All Forum Posts by: Walter Chou

But all joking aside, always have an 'out' in your lease agreements. I.E. "It is understood and agreed that a single violation shall be good cause for termination of the residential lease. Unless otherwise provided by law, proof of violations shall not require criminal conviction, but shall be by the preponderance of the evidence." I am not a lawyer, but in my opinion, a strong odor of Marijuana is preponderance enough, even better if you have a witness smell it too.

Thanks for the tips! I'll need to put this into my contracts for the future.

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Originally posted by @Dennis M.:

He’s a loser but you let him be a loser because A -
You trained him it was ok to be late with his rent then B -you actually lent him money. He knows you are a pushover so naturally he will see where your line is ! All that aside Home Depot sells 10 year built in lithium powered smoke detectors for 24$ where the battery is not removable and put it up as high as possible screw it directly into the wall instead of a spin off plate so it can’t be easily taken down

Ya. I was a eager noobie.

That's a good idea though, might just get those detectors.

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Originally posted by @Nicole A.:

Double check, but typically rental laws are a bit different when it's a room in your own personal home that you're renting. You need to immediately give this guy Notice to Vacate. Do not get in arguments with him, especially since he's trying to deny the obvious.

Worst case, offer him in writing that if he moves out in 14 days (the specific date needs to be on the written offer, don't just say "14 days"), you will pay him $500 (or whatever you think will get him to leave). It needs to further state that keys are to be returned and all personal belongings removed in order to receive the payment. Also, it should state that upon acceptance of the agreement, the Tenant is stating that he is relinquishing all rights to the property. Two copies should be signed on the day he's moving out...after you've confirmed he removed his stuff and he's shown you the key(s).

Do not sign it until then.

Otherwise, follow your local laws to remove him asap.

As said, only month-to-month leases on in-home roommates. I used to rent rooms as well and would never recommend yearly leases for those situations nor would I ever recommend verbal leases in any situation.

Where can I find those types of laws for personal home?

When it gets down to kicking him out. Aren't there processes and hoops I have to jump through? It can't be as easy as "gimme the keys, get out" is it?

Yes it is a month to month lease

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Hey all,

How do you deal with tenants that obviously are breaking the contract but you can't prove it? i.e. I smell weed in my house with 2 roommates, I know who it is. The contract states no smoking on premise.

Full story:

I recently purchased my first home and decided to rent out 2 of the rooms to 2 different individuals. Everything started fine for the first month. Then the second month, one of the tenants asked for extensions on the rent. Ok fine, I'll let you off this time. He also borrowed cash from me which he returned after a few days to a week. Fast forward a few months, rents have been on time and all. However, I've had the feeling that he was smoking weed as well as cigarettes in his room. Then last night, he made the smoke alarms in the house go off. I knew it was him since as soon as it went off, he ran downstairs to my room to "confirm that there's no fire upstairs".

This morning I heard the low battery churp from the alarm upstairs so I came home after work with fresh batteries. I texted them that I'm swapping out batteries and he said don't go into my room I'll swap it myself. By that time, I had already peeked in to find my alarm hanging from the ceiling with the battery nowhere to be found. I later confronted him and he came prepared for all of my questions, telling me that I can't prove he smoked. Why did I go into his room. Telling me the BS reasons for running down and taking the battery out. Trying to my riled up by raising his volume and swearing. Another thing is my GF comes over sometimes and she has hyper sensitive lungs (start coughing due to smoke I can't smell after entering the house).

How do you deal with tenants like this?

1 Vote

All Forum Posts by: Walter Chou

Walter Chou has started 1 posts and replied 4 times.

Post: Dealing with a 'Slick' tenant smoking in the house

Post: Dealing with a 'Slick' tenant smoking in the house

Post: Dealing with a 'Slick' tenant smoking in the house

Post: Dealing with a 'Slick' tenant smoking in the house