Would you renew a lease on a disrespectful tenant?
Realtor · Charleston, SC · Member since 2017 · 116 posts · 88 votes
She has been there a year and a half and on multiple occasions has been demanding and rude to me. She’s also a former lawyer for the FBI. She is very demanding, and kind of high-maintenance.
But she always pays her rent on time.
Her lease is up at the end of January, but she asked for a six month extension option when we signed it. She wants to stay, and wants another year lease, and wants me to sign it now. I’ve told her we will keep the terms as-is for the next six months, then revisit. She’s again asking me to sign the lease for the end of the six months now. Her last landlord sold the house and she had to move when she didn’t want to, so she is probably afraid I might do the same.
Would you tell her you are waiting to see if she can be more respectful in her communications before you sign the lease? Because that’s the only reason I want to wait. I’m not sure turning over the place is worth it either, but I don’t like the intimidation and threats I get from her.
She has been there a year and a half and on multiple occasions has been demanding and rude to me. She’s also a former lawyer for the FBI. She is very demanding, and kind of high-maintenance.
But she always pays her rent on time.
Her lease is up at the end of January, but she asked for a six month extension option when we signed it. She wants to stay, and wants another year lease, and wants me to sign it now. I’ve told her we will keep the terms as-is for the next six months, then revisit. She’s again asking me to sign the lease for the end of the six months now. Her last landlord sold the house and she had to move when she didn’t want to, so she is probably afraid I might do the same.
Would you tell her you are waiting to see if she can be more respectful in her communications before you sign the lease? Because that’s the only reason I want to wait. I’m not sure turning over the place is worth it either, but I don’t like the intimidation and threats I get from her.
You need to cut out all of this additional & unnecessary communication. Tenants are not your friends nor do you need to engage with them when they reach out to you for things that are not absolutely necessary. Here is the deal, no matter what you do they will not like you. You've got to accept that fact moving forward.
I am gathering that she has your cell number & feels like she can call you whenever she feels like B*tching about something? She feels that way because you answer the phone & try to work through everything with her Cut that out. Give her one form of contact & one form only. I'd use email. From there ignore all other modes of communication & only respond when necessary. Your job is to respond to her when you are changing the terms of the lease, rent is late or you need to handle a repair. Other than that there is no reason you need to communicate with her. She doesn't know this because you've trained her to believe that she can communicate with you for other reasons. Train her to know that she cannot.
On top of eliminating unnecessary communication I wouldn't negotiate or argue when communicating about necessary things. I would tell her this.
"Your option is to sign a new lease for 12 months under these terms or move out. You've got until X date to figure out what you want to do. End of discussion."
Do not engage in any of the additional comments she has.
"but I want to do this because" or "but why" etc.
If she is unable to call you on the cell & you only respond with her options & avoid engaging in that nonsense she will learn it's a waste of her time & you'll have a more appropriate relationship with her.
@John Semanchuk I think I answered most of your questions above, but I’m not sure how much I need her. A lot of it depends on the price of oil when I have turnovers. Right now, oil is down, and it may be more difficult to replace her. She pays very high rent for a medium-high end home in an oil boomtown. There weren’t a lot of applicants when I rented to her originally (2 or 3).
Well if she's paying a relatively high rent, then it's expected that she will have relatively high expectations. I think I could put up with the "disrespectful" tone for the added rent (I can let things roll off my back pretty easily anyway) but the threat of lawsuit would definitely be worrisome to me.
On a side note, it sounds like anyone who has well rounded handyman skills and needs a job should be headed to this town!
Raise the rent and keep it strictly business. If you follow all the laws in the meantime, she will have a hard time getting at you
She sounds like a bully, don't take it personally, don't let emotion get involved - I know that's not easy - and keep it strictly business
I would raise the rent , quite a bit on a new lease
Love it.... how dare you.... raise the rent ......to hell with it,
@Jose Torres to answer your question: some examples of her disrespect: telling me “that is unacceptable” when I told her I would be figuring out *why* the basement flooded before installing new carpet (only to have it happen again). The old carpet has been removed, and the basement is dry, and I just need to wait for a plumber to get out there and figure out why this happened (or if she flooded it and isn’t telling me).
Another example: after she spent 2 months trying to find someone to help fix an odor in the basement (she offered to find someone and I’m out of state, so I said that’d be fine) to no avail, she passed the task back to me, and I spent 2 weeks trying to find someone, to no avail (this home is in an oil boomtown, and most men work in oil, so finding service professionals is very difficult.). I got a nasty text from her demanding that it get fixed immediately. I responded with an explanation that after two months of her trying to get a call back, I’ve only been working on it for two weeks, but I was hopeful I’d have someone there soon. Her response was, “I’m not interested in excuses, I just want results”.
Her “high maintenance” is not in regards to how often she calls me. I meant that more than she likes things high end and perfect. For example: She was really distraught when she realized there was no garbage disposal. She requested to instal one on her dime, which I originally ok’d, but after she went to install a light fixture I’d ok’d, and discovered “old, unsafe wiring that is a fire hazard”, I ended up footing the bill for the electrician to come out and update the wiring (that we hadn’t no issues with until she discovered it was unsafe). Something that was supposed to be on her dime ended up being on mine. Lesson learned. I halted all things I’d told her she could do on her dime, and told her no more imporovments could be made. My bad for allowing it in the first place, and I took that as one of those “school of hard knocks” things i learned.
The hard part for me is when she starts telling me “this is a safety hazard, a health hazard, etc”. I hear “lawsuit coming”, so I feel intimidated into doing things that I later realize weren’t necessary. Part of this is on me, but part of it is her aggressive lawyerness.
I am out of state, and I have a friend locally who I pay to help me on occasion (mainlynfor turnovers), but finding a good PM was very difficult when I researched. It’s a small town, and I could not find one PM I hadn’t heard bad reviews about, so I decided to do it myself, with my friend’s assistance.
There are two likely scenarios as to why the basement flooded.
@Sarah Pursell can you tell her you’ll no longer be accessible by phone, and advise her to communicate only via email going forward? This will put up a layer of accessibility to you. You can keep your number and block hers, so her calls/texts will never reach you.
You can also get a free Google Voice number for instances where a phone number may be required. With Google Voice, people have to go through a system and you can either accept or reject a call, or it goes to your email as a message. Texts also go straight to your email.
@Sarah Young Not worth it. If she is hinting at lawsuits over perceived issues then run. Lawsuits can be very expensive even if you prevail and win monetarily. The time and the stress are not worth it imo. That sounds like a thorn. Its important to train the tenant from day one and make it explicit in the lease the forms of acceptable communication. You have a choice in the matter. My choice would be to not renew the lease and find someone else. If there aren't any solid property management companies there then that you like then find a real estate agent that you like to help you release it and then manage it from afar.
Her style of communication is a negotiating technique. She is using aggressiveness to push you into situations where the only options you see are the ones she is giving you. These are learned from her law and her FBI training. I literally have no lawyers as part of my criteria -- I am a negotiator, but not trained up to the level I need to be to deal with someone that has chosen a career field where conflict and/or nit-picking contracts is a daily occurrence! Okay, I have chosen exactly that as my career, but those are my coworkers, not my clients!
Once you see everything she's doing as negotiation tactics, she will seem much less rude, and much more demanding!
Others here are giving you other options like raising the rent rather than just the binary of stay or go. You do have the option to change terms if you do choose to renew. I prefer to have some negotiation done by voice, but that's me, and for things that I choose to negotiate. I have all tenant contact initiate over text, and respond during business hours.
If you prefer a different relationship with your tenant, then move on and non-renew. It just a cost-benefit analysis on your part. Figure the costs (including emotional and stress) of keeping her vs replacing her and go with the option that will benefit you more in the long run.
I don't know. I read the responses and generally agreed when people were saying to get a thicker skin and as long as payment is on time (and is a bit higher than average) to just deal with it and try to train better in the future and maintain their expectations... But. If my tenant told me "I don't want excuses, I want results!" the result would be a non-renewal. That's just rude and a level of disrespect I wouldn't endure. She needs to stay in her lane. Only emergency/necessary fixes from now on. Period.
She's a lawyer - when she demands that something get fixed yesterday, let her know that by LAW you actually have 30 days to schedule repairs (or whatever your state Landlord/Tenant laws allow for, my state is 30 days for non essential repairs). I'd get REALLY familiar with the Landlord/Tenant laws in the state where the rental is, but also wouldn't assume that she is... she just sounds like a needy tenant that is getting away with it. Know your laws, follow them, ignore everything else.
This helps reminds me why I have a property manager.
With that said.... train your tenant.... if you allow it she will continue it. Change the precedence like @James Wise said. You tell her when they will be there for repairs etc. I'm quite sure the law has a time frame for repairs not specific time that's convenient for the tenant. If she wants that convenience she can buy a house.
I would establish a process for requesting repairs. I would raise the rent, and i would also consider hiring a PM to deal with her. My willingness to part ways with her though would depend upon the quality and quantify of potential tenants. If it could be easily rented to a quality tenant, then i think i'd raise the rent, and if she decides to leave, fine, you just move on to the next and be done with her. If the quality tenant pool is low, then i would be willing to put up with a lot more since she does pay on time.
I wouldn't if you have any other options. I have had good and bad tennants. The bad tennants all have one thing in common. They are also bad people.
This helps reminds me why I have a property manager.
With that said.... train your tenant.... if you allow it she will continue it. Change the precedence like @James Wise said. You tell her when they will be there for repairs etc. I'm quite sure the law has a time frame for repairs not specific time that's convenient for the tenant. If she wants that convenience she can buy a house.
Correct on all fronts. It's really very helpful to create that barrier to a personal relationship with the tenant. Property Manager's are great. Myself I own a large property management company. Back when we were just getting started I personal contact with the tenants. Now that there are layers to it things are much much better. If the someone doesn't want to foot the bill for a Property Manager that is fine but you can still create barriers to that personal relationship. A very easy way to do that is to only reply on your terms with the facts and the facts only. Ignore everything that is not a necessity to the conversation. Do not engage in explanations about your feelings etc. Lay out the rules & lay out the facts. Nothing more.
...Money talks.
I found this thread to be quite an interesting read. All landlords are in the business of offering a property in which to live in return for paying rent. The landlord is responsible for providing the property in good condition. If during the course of a tenancy, something needs to be repaired and is reported by the tenant, it should be repaired with expediency. So far so good. You, as a landlord have done your job. Your tenant has been what I would consider minimally disruptive by demanding that repairs be done at her convenience. She pays her rent on time and I have seen no suggestion that she is causing the destruction of property or not caring properly for the property.
Clearly from the description, she deals with the world from a point of anger. While it is not your job to do counselling or make her a nicer person, you can set up a situation where she will find that she wants to be less disruptive. I really like Shaune Clark's solution of providing structure to the process of reporting the need for a repair. I would add to that that you give her a month to month agreement for 6 months and spell out what you expect from her specifically. In other words, the problem seems to be centered around responses from you regarding the need for a repair and nothing else. Tell her that and set up the parameters for how you will do this. Explain that she is on a trial period and if she abides by that agreement you will then sign the next year's lease agreement. If she continues to be disruptive, at the end of the 6 month trial you will have the option to continue month to month, terminate or sign a full year lease. As far as the rent raise, I would definitely keep up with the market and if you feel that you will be spending more time with her, you can add for your time as well. Tenants have the right to be able to contact you or a manager if there are repairs required. I recommend that you use a message system or email. I have software that has a method of reporting maintenance and repair requests that auto files that message and saves it. I like that method.
Finally, I want to mention that landlords are dealing with the public when they offer homes or office space or warehouse space etc for rent. I have met people from all walks of life in my experience as a landlord. It is purely business. I have had many tenants like the one described here. I stand my ground and do my job. Amazingly, some of those people have developed a respect for our relationship that has gone on for years. I want tenants who pay rent on time and want to keep the place in good condition. Let the aloofness you perceive as lack of respect roll off your back. Ignore it. You will be profitable and successful if you can do this.
I’m still trying to understand why a former attorney for the FBI would rent a home instead of own one.
Make sure you are charging an appropriate rent raise it if it's too low, but if she pays on-time and treats the place well, why would you want her to leave? Some people are just jerks, MANY times, even those you do business with. You're running a business and have a good customer right now. Don't take the chance and fire your customer only to get a customer who doesn't pay you. Treat her like a good, paying customer.
Some people (like myself) have a Type A personality and drive the Type B personality people crazy. I struggle to keep my impatience in check, but it's not easy.
Lol. Her husband works in oil, a volatile industry, and he sometimes gets transferred to different locations around the country. I believe they don’t want to buy a house because they don’t want to be tied down in case of a transfer/job loss. (She is now a SAHM).
@Account Closed She is the most type A person I’ve ever met! I’m pretty type A myself, but she is way beyond me! Lol
Short answer... Hell no!
If she wants to rude she needs to own her own stuff... You can't live in MY house and be rude to me...
A lot of good responses.
I would sign if she has paid on time.
Would have my increase on each renewal.
Turn over and vacancy can be worse
Jon
Berks County PA Investor
I’m still trying to understand why a former attorney for the FBI would rent a home instead of own one.
I own over 3 million$$ in Real Estate have over 300K in the bank and I rent.
@Sarah Young you need a PM local to your rentals. You have given this tenants a lot of control over the situation, which in general wont work out well.
Also trying to man age from afar is really challenging. good luck