How do I handle this tenant dispute?

How do I handle this tenant dispute?

Cushing, ME · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 2 votes

I have two tenants living side by side in a triplex  who are at each others throats and they are relying on me to settle the dispute.  I just acquired this property two months ago and it's my first time being a landlord.  I'm not entirely sure how to best handle this.

 Allegedly the children of one unit are bullying the children in another unit and their parents are self disciplining the other units children.  As you can imagine this has led to some pretty upset parents, and it's hard for me to determine who is actually more in the wrong and what to do about it.  It's sort of a he said she said where both tenants are from what I have been told, going out of their way to annoy the other tenant.  From parking in an annoying manner to use up extra spaces(I have no parking lines in the dirt parking lot) to banging on the walls of their neighbors to yelling at each other outside.  

I don't want to get in the habit of micromanaging tenants personal issues, but at the same time I want to provide a safe welcoming place for people to live.  Banging on walls, verbal abuse, and improper parking in an already small parking lot isn't something that I want to set a precedent of being ok to do. So, how would you handle this?  3 strikes you're out? Ask for video evidence of alleged banging on walls? How do you cut through the he said she said to find out who is actually at fault?

Things to keep in mind. This is winter in Maine, painting parking lines in a snowy parking lot is out.  Doing an eviction this time of year may be necessary but only as a last resort.  The PO had leases that rollover in the summer, I acknowledged that I would honor those leases but have not had anyone sign new leases, so basically everyone is month to month at the moment. 

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
7y

Send them each a notice:

Pretty simple.

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  • Portland , ME · Member since 2016 · 35 posts · 29 votes
    7y

    I agree with @Ed Emmons. Maine is a a very tenant friendly state, and it is almost impossible to evict on the kind of basis that you describe (such is considered a "no cause eviction" and can be challenged, often with success). 

    Do you have language in your lease about not causing undue disturbance to neighbors? We include just such language in our leases for this purpose. We did have a tenant with issues in a 4-unit (loud, disruptive, parking issues, etc.). Police were summoned on multiple occasions, but ultimately we weren't able to evict on that basis... she also happened to be  behind on her rent and that was just cause for eviction. Not the poor behavior. So like I said earlier, Maine is exceptionally tenant friendly. Not sure you'll be able to evict based on poor behavior.

    I would work to get them all on new leases. You can raise rent and they can either 1. voluntarily opt to move on, or 2. pay more and give you lease terms that better protect your interests moving forward. Option 2 would be to offer to buy them out of the property. Even if only 1 of the problematic tenants accepts your offer, you'll ultimately be better off. It's a bummer that this is what's necessary to resolve these kinds of situations, but sometimes it's far less costly in the long run. 

    Good luck. Sometimes people just can't act like adults and it's so disappointing. 

  • Portland , ME · Member since 2016 · 35 posts · 29 votes
    7y

    And re: parking. We went to labeling the parking spots individually and adding a "violators will be towed..." sign to the parking area. It only took one call to the tow truck to get the whole group in line. 

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