Alcoholic Tenant Calling Police, Blessed Lawyer, and Devil on me

Alcoholic Tenant Calling Police, Blessed Lawyer, and Devil on me

Remington LymanBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes

Background: This was one of the first rental properties I purchased, so I made every mistake underneath the sun and I am still dealing with the consequences. I purchased this quad for $247,000. It is in Columbus, Ohio just north of The Ohio State University in a B location. I put about $30,000 into it and now I have it rented or about $3,700 but now it is all falling apart. 

Unit 1: 1bed 1bath - Tried to raise the rents from $350 but he could not afford it. I vacated it and paid a contractor way too much to remodel it. I have it rented out for $920 now.

Unit 2: Vacant. Got someone in there within 6 days for $800. We were not running background or credit checks and we had to find a new tenant after a few months. We should have stopped when she said she needed time to get the full deposit. We collected all of our rent, but she left some human feces behind that our cleaner had to deal with. We took it from her security deposit.

Unit 3: Raised rents from $350 to $750. I need to raise it to market rent which I think is $920 but I may just leave him for another year. I have too much stuff going on. 

Unit 4: The unit you have all been waiting for!


The Story:
My college roommate and I were just getting into the real estate investing game 1 year after graduating college. We had house hacked a duplex and a quad in less than 4 months (we took turns getting the loans). We then took the rest of our money and got an investment loan on this 4 unit.

The 4th unit needed substantial work to get rented to the market value of $1,200. We figured we would offer the current tenant a chance to pay $1,100 as-is. He agreed and paid us rent on time for the next 8 months. When it came time to release, he did for another year. Shortly after releasing, he starts drunkenly calling me about petty things like the tenants putting trash in his trash can. He caused the bottom unit to flood by unscrewing his toilet water valve. Luckily, I fixed it in time to prevent a lot of damage. And now I get the below messages. What would you do? I do not plan to release him when his lease ends in July. How should I break the news to him?

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Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
6y

All of my tenants talk this way , I’m wondering what the big deal is ? Did he stop paying rent or something ? I’m failing to see the issue here

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  • Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    6y

    All of my tenants talk this way , I’m wondering what the big deal is ? Did he stop paying rent or something ? I’m failing to see the issue here

  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y

    After  " as a tenant under Ohio, " I think you are missing a word.Laws maybe?   Send it out and consider filing your own police report for threatening you.  Not sure if the police read these reports but at least you would have something on record.  He does sound a  drunk or out of touch but not enough to really determine what is going on. It is so easy though for people to text these days, they do it before they think.

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Michael B.:

    While hes still there, get a police report on the books for each incident. Especially the thing about "die" and "kill you" . You don't have to wait for something really bad to happen to involve the police. For whatever reason there's clearly some unhealthy instability there. Its your job to protect your investment and provide a safe peaceful place for your tenants. It's the polices job to help you do so. don't be afraid to pick up the phone the next time you sense shenanigans. A person capable of those texts is equally capable of burning your building down.   

    Yeah the police have been called multiple times. They are not much help. I am just moving forward with the eviction. 

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Matt M.:

    @Remington Lyman

    I needed that chuckle! Holy cow, what a lunatic.

     I am glad someone can laugh about it!

  • Specialist · Easton, PA · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    @Remington Lyman

    Sorry pal, but that’s a good one! 

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Dennis M.:

    All of my tenants talk this way , I’m wondering what the big deal is ? Did he stop paying rent or something ? I’m failing to see the issue here

     Yeah, I would not be a landlord if all of my tenants talked this way to me. I buy in B neighborhoods so I do not have to deal with this ****.

  • Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    6y

    I didn’t read through the entire thread as to if he pays or not .. does the guy pay his rent ?.. If so he can call me any name he likes or threaten to sick the devil Or his cousin on me etc .. If the guy is not paying that’s an entirely different issue with me , now your messing with my money and that won’t fly. Maybe it’s time for a PM to step in going forward one with thicker skin 

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Dennis M.:

    I didn’t read through the entire thread as to if he pays or not .. does the guy pay his rent ?.. If so he can call me any name he likes or threaten to sick the devil Or his cousin on me etc .. If the guy is not paying that’s an entirely different issue with me , now your messing with my money and that won’t fly. Maybe it’s time for a PM to step in going forward one with thicker skin 

    I would rather someone not pay me rent than threaten my life. I love $ as much as the next person but it is not worth dying over.

  • Rental Property Investor · Brooke Park Drive · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    You started it, he was paying rent via check just fine and you being a woke millenial are harrassing him switch to some portal, just take the freaking check

    Ps why did unit 2 leave behind poopoo

  • Saint Joseph, MO · Member since 2018 · 401 posts · 244 votes
    6y

    @Remington Lyman my wife deals with my tenants, they could pay me triple rent and if they talked to her like they did you you, it would be on like donkey Kong.

  • Rental Property Investor · Lawrence, MA · Member since 2020 · 252 posts · 153 votes
    6y

    I have a multifamily which o live in one of the units.  And I have to say that the neighborhood isn't that great,  but after I inherited bad tenants,  I learned that I had to do the screening ,credit check and the whole 9 yards. It took me almost a year to find the right tenants,  and with patience,  I found them! I have great tenants and the rent gets paid on time.  No complaints! 

  • San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    Unfortunately, your letter gives him another chance, instead of giving notice to move because of a material breach.  

    Have you tried talking to him in person?  I avoided court for many years - never went to court once in managing 25 units for over 8 years in my last place I worked at.  

    Just saying, there's always - in my experience - a way to negotiate a tenant out, without having them trash your place.

    I'd start thinking more in terms of negotiating him out.  Sometimes someone drinks too much in the evenings, but they don't hurt anyone.  I do agree that you have the right to kick him out because of the texts, but even still, I don't read them as a real imminent threat.  I just suggest you calmly and respectfully go see him and tell him that he knows you're going to have to kick him out and ask him how do we do this in a way that leaves my place un-trashed and he gets his deposit back?  

    If you take a militant stance, it can end with major damage to your unit.  Not saying that sometimes that's appropriate.  But, like I say, I was always able to negotiate an amicable move-out.  I never even had to give cash for keys, but that's always an option, and worth it if you know the place is undamaged before you give them cash.  Way cheaper than dealing with an angry tenant putting cement in every pipe, who then just filed bankruptcy on you.

  • Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    6y

    @Remington Lyman

    This is obviously the first time this has happened to you. As I believe @Dennis M. is trying to point out with some humor, this is a reality we deal with down in D'class all the time.

    Odds are, the bender will quietly peter out, reason will return, he'll continue to pay rent and never do this again in abject, total gratitude for forgiving him this sin.

    Does he know you have guns in your own home and aren't afraid to use them? If so, you'll be fine. He's 40-50, as you said. That's a much safer age for this than early-20s. When they're in their twenties there's a much better chance they drive up to your house and put a brick through your window even if they know about your guns.

    You don't want this, you never signed up for this, you need to get this guy out. I get it. So in your case, you should proceed with the eviction. Odds are, he'll actually go voluntarily and quietly, hoping that you won't file a report on him and press charges.

    Take all the emotions out of your dealings with him. Put them in a can and put a lid on it. In six months, you can look inside that can and decide if those emotions still matter. Invariably, they never do. You're a B-class landlord by choice. This is not your world. Don't make it yours.

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:

    You started it, he was paying rent via check just fine and you being a woke millenial are harrassing him switch to some portal, just take the freaking check

    Ps why did unit 2 leave behind poopoo

     Haha he can still pay with a check he just needs to deliver it to CVS

    Unit 2 - no clue

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Ryan Proffit:

    @Remington Lyman my wife deals with my tenants, they could pay me triple rent and if they talked to her like they did you you, it would be on like donkey Kong.

     Yup! I have started the process. If he slips up again he is gone

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:

    Unfortunately, your letter gives him another chance, instead of giving notice to move because of a material breach.  

    Have you tried talking to him in person?  I avoided court for many years - never went to court once in managing 25 units for over 8 years in my last place I worked at.  

    Just saying, there's always - in my experience - a way to negotiate a tenant out, without having them trash your place.

    I'd start thinking more in terms of negotiating him out.  Sometimes someone drinks too much in the evenings, but they don't hurt anyone.  I do agree that you have the right to kick him out because of the texts, but even still, I don't read them as a real imminent threat.  I just suggest you calmly and respectfully go see him and tell him that he knows you're going to have to kick him out and ask him how do we do this in a way that leaves my place un-trashed and he gets his deposit back?  

    If you take a militant stance, it can end with major damage to your unit.  Not saying that sometimes that's appropriate.  But, like I say, I was always able to negotiate an amicable move-out.  I never even had to give cash for keys, but that's always an option, and worth it if you know the place is undamaged before you give them cash.  Way cheaper than dealing with an angry tenant putting cement in every pipe, who then just filed bankruptcy on you.

     He has threatened the other tenant's life. I am following my lawyer's legal advice to cover my behind. 

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Jim K.:

    @Remington Lyman

    This is obviously the first time this has happened to you. As I believe @Dennis M. is trying to point out with some humor, this is a reality we deal with down in D'class all the time.

    Odds are, the bender will quietly peter out, reason will return, he'll continue to pay rent and never do this again in abject, total gratitude for forgiving him this sin.

    Does he know you have guns in your own home and aren't afraid to use them? If so, you'll be fine. He's 40-50, as you said. That's a much safer age for this than early-20s. When they're in their twenties there's a much better chance they drive up to your house and put a brick through your window even if they know about your guns.

    You don't want this, you never signed up for this, you need to get this guy out. I get it. So in your case, you should proceed with the eviction. Odds are, he'll actually go voluntarily and quietly, hoping that you won't file a report on him and press charges.

    Take all the emotions out of your dealings with him. Put them in a can and put a lid on it. In six months, you can look inside that can and decide if those emotions still matter. Invariably, they never do. You're a B-class landlord by choice. This is not your world. Don't make it yours.

     Thank you for the advice!

  • Rental Property Investor · Richmond, VA · Member since 2016 · 279 posts · 133 votes
    6y

    @Remington Lyman

    Craziness aside and maybe I didn't follow your timeline exactly but why is there a difference in market rents between the units? Do they differ in bedroom numbers? Unit 4 you say is $1200 but the others are $920? And how did you renovate with a inherited tenant still occupying the unit?

    Playing the devil's advocate, reading and imagining your tenants experience: "I just had too put up with living through a remodel and now this Ahole landlord wants to charge me $200+ more dollars than the other units, yeah right...walks to abc store".

  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Will C.:

    @Remington Lyman

    Craziness aside and maybe I didn't follow your timeline exactly but why is there a difference in market rents between the units? Do they differ in bedroom numbers? Unit 4 you say is $1200 but the others are $920? And how did you renovate with a inherited tenant still occupying the unit?

    Playing the devil's advocate, reading and imagining your tenants experience: "I just had too put up with living through a remodel and now this Ahole landlord wants to charge me $200+ more dollars than the other units, yeah right...walks to abc store".

     Yeah, I did not finish my post. He lives in a 2 bedroom. The rest are 1 bedroom. It is a desirable location as well. Right next to the bars and main street in Columbus, Ohio

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