Investor · North Tonawanda , NY · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 5 votes
So I purchased a new duplex which is very exciting and now I’m a landlord. I took over a letter introducing myself to my renters and one of the tenants is perfectly fine but the other one says she can’t afford that much and is not going to pay. She has a large 2/1 and pays $500.00 a month when the average for a one bedroom is $700 +. Because she has been there for 5 years I have to give her 3 months to move but does that mean at her price or mine? What can I do as I already have new tenants waiting and are going to pay $1000.00.
Don't slow down, you don't need her rental income and you certainly don't need her attitude. She acts like it's her place not yours. There are always other tenants and as you say, you have one lined up for twice what she pays.
Start eviction proceedings ASAP and let her figure out how to get herself out of this mess she got herself into. It's a business, you need to run it like one - unless I misunderstood and you were planning to start a charity?
Pay her to move out early. It is worth $1,000 additional rent to you for her to leave within 1 month. Give her an incentive to leave early and quietly.
@Norma Rosa I agree with Greg. Your best option is likely to negotiate with her and try to pay her to leave early. She may refuse and if that's the case I would do my best to maintain that relationship and maybe assist her with finding a new place. The worse case scenario is she stops paying entirely and turns into an eviction case which will cost you more than just waiting the 3 months out with her paying 500 for 3 months. Good luck!
I want to thank everyone for your replies, so I offered to pay the movers and security if she was out by July 1st and she replied with she will definitely not be out until maybe August because she’s been sick all week. So how she can tell the future and say she won’t find anything next week is very telling of her intentions. I also searched for properties and sent them to her even cheaper ones that were just a room but she’s not willing to let go of any of her stuff.
@Norma Rosa You offered moving fees plus $500 for a security deposit??
She's not going to take that serious. "Maybe August". This is not a good response. I would have started at $1500 (total) and told her 30 DAYS like @Greg Scott mentioned.
She said she didn’t have money for a security deposit and to pay for movers, so I offered to pay, so it’s no longer an issue and I seriously don’t know how much movers cost but now she’s not going to get anything because she’s not going to leave and I think she’s going to make me evict her. The security would be whatever her new rent is so not necessarily $500.00 it could be more.
i think you need to slow down don't bite the hand that feeds you and pays your bills. The first thing a reliable always paying tenant heard was i am raising the rent i would have waited a few months to be honest. slow down you need her rental income
Don't slow down, you don't need her rental income and you certainly don't need her attitude. She acts like it's her place not yours. There are always other tenants and as you say, you have one lined up for twice what she pays.
Start eviction proceedings ASAP and let her figure out how to get herself out of this mess she got herself into. It's a business, you need to run it like one - unless I misunderstood and you were planning to start a charity?
i think you need to slow down don't bite the hand that feeds you and pays your bills. The first thing a reliable always paying tenant heard was i am raising the rent i would have waited a few months to be honest. slow down you need her rental income
I have people waiting to move in and pay me a lot more so I don’t have the luxury to slow down and my apartments are already lower than the rest.
Don't slow down, you don't need her rental income and you certainly don't need her attitude. She acts like it's her place not yours. There are always other tenants and as you say, you have one lined up for twice what she pays.
Start eviction proceedings ASAP and let her figure out how to get herself out of this mess she got herself into. It's a business, you need to run it like one - unless I misunderstood and you were planning to start a charity?
Thank you, I have already contacted my attorney for next steps because yes, her attitude is as if she owned it but I’m responsible for the taxes and insurance.
@Norma Rosa I would also just have a clear conversation with her to say that once you file for eviction it will be hard for her to get a placement somewhere. If she is very sick with a chronic illness a social worker may already be involved.
@Norma Rosa I would also just have a clear conversation with her to say that once you file for eviction it will be hard for her to get a placement somewhere. If she is very sick with a chronic illness a social worker may already be involved.
Colleen, that’s another story that I prefer not to air out here, but she doesn’t qualify for public assistance. I just met her and have no intention on making her problems mine or supporting her. We had that conversation.
@Norma Rosa I don't suggest you make her problems yours just pointing out that regardless of income often the chronically ill have a social worker involved especially if they are elderly. I would just point her in that direction which it sounds like you have. I do sometimes refer people to programs I know about. complain about heat cost I tell them about subsidies, complain about your health, the senior center has xyz but I do know more then most about these programs. Good luck
Look at their lease, when does it end? You're going to have to wait till the end of the lease to increase rents. You may have jumped the gun a little bit by lining up those new tenants
The answer to your original question of what rent are you charging her for the next few months is in your State guidance for timeframes. For example if you can raise rent with 30 day notice, then you are charging current rent for now, and could provide notice that effective Aug 1 the rent will increase. If you already gave that notice May 1 for June 1, then you can still enforce that she pay the higher rent from now until she leaves. The simple answer to your question is what did you tell her and when? Based upon that you can enforce the new rent and then if she doesn't pay could evict if you choose to pursue that route.
@Norma Rosa I don't suggest you make her problems yours just pointing out that regardless of income often the chronically ill have a social worker involved especially if they are elderly. I would just point her in that direction which it sounds like you have. I do sometimes refer people to programs I know about. complain about heat cost I tell them about subsidies, complain about your health, the senior center has xyz but I do know more then most about these programs. Good luck
This is a pretty salty post for a situation where a five year resident is getting a 100% rent increase and a request to move immediately. If the lease has expired, provide the proper notice for the rental increase or termination...and she can choose. Three months is a reasonable time period for her to make other arrangements should she choose to do so...and reasonable for you to wait to get a new resident in. If market rent is $1000, you should have no issue filling the vacancy in three months. You have a better chance of her moving out amicably in three months by accommodating her pace of making a big decision than pushing her to your preferred schedule. Plus, this was inevitable as a possible outcome with a 100% rent increase. And, if she does not leave, then you evict...another possible outcome with a 100% rent increase but possibly avoidable with a respectful transition.
So I purchased a new duplex which is very exciting and now I’m a landlord. I took over a letter introducing myself to my renters and one of the tenants is perfectly fine but the other one says she can’t afford that much and is not going to pay. She has a large 2/1 and pays $500.00 a month when the average for a one bedroom is $700 +. Because she has been there for 5 years I have to give her 3 months to move but does that mean at her price or mine? What can I do as I already have new tenants waiting and are going to pay $1000.00.
In your area are there any:
Eviction moratoriums?
Rent controls?
Other legal restrictions affecting the ability to remove a tenant?
If the answer is no to al, you should only be obligated to collect 500/mo until the end of the lease. Find out how many days notice you must give a tenant of an increase or to vacate. Don't take the tenant's word for it.
The fact she can't afford the new rent means she can't afford to live in that apartment anymore and once the lease expires, needs to find a place she CAN afford. She doesn't get to decide what the rent is, you do.
Hire a property manager to handle this for you. You're new to the game and if you get this wrong your tenant will have leverage against you and use it.
Your situation is why the average tenant is terrified when they hear that their home is going up for sale. They assume there will be a rent increase and can only hope that the new Lord of the Land will be Just and Fair.
Landlording has a steep learning curve. Most say "its a business", some say "have a heart". In my experience, the answer falls somewhere in between. Its a delicate dance. Having some level of compassion will help your business to preform better. The better your business preforms, the easier it is to navigate situations such as yours.
If you are desperate for that rental increase from day-one, then you send that pressure down to the tenants; everyone is agitated. If you are stable enough to ride out a few months at current rent, that makes for a much easier transition. Taking the hit for 3 months to give her room to plan could save you 10X that much... if the agitated tenant decides to stop paying all together. Now you've got a squatter that will need to be forcefully removed. And I can almost guarantee the condition of the unit will suffer.
A few years from now you will probably have forgotten about the handful of dollars you left on the table. Most important is that you got started! Congrats on your first rental property. Best of luck moving forward!
Thank you. I have been showing her compassion and I’m riding it out for the 3 months and even helping her search, there’s literally nothing in that price range and I’m keeping my rates lower than the market because I already had to double their rents. One of the tenants decided to stay and pay so at least I’m getting something there and hopefully she will find a place that fits her needs.
@Norma Rosa This is a hard situation and I commend you for putting yourself out there and asking questions. It is clear you want to make sure you do right by your tenants but also grow your business. No matter what you do, people will be unhappy. This is the hard work that most people don't realize when becoming a landlord. Tough decisions have to be made and you do your best to both be compassionate and support your tenants while also trying to not get taken advantage of and keep your business afloat. I would say at this point, definitely enlist professionals since this is your first one. Whether it's an eviction lawyer, a property manager or both. Watch how they handle it and take notes. It's critical you learn from this, especially if you find another deal in the future where part of making the numbers work involves increasing rents. And you may decide in the future that you only want to do deals that are delivered tenant free. Either way, use this as a learning experience, document what you learn along the way and apply it to future acquisitions. You probably will end up having to pay more out of pocket in the short term, but this is the cost of an RE Investing education.
Sending you good vibes from someone who has been in your shoes. Good luck and I'm rooting for you!
So I purchased a new duplex which is very exciting and now I’m a landlord. I took over a letter introducing myself to my renters and one of the tenants is perfectly fine but the other one says she can’t afford that much and is not going to pay. She has a large 2/1 and pays $500.00 a month when the average for a one bedroom is $700 +. Because she has been there for 5 years I have to give her 3 months to move but does that mean at her price or mine? What can I do as I already have new tenants waiting and are going to pay $1000.00.
Offer her the moving fees, and offer to pay the first month of rent on the apartment she chooses. Somehow she can't afford $1000, but she can afford a car and a laptop. Don't compromise your rents of course, or else the other tenant will hear about it, and decide to not pay.
I don't know your property, if I knew, I could easily adjust how much rent you'll get. You can't have your rents lower than the market, but your rental properties need to have quality. I'm looking around your area and law, I'm assuming she has a 2 year or longer lease for $500. You should've charged a seller's credit (if you didn't) for evicting the tenant when you purchased the property.
Solution:
Offer her moving fees, $500 and a security deposit in the first month, or eviction and no money next month, put the eviction notice as soon as possible.
This is a lesson to never have 2-year leases, maybe 1-year leases, but never longer.
Just put the eviction, who cares if she's moving in August, the eviction is on September, so if she was right, then it wouldn't matter.
You can get $1500 if you get section 8 housing. I would recommend a section 8 housing application to the government, and start screening tenants. If you ever watched BP, you would know that section 8 tenants are profitable. The government has requirements that you need to follow, but you'll follow them anyways since you don't want to be a slum lord. Tenants pay like $100 while you get to collect $1500 from the government, even if the tenant doesn't pay rent, the government still pays rent for them. Recommend her to get section 8 housing.
If anything you're losing money not getting section 8, it's not risky if you find great tenants. It's like rich people, rich people aren't evil, there's always a variety of good or bad people, whether they are rich or homeless, same with section 8.