Problem Tenant? Or New Problem Tenant?

[dwb]

Ok so I have a situation I`d love to run by the brilliant minds here... As a Landlord, What would you do?
The property is a duplex where the one tenant "DAN" on one half of the building has been living for several years.

There`s both positive & negatives to this tenant named `Dan`:

Positives:

1) Dan pays cash on time every month by walking it to me in person. He`s been short a couple of times by $5-$10 bucks but he has always brought it up to date
2) Dan pays a little over market rent each month
3) Dan is a long time tenant. Certainly is not going anywhere. Dan will be paying down my mortgage for many years
4) Dan helps out around the house once in a while by removing garbage, cutting grass etc...
5) Dan fixes his apartment when anything goes wrong
6) Dan is a friendly, harmless person... more on that in a minute
7) Dan never asks for an upgrade to the apartment... even though it is well overdue for a facelift

Negatives:

1) Dan has an obvious drinking problem which has resulted in numerous failures in regards to employment
2) Lately Dan is always in the home... Constant utility usage on my bill.
3) Dan has significantly run down the unit in his time at the property. It is quite disgusting. Like real disgusting. As in, when he vacates it now needs to be gutted & re-built.... Though that could be an opportunity as there is room to create 2 additional bedrooms & thus charge more rent... hmmm....
4) Last month Dan was short $25 bucks and still has not paid up & next month doesn`t look promising because apparently he is asking everyone in the neighbourhood for money?
5) Dan apparently irritates the neighbours as he often invites himself over to their family functions and joins in on their parties without invite making it uncomfortable for everyone.
6) Somewhat erratic behaviour. Although friendly, he`s considerably "too friendly". I say so because Dan bothers the other new tenants in the other half by consistently smoking & drinking in the backyard when their kids are around, knocking on their door drunk & asking them for money and if they know anyone who can get him a job etc...
7) Dan stresses me out a lot. I know that if he doesn`t come up with rent, I have to evict. Upon eviction, I have to spend a ton of cash to renovate to attract new quality tenant. Did I mention Dan is paying over market rent?

Here`s where it becomes interesting:

I just landed a very nice couple for the other half of the duplex. Both with poor credit history, but decent references from past landlords. Honest people as they told me about their past cedit "challenges" before I pulled the credit report - they`re certainly not the perfect tenants but they`re good. They pay exactly THREE times the amount in rent that Dan the other tenant pays. They`ve only lived in the duplex for one month & thus only have one month worth of timely payment history to me, so they are new in that sense too.

Anyways, the new tenants are freaked out by Dan. Apparently the first day that Dan met the new tenants, he asked them for money. And a job from them. Strange. And he was drunk and sits out in the backyard all day everyday. The backyard was a major selling feature for the new tenants as they have children from a past divorce that come to stay with them every other weekend & the kids like to play in the yard. The new tenants don`t want the guy hanging around drinking & smoking in the backyard with their kids which makes perfect sense. They also have talked to the neighbours, and,well, I`ve just learned that the neighbours think very little of Dan as he has also been asking them for money recently etc...etc..

Dan was drunk and told them lies such as there was once a past death in the house in the unit that the new tenants are living etc..etc.. Suffice it to say, Dan has rubbed the new tenants the wrong way and the new tenants are completely freaked out by him. Also, the new tenants recently had a house warming party with their relatives and Dan decided to sit down and make himself at home with them, completely uninvited & drunk which made things really unfortable.

A Change in Dan

In the few days before the new tenants moved in, I did notice a change for the worse in Dan when I was there fixing up the place for the new tenants. Dan has always been able to find employment and used to carry on a full-time job and he kept to himself for years. When the new tenants filled out the application months ago, they asked me about the other tenant and I explained that I`ve never received a negative word from the previous tenants (100% true), that he keeps to himself and lives alone by himself (100% true - at the time), and that he often helps with the yard etc.. (100% true).

Now the new tenants are saying I misled them and that if they would have known about Dan`s "true character" as they see it, then they would have never taken the place and are very unhappy now. I sense a local housing tribunal scenario coming up as the new tenants might not want to stay there anymore and may try & wiggle out of the lease all because of Dan.

Here`s what I`m Doing about this:

1) I told the new tenants that this seems out of character for Dan as I`ve always perceived him as a harmless, friendly person.
2) I`ve also said that I`ve never received any complaints from previous tenants to indicate that he bothered them, which of course is 100% true.
3) I offered to speak firmly to Dan about everything they`ve talked to me about. And I also said I would folllow up with a letter clearly outlining him to back off the new tenants and not interfere with their "reasonable enjoyment of the property" for them.
4) I also asked them to think of some "ground rules" which they would like such as "when the kids are staying with them then it is understood and accepted that Dan cannot use the backyard etc..etc..." and that I would talk to Dan about it & enforce it. They said they will think it over and will get back to me about it.

My role is to play Landlord and not get personally involved, yet ensure each tenant is not breaching the other`s reasonable enjoyment of the property.

What would YOU Do as Landlord?

1) Keep in mind that as a Landlord Dan has many years of timely payments to you.
2) Keep in mind that the new tenants are new and don`t have the best history in terms of credit behind them
3) Keep in mind that Dan is a paying tenant. He is very much allowed usage of the property just like the main floor tenants
4) Keep in mind that Dan likely will be short on rent again given that he is asking nearly everyone on the planet for money, thus the shortage of rent can be my opportunity for eviction of Dan.
5) Keep in mind I just spend thousands and thousands of dollars on renovating the new tenant`s unit and that funds are scarce right now to completely overhaul Dan`s unit for eviction. Thus, upon Dan`s eviction it will likely be vacant for a long time and cashflow will thus become negative.
6) Am I doing far too little? Is it time for Dan to go? Am I too involved in this & should let this work itself out?

I want the new tenants to be happy longterm tenants. I also want Dan to keep to himself & continue paying rent. Maybe a firm talkin` to from me to Dan would resolve this?

Thanks to everyone in advance. I`m hoping this will lend a little bit of experience for others as well as stimulate some good learning from the responses. Selfishly, I`m also hoping for some advice from those that may be familiar with this experience.

Thanks in advance!

 

[invst4profit]

My take: Dump Dan ASAP very soon he will stop paying rent and will linger on for months as he will have no where else to go. Take advantage of the fact that temporarily you have solid tenants in the other unit. It will be costly but you need to get Dan`s unit renovated and a good tenant in there before you lose the tenants in the other half.
Yes I believe your new tenants will not last. People do not change there spots and you need to get Dan`s unit occupied before you have to evict your new tenants. In my opinion

 

[JSB]

I`ll give my advice based more on life experience than on landlord experience.

It sounds like Dan is quickly degrading from a functioning alcoholic to a non-functioning alcoholic. From your post, it seems implied that his drinking may be a reason he is unable to keep a job. This solution WILL NOT resolve itself positively. As a general rule of thumb, alcoholics don`t get better by themselves. And they tend to hit rock bottom before they seek help.

It sounds likely that, regardless of past history, Dan will very soon be unable to pay his rent (as evidenced by the fact that he asks everybody for money). Given this risk, and the likelihood he will continue to drive of prospective tenants, I think you need to either get him into an AA program or get him out of your property. I know which one I`d pick.

 

[Savard]

QUOTE (dwb @ Jul 29 2008, 09:45 AM) Ok so I have a situation I`d love to run by the brilliant minds here... As a Landlord, What would you do?
The property is a duplex where the one tenant "DAN" on one half of the building has been living for several years.

There`s both positive & negatives to this tenant named `Dan`:

Positives:

1) Dan pays cash on time every month by walking it to me in person. He`s been short a couple of times by $5-$10 bucks but he has always brought it up to date
2) Dan pays a little over market rent each month
3) Dan is a long time tenant. Certainly is not going anywhere. Dan will be paying down my mortgage for many years
4) Dan helps out around the house once in a while by removing garbage, cutting grass etc...
5) Dan fixes his apartment when anything goes wrong
6) Dan is a friendly, harmless person... more on that in a minute
7) Dan never asks for an upgrade to the apartment... even though it is well overdue for a facelift

Negatives:

1) Dan has an obvious drinking problem which has resulted in numerous failures in regards to employment
2) Lately Dan is always in the home... Constant utility usage on my bill.
3) Dan has significantly run down the unit in his time at the property. It is quite disgusting. Like real disgusting. As in, when he vacates it now needs to be gutted & re-built.... Though that could be an opportunity as there is room to create 2 additional bedrooms & thus charge more rent... hmmm....
4) Last month Dan was short $25 bucks and still has not paid up & next month doesn`t look promising because apparently he is asking everyone in the neighbourhood for money?
5) Dan apparently irritates the neighbours as he often invites himself over to their family functions and joins in on their parties without invite making it uncomfortable for everyone.
6) Somewhat erratic behaviour. Although friendly, he`s considerably "too friendly". I say so because Dan bothers the other new tenants in the other half by consistently smoking & drinking in the backyard when their kids are around, knocking on their door drunk & asking them for money and if they know anyone who can get him a job etc...
7) Dan stresses me out a lot. I know that if he doesn`t come up with rent, I have to evict. Upon eviction, I have to spend a ton of cash to renovate to attract new quality tenant. Did I mention Dan is paying over market rent?

Here`s where it becomes interesting:

I just landed a very nice couple for the other half of the duplex. Both with poor credit history, but decent references from past landlords. Honest people as they told me about their past cedit "challenges" before I pulled the credit report - they`re certainly not the perfect tenants but they`re good. They pay exactly THREE times the amount in rent that Dan the other tenant pays. They`ve only lived in the duplex for one month & thus only have one month worth of timely payment history to me, so they are new in that sense too.

Anyways, the new tenants are freaked out by Dan. Apparently the first day that Dan met the new tenants, he asked them for money. And a job from them. Strange. And he was drunk and sits out in the backyard all day everyday. The backyard was a major selling feature for the new tenants as they have children from a past divorce that come to stay with them every other weekend & the kids like to play in the yard. The new tenants don`t want the guy hanging around drinking & smoking in the backyard with their kids which makes perfect sense. They also have talked to the neighbours, and,well, I`ve just learned that the neighbours think very little of Dan as he has also been asking them for money recently etc...etc..

Dan was drunk and told them lies such as there was once a past death in the house in the unit that the new tenants are living etc..etc.. Suffice it to say, Dan has rubbed the new tenants the wrong way and the new tenants are completely freaked out by him. Also, the new tenants recently had a house warming party with their relatives and Dan decided to sit down and make himself at home with them, completely uninvited & drunk which made things really unfortable.

A Change in Dan

In the few days before the new tenants moved in, I did notice a change for the worse in Dan when I was there fixing up the place for the new tenants. Dan has always been able to find employment and used to carry on a full-time job and he kept to himself for years. When the new tenants filled out the application months ago, they asked me about the other tenant and I explained that I`ve never received a negative word from the previous tenants (100% true), that he keeps to himself and lives alone by himself (100% true - at the time), and that he often helps with the yard etc.. (100% true).

Now the new tenants are saying I misled them and that if they would have known about Dan`s "true character" as they see it, then they would have never taken the place and are very unhappy now. I sense a local housing tribunal scenario coming up as the new tenants might not want to stay there anymore and may try & wiggle out of the lease all because of Dan.

Here`s what I`m Doing about this:

1) I told the new tenants that this seems out of character for Dan as I`ve always perceived him as a harmless, friendly person.
2) I`ve also said that I`ve never received any complaints from previous tenants to indicate that he bothered them, which of course is 100% true.
3) I offered to speak firmly to Dan about everything they`ve talked to me about. And I also said I would folllow up with a letter clearly outlining him to back off the new tenants and not interfere with their "reasonable enjoyment of the property" for them.
4) I also asked them to think of some "ground rules" which they would like such as "when the kids are staying with them then it is understood and accepted that Dan cannot use the backyard etc..etc..." and that I would talk to Dan about it & enforce it. They said they will think it over and will get back to me about it.

My role is to play Landlord and not get personally involved, yet ensure each tenant is not breaching the other`s reasonable enjoyment of the property.

What would YOU Do as Landlord?

1) Keep in mind that as a Landlord Dan has many years of timely payments to you.
2) Keep in mind that the new tenants are new and don`t have the best history in terms of credit behind them
3) Keep in mind that Dan is a paying tenant. He is very much allowed usage of the property just like the main floor tenants
4) Keep in mind that Dan likely will be short on rent again given that he is asking nearly everyone on the planet for money, thus the shortage of rent can be my opportunity for eviction of Dan.
5) Keep in mind I just spend thousands and thousands of dollars on renovating the new tenant`s unit and that funds are scarce right now to completely overhaul Dan`s unit for eviction. Thus, upon Dan`s eviction it will likely be vacant for a long time and cashflow will thus become negative.
6) Am I doing far too little? Is it time for Dan to go? Am I too involved in this & should let this work itself out?

I want the new tenants to be happy longterm tenants. I also want Dan to keep to himself & continue paying rent. Maybe a firm talkin` to from me to Dan would resolve this?

Thanks to everyone in advance. I`m hoping this will lend a little bit of experience for others as well as stimulate some good learning from the responses. Selfishly, I`m also hoping for some advice from those that may be familiar with this experience.

Thanks in advance!


The time you spent writing about Dan should have been used to get rid of your headache. I too have a soft spot for some of my tenants and am frequently not aware how much time and effort the bad ones take. Typically someone from my team will point out the harsh reality that I try to overlook by justifying the good qualities of a bad tenant.

 

[dwb]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful information!

I don`t know if it is that easy to 100% peg it on "Dan" as the sole problem & I don`t know if it is that black & white a situation. I agree his recent behaviour is very clearly unacceptable. Yesterday I called the Landlord & Tenant Board and what I will be doing is clearly outlining in an "N5" the unacceptable behaviour as he is clearly "interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of the property for the main floor tenants". That is a start and the proper way to establish the paperwork for an eviction & it also sends the message to the new tenants that I am on top of the situation & doing what I can to make the property enjoyable for them.

I wiill also be running it by the new mainfloor tenants to ensure this is the behaviour they would like corrected. From there, Dan has 7 days to correct his behavior. If he does then everything is fine. If he doesn`t, well, then, he gets served again but this time with an L2 & it goes to a hearing in front of the Judge. And if he corrects his behaviour but then after a few months the same behaviour returns, then he gets served with a second "N5" at that time & no opportunity to correct behaviour it goes straight to a hearing.

I think this is a good start because it clearly outlines the behaviour that needs to be stopped. It also demonstrates to the main floor tenants that as a Landlord I am on top of the situation on their behalf but in a professional manner. And it also gives Dan the opportunity to correct things. He`s paying above market rent and he has always brought his rent payments back up to date within a few days so as a business owner seeing him paydown the mortgage each month isn`t so bad.

Knowing Dan a firm talking too backed by the legal papers & the real threat of eviction could remedy the situation - unless of course he has gone to a non-fuctioning alcoholic as JSB wisely points out, then it is a whole other can of worms and eviction is likely around the corner as hard-core alcoholism and responsble payments of rent & biils rarely jive....

On the otherhand the new tenants look fine so far, but the jury is still out on them... who knows maybe they`ll be the ones defaulting on rent and become problem tenants as there is only a one month history with them?

So in an apocolyptic worse case scenario getting rid of Dan quickly at the beckoning of the new tenants without themselves having a longtime responsible payment history to me could in fact backfire. May not be in the best interest financially, leaving the entire property without income at all & mortgage payments coming from my own jean pockets.

Anyways, thanks so much for the feedback I learned quite a bit from it. I`ll be starting with the formal "N5" paperwork so the ball is now rolling & I`ll see where that leads too & where we go from here.

Thanks Again!

 

[invst4profit]

Every landlord has there own approach to dealing with problem situations.
My business approach is very simple: when your rent is paid on time I am very compassionate regarding your individual personal problems providing they do not effect other tenants. Generally speaking I believe my tenants like me and those that don`t do so because they are bad tenants. It ultimately boils down to my time and my money.
Stress destroyed many landlords and often comes from enabling bad tenants. Getting rid of them is like removing a band aid, the swifter the better in my opinion.

This is not a business suited to social workers.

 

[terri]

I agree with everyone else that in the end you will find that getting rid of Dan is the only solution, but in the meantime... I don`t think that you can restrict his use of the backyard around the other tenants schedule, if it is in his lease that he has use of the backyard, then he should be able to use it when ever he wants, not just when the neighbour`s kids aren`t playing in it. What you can do and have done is point out his behaviour and the effect of everyone else`s enjoyment of the property. But, since he has a drinking problem, pointing it out will probably only aggrevate him.

The other thing I would do is let the new tenants out of their lease if that`s what they really want. What you don`t want is tenants living there that don`t want to be there. Your intentions may not have been dishonest when you rented to them, but it sounds like a bad situation and I`m sure you can understand why they feel mislead. Ask them to give you time to resolve the problem, but if they really want out and Dan remains to be a concern for them then let them go. You don`t to force unhappy tenants to stay against their will.

 

[housingrental]

Terri has a good point. From your post:
"when the kids are staying with them then it is understood and accepted that Dan cannot use the backyard etc..etc..."
Note - Don`t include anything like that

in any of your correspondence with him.

 

[timk519]

This story illustrates why one should always have a well-stocked reserve fund - it gives you a lot more options.

 

[MikeMcCrae]

I believe that as landlords we have a responsibility to the neighbors. I had a similar situation and I wish I would have evicted "Dan" before the police got involved. My advise, get rid of Dan as soon as you can and move on. It is better for you and the neighborhood.

 

[realfortin]

QUOTE (MikeMcCrae @ Aug 1 2008, 09:23 AM)
I believe that as landlords we have a responsibility to the neighbors. I had a similar situation and I wish I would have evicted "Dan" before the police got involved. My advise, get rid of Dan as soon as you can and move on. It is better for you and the neighborhood.




This situation is an uncomfortable one for you I am sure. Like the one of the posters said, it will not get better. Once you hit the un-functional alcoholic stage he might need to hit rock bottom before he gets any better.



If it was my property, these are some of the things I would consider doing:

I don't want to be the cause of him hitting rock bottom, however you can't support him out of your own cash. I would suggest that he needs to find a smaller place with rents that are substantially less (you said yours was above market). Something smaller, more comfortable. You can use the excuse that you want to renovate (gut it out) and would require him to leave. I wouldn't state in any way that it is because of his behaviour or drinking as that will aggravate the situation and he might feel the need to defend himself. I would use some of my reserve money that you would inevitably have to use eventually anyways, and get him out of there. If he is really broke he might find it useful. I don't know what he is paying so I can't give a sum of what I would give but let's say he was paying 1200$ a month at your place and he finds a place that is 700$ a month, I would pay his 1st months rent at the next place (and maybe the damage deposit?) and even consider paying for the rented truck. It's just a bad situation to be in and if you don't do something about it, then it will cost you a lot more than that. You will eventually be forced to evict him in unpleasant terms which will make yours and his situation worse. Not only that but you will lose your other tenants that as you say pay 3 times his rent. Dan has to go, you might as well help him out while you do it if it also benefits you.



I'd throw in a case of Labatt's 50 in there to see if he has hit rock bottom. If he drinks it then you know he has, nobody else would drink that stuff. Ok, not really but I can't help myself and have to throw in a little dark humour in there.



During all this going on, you need to keep your new tenants. If you can throw in something in there with another apology then it might make them stay. As you said it wasn't like that before they moved there



my 1.5 cents



Good luck,



Real

 

[invst4profit]

Although well meaning the thought of assisting him to move, to ultimately stick him with another landlord is in my opinion unacceptable. The only way I would do that is if I fully informed the new landlord of the situation but I would not pay. Compassion is a good thing but you have to draw the line.
Give him notice, give him time (limited) to find another place and hope that the prospective landlord does not call you for a reference.

 

[realfortin]

QUOTE (invst4profit @ Aug 1 2008, 11:31 AM)
Although well meaning the thought of assisting him to move, to ultimately stick him with another landlord is in my opinion unacceptable. The only way I would do that is if I fully informed the new landlord of the situation but I would not pay. Compassion is a good thing but you have to draw the line.

Give him notice, give him time (limited) to find another place and hope that the prospective landlord does not call you for a reference.




Noble, but any landlord that doesn't do the basics of due diligence needs to learn as well... as he would. Either way, Dan needs to get out of your place. He'll find somewhere, I would help him do that sooner, rather than later

 

[dwb]

UPDATEThought I`d let you know things have since become very interesting for this property. Never a dull moment in Landlording.

Dan:

Hasn`t missed rent at all. Keeps paying on time and pays in full exactly one day before the 1st of the month rent due date. He`s volunteered to do small odd jobs around the property as he has extra time (cut grass, haul away fallen tree branches, painting the peremiter etc...). Dan continues to say he "feels attacked by the tenants below" and thinks very little of them. Dan is worried I`m going to evict him because of all the negative things the main floor tenants say about him and says he feels humilitated that the main floor tenants are nit-picking at him. Dan`s got his life back together and has bought a new car and is working a great job full-time. He continues to say he loves this house and has no plans to ever leave it.

Main Floor Tenants:

Where do I start?

Each week I get a phone call from them. No joke... For real, one a WEEK.

They started calling to say they`re "not happy here" and that my house is "disgusting" because there was a very minor sewage back-up flood 6 months ago in the basement. I paid $500 for a sewer clean out and it did the job. But since then tenant complaints about how they feel psychologically disturbed by the sewer back-up/flood and "the smell" of the place since that work was done was done they feel is unacceptable landlording. So I opted to go with a $4500 major underground plumbing replacement which the place needed anyways and I was happy to do. This has fully corrected the problem.

All the while this work was being done however, the phone rang off the hook from these tenants who said they feel like I`m intentionally putting them through hell and how they "can`t handle" the disruption for what "I am putting them through" and how awful this leasing experience has been & how I`m a dispicable and unethical person for "putting them through this". They don`t like having to have maintenance people come in to work in their home and interrupt their life.

Keep in mind I`m simply upgradng the plumbing in the house they previously called neglected and disgusting. I offered to rebate a large portion of their rent by $200 for every month maintenance is carried out which they said was "fair". However, with Dan`s new car in the shared driveway they called (again) to say they were "misled" into believing that Dan would "never have a car in the driveway"... I politely directed them to our lease agreement which clearly stated that this is a shared driveway and each tenant`s car or guest cars must never block the other tenant`s car. Both sets of tenants have this clause in their lease.

Anyways, I`m pouring a concrete extention to the driveway and the main floor tenant has called each week to let me know that they are "starting to get over the fact I`ve clearly misled them" and that I can make it better by making this extra driveway wide enough for them to be able to get around Dan`s new car. This is because they say "we don`t like Dan and don`t want to have to interact with him".

Knowing that I plan to hold this property forever, I figured I may as well go ahead with this to avoid similar future conflict with other future tenants (price tag is an extra $2,000 to accomodate this). Now, unbelievably the complaints are rolling in, one after the other, because they have to park elsewhere while their new driveway is being poured. I`m having to go to tribunal for this disruption. I`ve been diplomatic and apologized repeatedly and even sent them a peace offering gift card of $50 to a great restaurant on top of reducing rent for $200 each month of maintenance. Yes, the same maintenance they came begging to me to do for them.
I`ve reached the point that there will be no more rebates or discussions, just 24 hour notices for maintenance as the landlord & tenant act has assured me I have done all I can to mitigate any loss of "reasonable enjoyment of the property for them".

In Conclusion:

Thanks everyone for their excellent imput. I love this forum because I`ve consistently picked up valuable insight from everyone here. Things are never what they seem, especially when it comes to running a business & dealing with people. Looking back and knowing what I know now, it is tough to screen tenants because although the main floor tenant`s application was solid, when they were in the place their demands became simply exhausting. And the main floor tenant`s original demands to remove Dan as far a way from them as possible was just part of their personality and was only foreshadowing their unreasonable demands which tricked in one after another on a weekly basis for months & months.

Where I think I did right was keep an arms length distance from the situation and I asked Dan to do all he can to avoid the main floor tenants.

I think I did the right thing by directly asking him to stop certain behaviours via the landlord & tenant legal forms and by giving him the time necessary to turn things around. This is a business and Dan has always proven to be a well paying customer month in and month out so working with him and giving him time to correct himself was the right thing to do... even if he is short on rent by $5 or $10 a month he still pays above market rent (since our discussion he hasn`t short changed me since and pays full amount).

Where I believe I went wrong however was giving the main floor tenants this much time and this much slack and offering ways to mitigate the situations that they actually caused. I should have evicted the main floor tenants months ago and did all they could to get them out. And where I also went wrong was I should have picked up on the fact that their nit-picking of Dan could possibly be foreshadowing other future outrageous demands down the road. Which it turns out it was.

 

[GarthChapman]

Now that`s unusual. I would have agreed before with all the other posters to get Dan out. Good on you for being a part of his re-building his life. Understand though that this was an unusual case - people in his situation nearly always fail.

Now set some parameters for the other tenants. Don`t let them puch you around. And make Dan understand you are with him firmly as long as he continues to be a good tenant.

 

[dwb]

QUOTE (GarthChapman @ Nov 15 2008, 01:40 PM)
Now that's unusual. I would have agreed before with all the other posters to get Dan out. Good on you for being a part of his re-building his life. Understand though that this was an unusual case - people in his situation nearly always fail.



Now set some parameters for the other tenants. Don't let them puch you around. And make Dan understand you are with him firmly as long as he continues to be a good tenant.




Thanks Garth,



Confusing situation indeed.



I agreed with all the other posters as well & came very close to evicting Dan. Very close. I've have had multiple tenants before these main floor tenants and the thing that really gave me patience with Dan was that I never really heard any complaints about Dan before from any other main floor renters.



That led me to believe all might not be right with the new main floorers & gave me the patience to watch from a distance as to how things unfolded. Dan's stock slowly rose while the main floor tenant's stock & credability fell quickly over time.



Thanks again for the advice, I'll be sure to make a note of it & act on it.

 

[RebeccaBryan]

You do need to be very careful on who you believe. Mom has a tenant (Mel) that started complaining about other tenants in the fourplex suddenly, when he had never complained before. We thought the upstairs tenants were a problem, until we went through 3 sets of upstairs tenants because Mel complained. Mel ran them all out by acting like a phychopath. (It`s possible he is one.) Anyway, we ended up taking Mel to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service, not only did it get him to pay his rent on time (and early), but it also recitified the problems he caused. We don`t hear a complaint or a peep from him and he always leaves the other tenants alone, but I had to take drastic measures to change this behavior, including calling social services. Very long story. If Dan doesn`t want to move, it is possible to straighten him out, but you need to be clear that you mean business and you ablsolutely need to let him know who runs the show!!

 

[terri]

Wow, I think that you`ve been very patient with the main floor and their demands, but from now on what if when they call to complain about something that you feel is not necessary, can you just tell them that you do not feel that "xxx" needs to be altered and you are very sorry that they are so unhappy living there and understand completely if they feel a need to break their lease early. If every time they complain about something that you feel is unnecessary you offer them the option to get out of their lease, they should soon stop calling or take you up on it and leave which may be a blessing. If however, every time they complain about something you spend a lot of money to change things they will most likely continue to complain.


Terri