How to communicate effectively with upset tenants

Question

I have been doing this 18 years, and never seen a group so full of rage. After a couple major breaches in their lease, and my wanting to reassess the now month to month agreement, my 18-26 year old tenants keep threatening to bring me to court over things. Things I didn’t even do that they assumed I would, how do you get a sue happy tenant to see thru the red?

Wesley W. · Answer

The minute the tenants threatens to sue or take you to court, your professional relationship has been irreparably damaged.  I would give them a notice of termination ASAP.  I would do this before any legal action they take, else you can be accused of retaliation.

If pressed, I would tell them that you strive for win/win L/T relationships, and you only want people living there that are happy with their housing conditions, and with them this is clearly not the case.

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Aimee Brandner, I agree with @Wesley W. that once things deteriorate to that point they likely won't improve. I would give them their notice since they are month to month and move on.

I'm not sure how you addressed the issues leading up to this. I really don't let myself get upset about what happens with tenants no matter how bad it gets. By staying calm it helps to keep communication from breaking down. However, in some cases tenants will not see reason and will not accept responsibility for their actions. So, nothing works 100% of the time.

Michael Peters · Answer

Glad to hear you were able to get them out, but it sounds like you may have caved to their relentless pressure.  I would personally never sign an agreement the tenant brought forward.  It sounds like with that many extra people living at the property they had already broken the lease and their month to month status you could have had them out in a month regardless.  With this new agreement and forfeiting the deposit it doesn't sound like you were left with many, if any, protections or guarantees on how the property is returned.  In the future a cash for keys agreement would most likely be more beneficial since it can be structured on the tenant returning the in good condition.

Regardless happy to hear you got a bad tenant out.  Best of luck in turn and getting in someone fantastic the next go around.

Aimee Brandner · Answer

I don't know what the moral of this story is but they are moving out as I write this. These guys wanted to reinterpret the NWMLS lease I had, them that's not how it works, they just lost their minds digging up laws and forgetting common sense. now, i had offered to rent rooms to everyone  of the 7 unauthorized guest that had moved in if they came to me to get a contract.  but these guys wouldn't give me any info on the people, once I found out they were there. it's a long story, but I was so sick of trying to argue obvious things to a brick wall that I offered to let them use their last months rent for February with no notice. they wrote up the contract that night along with something saying the verbal agreement we made was binding, and included a signed copy of the witnesses statement. I am a woman if my word, but this was offensive and  ridiculous because we hadn't  discussed details. so, at first I was thinking no way I sign this one paragraph agreement with so many holes, but my other option knew was to fight for another month or two (I had called local mediation and they had said it would be 3 weeks before they could meet with us.) this paragraph guaranteed they'd be out by the 20th, and would surrender their deposit...I signed it and they are moving right now. not sure if I did the right thing, but sometimes you gotta compromise some security, and take a chance like this, and I am so glad I did. lesson learned was always assume anyone can turn into a lunatic, so do your paperwork, and keep immaculant records.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

If I had a dollar for every time a Tenant threatened to sue, I would have some serious passive income!

You need to get rid of these tenants. They are poison and things are unlikely to ever get better.

If they're not to the point of eviction, simply give them a 30-day notice to vacate and see if they leave.

How to communicate effectively with upset tenants

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