Signing Inherited (Smoking) Tenant to New M2M Lease-How?

Question

Back Story: House hacking a duplex for the first time. Have an inherited tenant (who smokes!) paying under market rent and has inherited lease agreement ending at end of June. Tenant is very clean and does not bother me with little things BUT he smokes right outside front door even though it is in his lease that "smoking is not permitted on premises".

Question: Is there a way to have him sign MY lease but only as M2M? I want to bump the price up to better reflect the market and improvements made to the house(central AC, paint, etc). I like the idea of giving him options of M2M/8-12 mo lease, but would make the M2M option cheaper than long term solely due to the smoking.

There is no carpet in the home so the smoke is not holding as much as it could. Also I plan to paint his unit anyway BUT smoke is still going to find a way back in and the area where he smokes has a very strong odor.

This is my first rental and while I am familiar with Long term leases, I wasn't sure if there was a way to have him sign MY lease but only as a M2M. Typically the leases are worded as "Starting on____and ending on ____ with M2M option after end of lease term"

Let me know your thoughts or if I'm being too confusing with what I need to accomplish!

Thanks BP

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Why do you want them to sign your lease? I understand the preference, but he's only got a few months left and clearly doesn't care about the smoking prohibility. Changing to your lease probably won't change anything.

Personally, I would notify them - in writing - that I intend to "renovate" the unit when their lease expires and that I will not be renewing. I would even give them the option of moving out early as long as they provide a minimum of 30 days notice in writing. Let him move out, you fix the unit to your liking, and then rent it at market rate.

Make it a business decision. Treat him fairly and honestly but don't stress about how he's going to feel because he apparently doesn't care how you feel.

Tim Kaminski · Answer

@Henri Meli I've walked his unit many times. Very clean for the most part. Only downside of this tenant, so far, is that he smokes.

@Thomas S. You would remove the No Smoking clause? I would think that would give him free range to smoke inside the house all he wanted.

Andrew B. · Answer

You should put any inherited tenant on a month to month lease. All that is needed is for the new lease to say it begins July 1 and ends July 31, then month to month after. Its that simple. However, you must make sure you give him proper notice of lease change according to your local laws.

If he smokes outside, you may want to consider setting up a smoking area further away from the house to entice him to stay farther away. Ideally, you can just non-renew his lease and get a non-smoker in there, but I don't get the impression you want to be that aggressive yet.

Henri Meli · Answer

@Tim Kaminski . Looks like you are not willing to enforce the terms of the lease. If tenant is smoking, while it is written in the lease agreement that tenant shouldn't, then tenant is breaking the terms of the lease. You should be careful with letting tenants breaks terms of the lease. You might be setting precedents. Unfortunately, in many cases, smoking will destroy the quality of your assets. I think you should protect your asset as much as you can, cause you will be left holding the tab sooner or later.

Once his lease is up, you can reformulate the new terms as you wish. You just need to give him/her enough time (based on your state law) to agree and sign. You can go month to month or as long as you wish.

Tim Kaminski · Answer

I like the idea of just bumping his rent up to market rent or slightly below and letting that work itself out. If he leaves, great. If he stays, he is paying what I want and I can use his deposit to paint the unit.

Will still talk to him about smoking in the vicinity of the home but as I said before, right now the smoke doesn't carry over into the home.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

I let tenants smoke outside and never had odor issues inside. I say no smoking within 15 feet of the house. It shouldn't smell inside the house unless he is leaving the door open. I would talk to him about the smell inside. Of course make sure you aren't just smelling the odor coming off his jacket hanging in the front entry. Maybe he just needs to make sure the door is shut or walk out another ten feet before lighting up.

Henri Meli · Answer

@Tim Kaminski . I really hope you have had time to walk into his unit to see if tenant is not destroying your property. I know there are various state laws which make it difficult to go into a tenant's unit, but my personal experience is, find ways to get in there (you can tell them you need to replace filters, smoke detectors, ... etc). One of my worst day as a landlord is when I trusted a PM company to watch over my property and the day the tenant left, i walked into the house and couldn't recognize it. Mold, stuffed toilets, laminate and carpets were destroyed. I needed to spend over $10k to fix up the house and resell it. Treat it as a business and let the tenants know that you will enforce every rule in the lease. Keep your end of the bargain and always let them know clearly that you expect them to do the same.

Tim Kaminski · Answer

@Henri MeliYou aren't wrong. I'm concerned that if I tell him not to be smoking then he is just going to try and hide it by smoking inside and really causing damage to the unit. I do need to talk to him about it and maybe setup an area away from the house but at that point I am just enabling.

@Nathan G. Great advice. May end up doing just that. I just think the process of kicking someone out who is going to be living right next to me doesn't sound too appealing so I'm reluctant. Was hoping the price bump would drive him away.

@Andrew Boettcher I figured it was something as simple as that. Of course that makes sense. Will keep that in my memory banks. One less silly question to ask. Thank you.

Ghazey Aleck · Answer

As Nathan said, just give him notice of non-renewal, do your updates and place your own tenant at market prices. You'll be happy you did.

Thomas S. · Answer

Prior to the end of his lase send him the new M2M lease without the no smoking clause and with rent raised to market.. It will automatically take effect when his existing term lease expires regardless of whether he signs it or not. There is no reason or advantage for you to offer him any other option and is definatly to your advantage to use M2M.

Your M2M would auto renew each month with either landlord or tenant being able to give notice to terminate with proper notice.

This is far superior to a term lease but I would do as Nathan suggests and non renew. No point in keeping a inherited tenant that does not respect a lease.

Signing Inherited (Smoking) Tenant to New M2M Lease-How?

Signing Inherited (Smoking) Tenant to New M2M Lease-How?

Most Popular Reply

10 Replies