tenant interfere with treating it as a business. If the tenant is reporting inaccurate and frivolous complaints that are costing you money, either bill them for them, or if your lease allows, raise the rent or provide notice and put somebody better in there.

That said, if any of the complaints are legit and the landlord's responsibility, do address them ASAP.

Regarding the rodents at the HOA. If the rodents are coming from the common area, under the structure, or attic and are not being attracted by food or cleanliness issues of your tenant, it is likely that they are responsible. Getting them to address it may be another thing.

6 Reply

Ralph R.

Investor · Bethel, AK · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 852 votes

10y

@Sharon Cohen I agree with @Andres Verney to a degree. The PM messed up in the screening, but I gotta add he's still messing up by allowing the tenant to "Frustrate" him. As a landlord I am not in business to "appease" my tenants. My job is to provide clean safe housing, at a reasonable price. My PM's job is to assist me in that endeavor, not allow the tenant to frustrate me. The PM works for me,and makes suggestions. We brainstorm a while on some things, but in the end the decision is mine. Its MY money, My rental and I sink or swim by what happens with it.

Again I agree with Andres you should try to work with the daughter. She is the one who can do the most good here. At the same time its fruitless to clean carpets after the initial carpet cleaning you did or should have done before the tenants move in. After that its up to the tenant to keep the unit clean. Unless you did very poor DD I bet a lot of the other stuff you described was unnecessary as well. As to the mice, I think its highly unlikely she is hearing them at night. If there is no droppings or evidence other than her hearing them then have it checked ONCE and then tell the daughter your not paying for it again.

STICK BY YOUR GUNS

You gotta stick by your guns here. The tail is wagging the dog and its gotta STOP!! Your PM is not helping. He did poor vetting and now both of you are miserable. SOMEBODY needs to verify something is actually wrong or broken, then if its not SOMEBODY needs to say NO!! That's his job, or he needs to ask you and you say no. He then tells the daughter/tenant the landlord said no. No skin off his nose YOU need to contact the daughter and tell her from now on if its not broke we aren't fixing it. Its a lot easier to avoid a spoiled tenant than to fix one you have allowed to turn spoiled. Its kinda like a spoiled child you have to be firm, and don't give in if you know you are right. If you say something than stand behind it. Don't back down!!

I believe I might research changing the lease from her name to the daughters name. That would put the daughter between you/your PM and the tenant. I don't know if its possible but your the boss so you gotta research all possibilities. If its not possible then research this idea. let the pm deal with the tenant then you deal with the daughter. It works like this. Tenant calls PM. PM calls you. You call Daughter. Every time she complains the daughter gets a call. You discuss the problem and ask daughter to verify it before you will send a repair man Make sure you and the PM are saying the same thing. Tell the daughter you will not pay a repairman if he gets over there and its not broken, and tell the daughter to be there when the repairman is scheduled. Let the daughter show him the problem if need be. No daughter, No repairman. you want to check local laws but this puts some burden on the daughter and possibly solves the repairman not wanting to service the unit. If you are in doubt ask an attorney. It might be the best couple hundred dollars spent on that unit.

It is obvious you have several things fighting you here. An older ill tenant that maybe needs more attention than you as a landlord can give. A PM that's not very experienced or very good, and your own inexperience. Remember the PM is managing your investment. His job is to look after YOUR best interest, not "appease" the tenant. All these things are fixable with time. These are all part of the proverbial learning curve. Put them in order. The tenant problem is obviously the worst so it is first. Fix that and the other 2 will come with time. If the PM doesn't come around you may have to do something there. Remember he works for YOU. If he is underperforming than he is costing YOU money. I've had PMs that feel sorry for the tenant, accepted partial rent, even let them fall behind. Key word is HAD. By handling these problems you yourself will gain experience, self confidence and a sense of being a good land lord witch in turn will make you successful.

Sorry this got so long and I hope you can find something in here that helps.

Above all do not give up, and stand by your guns. These are all things to that can be fixed! and you will be a better more successful landlord for the experience!!

RR

5 Reply

JR T.

Financial services executive · Frederick, MD · Member since 2015 · 609 posts · 341 votes

10y

I disagree that the property manager messed up. This woman has a government check, managed by her daughter. She can be your paying tenant until she leaves this earth if you just manage her properly.

Do you have friends or family in PG county? Why did you invest there?

To manage this lady all you need to do is learn to control crazy. Get a free Google voice number and set it NOT TO RING to your forwarding number. Call your manager advise them requests for service are to be directed only to that number and you will advise them of any requests you want to go through. Google will roughly transcribe her messages but unless it's a owner-loss type emergency you only return calls once per week. These would have been my responses to past requests.

Carpet cleaning - You acknowledged the carpets were satisfactory when you moved in. It is your responsibility to keep up the carpets, normal wear and tear accepted. As you've notified us you have soiled the carpets please arrange to have them professionally cleaned within 10 days, send me a copy of your receipt and a date when we may come inspect them after being cleaned.

Light fixtures washer dryer - You need someone reliable in the area to diagnose and see when replacement is necessary. If your manager isn't doing well at this you haven't found the right partner.

Mice - Please see traps and poison and send me a picture of a mouse in the condo. Your best defense against attracting mice is to keep a clean home. Please tell me about your schedule for cleaning the condo. Make a report to the HOA don't tell her about it.

Dishwasher - For the rinse in your dishwasher to work correctly you must remove all food particles from your dishes prior to washing. Dish detergent does not dissolve solid material, including some sauces which can spray

Pest control should only be sent with proof of pests and they should report back as to whether the tenant caused the repair.

I think you have a great tenant you won't have to do much for and can keep for a long time. You just need to accept that shes mostly crazy and learn to ignore her. There is no award for most responsive landlord but there's a reward for managing your time and resources properly with this type tenant.

Finally look up the social security cost of living adjustment each year and increase the rent by that amount or to market whichever is greater. Don't be afraid to exceed market rent later to make up for this year.

4 Reply

Sharon Cohen

OP

Arlington, VA · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 2 votes

10y

Thank you all for the outstanding feedback. I understand the imperative to be manage the tenant more firmly, but PG County is very tenant-friendly and I'm trying to be very conscientious about "defensive landlording," since I don't want to expose myself to legal action. @JR T., you hit the nail on the head: the PM advocated for this lady because she had a predictable income (social security) and good credit, which is hard to come by in this area. She was living with her (now deceased) husband before moving into this unit, so I'm not sure what due diligence would have surfaced.

I don't have friends or family in PG County, but I live close by and this is one of the few areas in the DMV that it makes sense to invest in, from a cash-flow perspective.

I love the suggestion to get a GV number and screen maintenance requests. As a prior renter, I would have appreciated much more frequent responsiveness, but I was also (I now know) a fantastic renter and deserved that kind of responsiveness. This line resonates: "There is no award for most responsive landlord, but there's a reward for managing your time and resources properly with this type tenant." (@JR T.) Also, "my job is to provide clean safe housing at a reasonable price." (thanks @Ralph R.) I definitely need to do better about managing my time and resources properly. I clearly need to manage the PM better as well.

I will respond that the tenant needs to show proof of pests and will instruct her on proper use of dishwasher (don't overload the machine, remove food particles). I'll notify her that if she continues to insist that I send a repair person and they find that the machine is not working properly because she's not using it properly, then I will charge her for the visit.

We definitely plan on raising the rent when the lease is up. I'm not sure I want to get more involved than being the point person for all maintenance requests for this property (e.g. handling communications with the daughter), and I don't relish the thought of replacing my PM, so hopefully this works out. Thanks again for all the great responses.

1 Reply

Sam Sharata

Real Estate Agent · Annandale, VA · Member since 2015 · 30 posts · 15 votes

10y

Hi Sharon,

Sounds like you have your hands full! Perhaps instead of a PM, you can purchase an annual homeowner's warranty and insert a clause in your lease at renewal time assigning the tenant with the responsibility of paying deductible for any service call to the apartment. In order for this work, you should ensure that your appliances, plumbing, electrical, and fixtures are all in good working order and have them inspected annually by a trusted and competent (licensed) contractor. While you may never fully break the bad habits, you can at least rest assured that you're providing a safe place for your elderly tenant and (hopefully) minimizing the waste of your time and expenditures.

One other suggestion would be to prepare an "Owner's manual" for your place. This may sound goofy, but if you provided something which contains pictures of the apartment before move-in, model numbers of appliances and links to user manuals online, information on how to use the thermostat, locking doors & windows, operating faucets, garbage collection guidelines, contacting the HOA or property management company, what brand and color paint you use in each room, etc. Then your tenant(s) will have most, if not all, of the answers to their questions before finding a need to call you. If nothing else, you'll have a valuable reference in case you need to place a call for service yourself.

As @Nathan Miller says, this is a business, not a charity. If you want to succeed, you must learn and adapt from your mistakes and experiences as you go along. I hope you find this advice helpful, and wish you the best of luck!

0 Reply

JR T.

Financial services executive · Frederick, MD · Member since 2015 · 609 posts · 341 votes

10y

Rereading your post it does not make sense for you to pay to have a property manager. You're handling the calls anyway just call a handyman instead of those guys and keep 10%. This manager got sucked into talking to her all day and when it became problematic for him asked you to solve the problems you paid him to take off your plate. Not a manager, I'd ditch him. He won't be upset when you fire him.

Instead of GV you could instruct a new manager to handle her with preset parameters. They should also have a maintenance guy on staff for simple repairs or request verifications and a key to the unit. We give tenants a day only and advise them we will enter if they're not home.

I suggest an excel sheet to track what she calls about. My guess is some stuff will self resolve when ignored real problems she'll call over and over. You'll learn how many calls means it's mainly real. She is just using the property manager as a substitute for her deceased husband. I'm sure she complained to her husband all day and he fact that he died married means he was aces at ignoring her. Kind of sad, but you can never get socially involved with them.

I'm not suggesting you ignore sane tenants. A regular tenant should get a call back by the next business day. The county will have no issues with this procedure, for her, because she was abusive of your resources and you have documentation.

I like the home warranty idea. Another option is a $100 repair deductible, but check with PG county to verify its fine there. I've had the clause upheld in Frederick. Then you just bill her for every useful service call and she will find a new hobby. I'd get her on postal mailing lists for local senior and community centers too. You don't need to say anything just sign her up and hope she gets inspired.

4 Reply

Account Closed

San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes

10y

Originally posted by @Sharon Cohen:

Hi, this is my first time posting on BP, though I've been a longtime podcast listener and forum browser. I bought my first rental property, a 2 bd 1 ba condo in Prince George's County, MD, about 8 months ago. My property manager rented the place to an elderly lady who appears to be suffering from dementia but is assisted by her daughter. Since renting the property to her, we've been responding to complaints on a nearly weekly basis. I've had the carpets cleaned twice, replaced the washing machine, rewired the dryer, replaced light fixtures, hired pest control services, replaced blinds, realigned door frames, and had multiple calls out to plumbers (some of them frivolous). I don't have time to investigate all of these issues personally, so I rely on my property manager to triage these issues and advise me on how to remediate them. He's been very frustrated with the tenant-- several of the service people he uses won't go back to the unit because the tenant is unresponsive and/or difficult to deal with-- so he's asked me to reach out to my own networks. Currently, I'm asked to help find someone who can repair a dishwasher that is not "rinsing properly" and can address a possible mice problem. My property manager says the pest control company made three visits in the past two months, and they can't find anything, but she says she still hears them at night.

I want to be a responsive landlord of a thoroughly functional apartment, but I'm afraid I'm spending money on frivolous complaints. My property manager is doing the best he can, but at this point he's being managed by her more than the other way around. The tenant doesn't want to move out, though we've offered to let her break her lease with no penalty.

Any advice on how to reset expectations? One idea I'm toying with right now is to ask the tenant to retain her own pest control services and to send me the bill if they find evidence of a rodent problem, but I'm not sure if that's legally defensible. Also, since this is a condo, I'm not sure at what point a rodent problem becomes the HOA's responsibility. Regarding the dishwasher, the easiest thing to do may be to just replace it, but I'll gladly consider any other creative ideas.

Thanks for any advice, I'm scratching my head here and this experience is definitely dampening my enthusiasm for diving deeper into real estate investing.

Hi Sharon. What a pain!

As far as keeping this tenant - don't. Once the lease is up, I'd get rid of her. She's high maintenance and she's costing you money. And if she has dementia, it will get worse, and she could burn the place down when she puts something on the stove and then takes off to go shopping, etc.

As far as the daughter - you don't have a contract with the daughter, you're not an assisted living facility, so it's not appropriate to deal with someone other than the tenant you are contracted with.

What I'd do with her in the meantime, is tell her that you are changing the way you do maintenance for non-emergency matters. That you will be sending a maintenance person over once per month. So, she should please make a list for the maintenance person to look at when they come once per month. Then, figure out when that once per month visit should be. Even this will cost more than a normal tenant would ever need, but, it will keep you from sending people over every week.

As far as worrying about being legally on the hook for her complaints - unless her complaints are for anything regarding habitability issues, no matter where you live, you shouldn't be in trouble with the court. For instance, a dishwasher that is not rinsing properly is not life or death. It does not equate to non-functional toilets or no water or no heat, for instance.

And the fact that you have sent a pest control person over there several times, and they found nothing - you're sure covered there.

So, dial her back to a once-a-month handyman service.

I also agree that you should not be paying a PM, unless it's worth it to you to have your PM personally answer the calls from your tenant. Because all your PM is doing right now, from what it sounds like, is taking the call, and then calling you. Then you tell them what to do, then they -hopefully-do what you said.

But, you're actually managing the property. So, why are you paying this person? An answering service would be cheaper.

I don't think there was any mistake made regarding renting to this tenant. These are the kinds of things you can't always discover when you screen - that a tenant will be such high maintenance. It just goes to show that just because a tenant always pays rent on time - doesn't mean they're a great tenant.

3 Reply

Marcia Maynard

Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes

10y

For the tenant, whether her concerns are based on something real or something perceived, they may be REAL to her and still need to be addressed. Even those who cry wolf too many times may on some occasion have a serious situation arise that you will need to know about, so you can efficiently and effectively handle it.

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Some Tips:

1. Require tenants to put their requests in writing. That will slow down the frequency.

2. Establish clear guidelines for tenants to follow. Explain what is an emergency, what is an urgent need, and what is a routine maintenance item.

3. Establish a protocol for how you handle certain types of requests.

4. Learn how to quickly triage tenant calls. Ask a few key questions to determine if it's an emergency or something that can wait.

5. Designate a specific day of the week when you (or your PM) address tenant requests.

6. It sometimes takes a village.... engage the help of family members and community social service workers to provide this tenant with the resources she may need.

7. Don't keep re-doing things to appease the tenant. Once you have sufficient information, you can make an educated decision as to what you really need to address. Put more responsibility on the tenant to take care of certain matters.

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Some phrases to add to your management tool box.

"This is how we rented the unit; We won't be making any changes at this time."

"We're not prepared to do that."

"What do you think is causing the problem? What do you think will make it better? Let's talk about what we can do for you and what you can do for yourself."

"This isn't working for us. Perhaps this is not the best place for you to be living. Let's talk about a move-out plan."

"I understand your concern (repeat it back to them) and we'll schedule a time when we can look into the matter."

"We'll take care of this one time as a courtesy, but we'll need to charge you for the next time this happens."

5 Reply

Elizabeth Colegrove

Hanford, CA · Member since 2013 · 5k+ posts · 1k+ votes

10y

WOW!

First off, property managers don't get to get tired of dealing with a tenant.

Second,

The word NO exists! What does you lease say? I have needy tenants but they quickly realize that I will repair things that are BROKEN but I don't improve the house. I tell them no. It took me a little bit to figure this but once I stood up for for my rights, they actually respected me better.

4 Reply

Steve B.

Engineer · Portland, OR · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

10y

You already established a terrible precedent by being overly compliant to her misbehavior and have now enabled her for further complaints. Those improvements you made by her requests are beyond ridiculous. I highly doubt you are going to communicate effectively to turn her into a reasonable tenant. I would suggest working towards moving her out or evicting her. If you can't learn to make real estate a passive investment, if this isn't your full time job, then you may not be suitable for land lording . This is a business, not a people relationship industry

0 Reply

Sharon Cohen

OP

Arlington, VA · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 2 votes

10y

@Account Closed appreciate your thoughts. I bought this property to learn "on the job" about being a landlord and I knew I wouldn't get it all right the first time. Will see if these next steps succeed in resetting expectations, but even if that doesn't work, the lease is up in 6 months and we can start over with a new tenant.

0 Reply

Paul AmegatcherPro Member

Rental Property Investor · Brookville, OH · Member since 2016 · 488 posts · 363 votes

10y

@Sharon Cohen

Check with a lawyer before you raise the rent to the higher amount you just mention. It may be illegal to do that. What you can do is decide not to renew the lease by giving them a property notice(30 day or 60 day - Check with a lawyer as well). That is a better way to proceed than to be viewed as being discriminatory to the tenant. Sorry for your experience with this particular tenant. It gets better than this.

0 Reply

Wesley W.

Rental Property Investor · The Vampire State · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

10y

Originally posted by @Sharon Cohen:

And I didn't mention that in May the tenant didn't pay her rent and sent him a notice to appear in court (not me!)-- he ended up going through mediation with her, and got her to pay back the full rent.

This paragraph definitively sold me on NOT RENEWING this tenant's lease. Any tenant even threatening legal action against me gets targeted for a termination. This business comes with enough inherent risk without someone tying up additional resources and ulcer stimuli with this kind of nonsense.

With all due respect, I think raising the rent to something unappealing to her is absolutely the wrong tactic. What if she pays it? It sounds like you and/or your PM are just trying to avoid conflict. Just send her a proper notice of non-renewal at the end of this lease and, having learned from this experience, get someone better in there.

+1 on the notion the PM is not efficiently managing your asset

This is a learning process, and you're doing the right thing by seeking the collective wisdom on these forums, as I have done many times myself.

Good luck!

3 Reply

David Dachtera

Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes

10y

@Sharon Cohen,

One approach which not been mentioned so far is to suggest that the local social services get involved. They might advise the daughter that her own apartment is not a suitable independent living arrangement for her mother, given her mother's condition and a retirement community or managed care facility might be more appropriate.

Clearly, the mother has issues and the daughter is not willing or able to be her live-in care giver.

My $0.02...

David J. Dachtera

0 Reply

Account Closed

San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes

10y

I also think it's a bad idea to raise the rent to a crazy amount, hoping she'll move out. If she took it to court, it could be seen as "constructive eviction." This is where you make the tenant so miserable that they move out.

But, in my opinion, if you just terminate at the end of the lease, you should be off the hook. That would be a natural termination, as opposed to a retaliatory action. And you don't have to give a reason for ending a lease, as long as you're not under rent control.

0 Reply

James DeRoest

Investor · Century, FL · Member since 2015 · 950 posts · 603 votes

10y

Hold up there, as someone else said about the legal bit....

If a tenant ever threatens anything legal, your relationship with them is over. It's dead and buried. It has a gravestone "here lies my relationship with this tenant".

Suck up the last 4 months of the lease, issue whatever notice is required by state for the non renewal of the lease, and let them be on their way. You do not want them to stay one second longer than needs be.

Don't even think about jacking up the rent as you do not want this tenant. If they pay more, they will expect more.

Don't get discouraged though, we've all had a bad tenant or three.

2 Reply

Jeff Gates

Investor · Cathedral City, CA · Member since 2014 · 481 posts · 170 votes

10y

It is human nature. Some folks are worth removing ASAP. Just replace a tenant with another. Life is too short to listen to all the issues that are not real (at least most of them). Some folks are drama and others are not. I have my list of profiles I avoid.

1 Reply

James Wise

Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes

10y

@Sharon Cohen

You shouldn't try to appease the high maintenance tenant. You must set the ground rules and the parameters in which this landlord/tenant relationship will work. If the tenant does not get with the program you should replace that tenant with one who will get with the program.

2 Reply

David Faulkner

Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes

10y

There is a difference between picky and crazy. In this case, it does look like crazy. However, if it were picky, this is not necessarily a bad thing ... I had picky tenants once who complained frequently after they first moved in, after a month or so of sending handymen out to fix little things, they stayed for several years and when the unit was returned to me it was spotless because, well, they were very picky about keeping the place they lived in tip-top shape. Doesn't sound like it is the case here, but wanted to offer this counterpoint as it is not always necessarily a bad thing.

I agree with others that the lease needs to spell out what is and what is not covered. Also that your PM is not worth what you are paying by setting a bad president and then handing the issues back to you (what are you paying them for again?!?). I've even heard of some aggressive PMs tell tenants that they will send vendors out for a second or third time, but if those vendors report no problem or a problem that the tenant caused, they are going to bill the tenant for the visit ... not sure how that would hold up legally if it was ever challenged, though.

0 Reply

Matthew R.

Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2016 · 65 posts · 54 votes

10y

You should not be working directly with tis Tennant.

Property manager needs to manage this property. I am concerned that they may not be an experienced shop. The PM should be qualifying these requests, and when reasonable asking for your final approval on the spend.

I know this person may not be well, but your boundaries must be respected and you need to limit efforts to those that are reasonable.

How long is the lease? How many months remaining?

0 Reply

Sharon Cohen

OP

Arlington, VA · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 2 votes

10y

Got it-- sounds like the consensus on this thread is to discuss with a lawyer the legality of simply terminating the lease when it expires in 6 months. My PM recommended raising the rent instead because he thought the former could be challenged as discriminatory, but collective wisdom here suggests otherwise. So I'll just see if I can consult with a lawyer who practices in the area. Anyone have any guidance on how to find a real estate lawyer?

Thanks again for all the helpful advice!

0 Reply

Carson Sweezy

Rental Property Investor · Fairfax, VA · Member since 2014 · 328 posts · 101 votes

10y

Sharon Cohen Richard S Bastile is a lawyer that was recommended to our firm, specializing in tenants and evictions. BP won't let me post contact info, but I have his phone number if you would like it.

0 Reply

David Dachtera

Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes

10y

Originally posted by @Carson Sweezy:

Sharon Cohen Richard S Bastile is a lawyer that was recommended to our firm, specializing in tenants and evictions.

BP won't let me post contact info, but I have his phone number if you would like it.

One trick that I learned is to spell out digits instead. For example:

3 one 2, 5 five 5, 1 two 1 two

0 Reply

Joe SplitrockPro Member

Moderator

Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes

10y

@Sharon Cohen first of all, be aware that this is not a typical tenant. If you worried that purchasing more properties would get you similar tenants, I would argue it is unlikely. I have had picky tenants but nothing to the level you describe.

My guess is that this lady is lonely and has lots of free time on her hands. It is sad, but having dealt with older people in the same situation, they will manufacture or amplify problems just to gain human interaction. She should really live in a senior community where she can interact with other people in a similar life phase. You would be doing her a favor by not renewing her lease and helping her find a better community.

As others have suggested, documenting problems in writing is important. Ideally the tenant should submit maintenance request in writing with a description of the problem. Then they should sign off when the maintenance staff comes to resolve the problem. This gives you a paper trail to prove you addressed or attempted to address her problems. You can show responsiveness and the magnitude of her complaints.

The property manager is completely to blame for this situation. They should be dealing with her and they should have a method to filter out legitimate requests. I would terminate them immediately for lack of performance. If you are going to deal with the crap, you should get the extra 10% income each month! I would fire the PM today. He already chose to leave the job when he stopped managing the property. He quit the job, you are just cutting the paycheck.

I am not sure the dishwasher problem has anything to do with her not pre-rinsing. A rinse problem is usually related to the type of soap. They should not use liquid soap - it will leave a film on your dishes. Tell them to use powder or tabs with a rinse agent built in. I also had a situation where the upper jet wasn't working. It was a bad pump and I had to replace the dishwasher. After you verify the soap, replacement is your best option. For the money you will spend on a repair, why waste your time. If it is new, there is no (logical) argument that the issue has been resolved.

Pest control is the responsibility of the tenant and I state that in my lease. This is because tenants can often be the source of attracting pests. Leaving doors open or not cleaning properly will attract them. In a condo, I would check what the association is doing at the complex to address. Let her know you covered pest treatment last time, but in the future it is her responsibility.

I would not recommend a house warranty. It will cost you a ton of money and will not resolve your problem which is the tenant. Warranties are a total waste of money. Just take the money you would spend on a warranty and put it in a maintenance fund.

I would let her know at the end of her term that you are not renewing her lease. If you are not required to provide a reason by law, I wouldn't offer any reason.

Just a final comment, your interest in appeasing the tenant is commendable, but you are making a mistake believing that everyone can be appeased.

2 Reply

How do I appease a very high-maintenance tenant?

How do I appease a very high-maintenance tenant?

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