Landlords: What was the most difficult problem you experienced?

Question

Share a difficult situation you experienced and how you handled it as a landlord.

Jim K. · Answer

@Wy Kay

One of my tenants once came over while I was working on the house I was renting to him and casually implied "brah-to-brah" that I must have bought my wife from an online Russian bride agency. Now granted, my wife is very pretty (and very Russian), but that he should immediately jump to this conclusion and not have the God-given sense to keep it to himself bothered me.

Over the course of my life, I've done some ugly things I mostly regret and you can see them in my face from time to time. This was one of those times, apparently. He suddenly shut up, then apologized quickly and walked away. I was grateful for that outcome later when I spent some time thinking about what I would have liked to have done in that moment and the obvious consequences.

Dennis M. · Answer

I had a series of unfortunate events happen to me all at once . It was very difficult on me and my family . In the coarse of just one —month- I had the following things happen :

Tenant died in the unit the day before the rent was due .

The main furnace gave up the ghost and had to be replaced

A tenant turnover/rehab  that was trashed and cost over 1500 to be rentable

My w2 work slowed drastically which reduced our hours

My insurance company canceled me siting a leaning foundation on my apartment

This was during Holidays that required gifts $  for everyone

I had a deferred down payment that came due of several thousand dollars I had to pay

It all worked out but thank God I got through that period . you must press on even if you see no light at the end of the tunnel

Kenny Dahill · Answer

My college rental had tenants that moved out of the house half cleaned, basically took the stuff they wanted to keep.  Turned off the power in Arizona summer and left all the food in the freezer.  I was traveling for a week and unknown to be was the 10lbs of ground beef left on the top freezer shelf.  It thawed over the week and dripped all over the kitchen floor.

I initially tried to be the nice guy and clean everything myself to help them keep more of their security deposit and not have to buy a new refrigerator.  After their complaining about me charging for my time trying to salvage the frig and saying they'll take it to court (he was a law student), I simply bought a brand new refrigerator and cleaning crew.  Complaint handled.  Zero dollars returned.

Lesson learned: their choice to give up security deposit, not my problem. Especially when they're rude.

Bill S. · Answer

Evicting an 80 year old woman and her deadbeat (non-working daughter) because I bought the property with her paying about $800 per month less than market and she could not afford market rent. Her teacher pension was not enough. Her family would not help her move and she could obviously not find a place that she could afford that was large enough to hold all of her stuff. She eventually rented a storage unit (at my suggestion) and filled it with her treasures. She was nearly done when the sheriff showed up and the movers started helping her. This was approximately 3 months after she was first told she needed to move. I have never heard an 80 year old swear in such a foul manner.

Landlords: What was the most difficult problem you experienced?

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