Verbally Abusive Tenant in NJ

[Abigail K.]

Hi There,

I have a tenant who has been having issues with his air conditioning on and off since last summer. Each time, we send our super to check the controls and if we need to, we call the air conditioning tech to come as soon as he can. Each time this has happened, the tenant calls and harasses me by call and text incessantly, cursing me out, calling me a slumlord etc, threatening to withhold rent if it is not fixed within 24 hours. The latest instance has been this week (where the weather has not exceeded 75 degrees and mostly has been in the 60’s). I have stopped answering phone calls and resorted only to written communication (for my records) but have noticed a pattern of very emotional and aggressive behavior from this tenant (as well as extremely unreasonable expectations about what the timeline is to have something fixed). Do I have any grounds not to renew his lease or evict him on account of his constant harassment? Or can anyone offer how they would handle the situation. New Jersey laws make evictions near impossible it feels. 

I’m getting 50-60 text messages and 5-6 phone calls in a row if he does not receive an instant response from me. I calmly respond with only the relevant maintenance information and then he continues barraging me with personal info and threats. I do not want to ignore real maintenance requests from him (as it is my job to react to those) but if I could I would block his number completely. 

Thanks in advance.

[Jim K.]

Originally posted by @Abigail K.:

Originally posted by @Jim K.:

@Abigail K.

And how many times has this tenant had "on and off" issues with his air conditioning? What exactly are his issues, and why haven't they been fixed for good yet?

This kind of thing typically doesn't happen in a vacuum.

 The issue was initially diagnosed as an air conditioner that was low on Freon. When our tech added the Freon, the AC began to work properly but quickly broke again and we noticed a leak. It took two tries to fix the leak. As of the end of last summer I have a very pleased text from the tenant confirming everything was back to normal and in working order. Now he has turned the unit on for the first time after the winter and it is no longer working again. The unit is likely to need replacement but the issue is not being ignored, we simply cannot fix it in the blink of an eye. As I’m sure many of your experiences have been, it take some time to arrange for repairs and will take even more time if a replacement unit needs to be installed. I appreciate all of your input, I don’t believe AC is considered a right of habitability in new jersey and even if I’m being overly sympathetic I can’t see how lacking ac in 60 degree weather would constitute an emergency. I will set some guidelines of communication. Do I have any recourse if he disregards them? 

So here's what's going on from the tenant's POV: he's been paying a premium to rent a unit with central A/C all winter long (Did you also raise the rent last year in a way that could be construed to be related to the service calls?). Last year, he had to sit and stink through temperatures hot enough to make a donkey lie down and explode as techs dithered around the ancient A/C. He was patient as you kept dumping freon into the same obviously busted unit (and I'll bet it looks plenty old), hoping for a different outcome by doing the same thing over and over. And now he goes to turn the thing on and, surprise, not working AGAIN, and he's sure he's got to wait again, another summer of excuses and being put off while he's still paying a premium for A/C. For you, it seems he's flying off the handle. What you are instead doing is reaping what was sowed last summer.

At least in his mind, you should have been saving that rent all winter long to buy him a new A/C. You should at least have the resources to finance this repair ASAP, get it done and done right. Or else, why is he living in the apartment that you're renting him instead of the cheapest possible flophouse with no A/C?

You have no capex set aside to get this done NOW and repair this relationship with the tenant. So here's what you should do: apply for a zero-interest credit card and put the replacement A/C on it. Use the card as a short-term financing method. If you can't get a zero-interest credit card, get a low-interest balance transfer card, put the replacement on your regular card, and then transfer it to the new card.

How many times do you think he's googled "freon leak" or talked to his other tenant friends and reached the conclusion that you're just an awful, cheap landlord witholding what he's paying you for?

Is what he thinks perfectly fair? Of course not. But who was sweating through the heat last summer and who wasn't?