Owning a property and properly managing it could be a tough ask and could get even tougher when you have tenants living in it. Keeping them happy and dealing with issues is part of the process. However, sometimes you get unlucky and have to deal with a problematic client. So, here are a few different types of problematic clients you might face and ways you can deal with them.
They Cause Trouble with Payments
If you have tenants, then you must have faced people who cause trouble with payments. They pay late or make partial payments with excuses. This can be dealt with through a tenant’s agreement. You can mention on the agreement that late payments won’t be accepted and even set a late fee after a certain date. You can even mention that the late fee will be deducted from the security deposit.
Furthermore, some clients are constantly making late payments. So, you should talk to them to see if they have a valid reason. For example, some may have issues such as their rent payment date being before they receive their payroll. You can either be lenient with this or give them a “pay or quit” option which they have to legally abide by.
Make Damages To The Property
You will also face tenants that might damage your property. This includes improvements that you didn’t approve of, or property abuses as well. Traditionally, property owners would make inspections using a pen and clipboard, noting all the issues. However, now you can take pictures and make videos before the tenants move in to have proof if there are any legal issues in the future. Upon legal conflict, you can make a thorough report and attach all the ‘before’ files next to the current files to make any damages apparent.
There’s also a matter of making improvements, which include new shelves, repaints or even as simple as putting nails in the wall. All these issues should be discussed in the agreement beforehand. Furthermore, if a tenant makes a change that harms the image of the property then you can ask them to redo it, or it will be deducted from their security deposit. However, you should be up to date with laws regarding security deposits.
Subletting Tenants
This is not illegal but if you’ve set a clause in your agreement that says that the tenant cannot sublet the property and if they do then you can cancel their lease. This has become a major problem these days due to Airbnb, as people rent apartments at cheaper rates and sublet them to others. This applies to having roommates or even long-term guests. You can hire a law firm that specializes in real estate cases and can help you with all these clauses in your agreements.
Constant Complaining
There is no doubt that tenants can complain about things that are malfunctioning or broken. However, you should know that there are tenants who constantly complain about everything and might even make requests that aren’t possible to achieve. Furthermore, when it comes to maintenance, you are not legally obliged to attend to all the issues your tenant might be facing.
The Rulebreakers
Every tenant has to follow a certain set of rules that are agreed upon in the contract. Though people still end up breaking these rules and you are legally allowed to evict those tenants because there has been a breach of the agreement.
A rule that many tenants break is getting pets even if there is a no pets policy. They can make you feel guilty about not caring about pets or any other reason, but you need to be adamant about your rules and ask them to either leave or get rid of the pet. It’s important to know that service animals are not considered pets.
There are also some other more serious rules that tenants end up breaking, for example, selling or using drugs at the property, growing marijuana, getting drunk in public, or even engaging in some other illegal activity. If your tenant gets arrested for some reason, you should know that this won’t count as the lease terminating. You would have to hire a lawyer to help you with that.
Key Things To Remember
Now that you know the different types of problematic tenants you might face as a property owner, here are some key tips you should remember.
Tenant Screening is Essential
If you haven’t been putting too much emphasis on screening clients then you should start doing it right away as this can make your life a lot easier. You can set criteria that you can use to judge each potential candidate with so you’re not being biased in your decisions.
Dealing Home Improvements and Damages
A lot of your tenants won’t care about the property the way you do because it doesn’t belong to them so it’s important to make a clear agreement that points out every single issue that’s mentioned above. Once it’s signed, have an inspection before they move in to record the condition of everything present as proof, and then after they move in, have regular inspections.
Notice and Eviction
It’s important to keep a record of everything including warnings for rent and other issues so your tenant can’t say they were not informed. Furthermore, you can even hire a law firm during this process to deal with any legal issues and if you’re based in Canada then consider Nanda & Associate Lawyers. They have extensive experience dealing with legal issues regarding real estate.
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