Bad Tenants: Inevitable?

The more rentals you manage, the more experiences you’ll have… and inevitably, some of them will be bad. But the extent to which they are “bad” can be minimized! The most important thing to do as a landlord is build solid systems.

You need a solid system for tenant screening. You need to use a strong lease. You need to set expectations and outline how you want to communicate with your tenants. Have a system in place to regularly maintain the elements of the property like the septic tank, AC filters/drain line and coils. And have a referral network in place for local professionals you can call for cleaning or repairing elements in the property. Have a good reliable handyman, AC tech and cleaning crew that you are comfortable sending over when needed.

While these are just some examples, the idea is to be ready and have a system in place to proactively avoid, mitigate or deal with any potential issues that may arise.

The longer you’re a landlord, the more possibility you’ll end up with bad tenants. Who ARE bad tenants? They come in all forms. For instance, hoarders can present additional challenges for a landlord…

Hoarding is Common with Bad Tenants

The goal of a successful landlord is a long-term tenancy. Minimizing turnover should be the goal. However, landlords let tenants remain for years unchecked, which can result in finding gross hoarding situations like we found in the above property.

Unfortunately, this was a situation (above photo) where the landlord did not collect security from their tenants. Landlord incurred expenses to remove abandoned property, rehab the property, paint and clean.

Move-out mess

Bad tenants leave their unwanted junk for their landlord to deal with. Make sure leases have specific terms relating to bulk pickups. In Miami, residential properties are entitled to two free bulky pickups per year, paid for through property taxes.

It’s a good idea to keep control over bulky pickups as a landlord. It’s possible, as a landlord, you’ll need these bulk pickups to save money on tree trimming or other repairs/services that come up.

If you’ve used both bulky pickups already, and your tenants leave piles of trash that needs to be removed, Miami-Dade will bill you for the expense (and it isn’t cheap!). Here’s more information on Miami-Dade Bulk Pickups here.

Smoking inside

BAD TENANTS smoke inside the property when
their lease specifically prohibits it.

Bad tenants exist. They will cost their landlords lots of unnecessary expenses over time. Bad tenants don’t adhere to provisions in their lease like paying rent on time, paying late fees when they do pay late. They don’t adhere to local noise ordinances and frustrate neighbors. They don’t keep the property clean, may be hoarders inviting unwanted pests and infestations. Sometimes bad tenants choose to simply move out, terminating their lease without notifying their landlord.

These common rental issues can be costly to landlords. It’s important to be proactive and anticipate the most common issues experienced with bad tenants. Build a system (tenant screening, strong lease, good communication, outline expectations, lease enforcement) to help avoid losing lots of money, unnecessarily!

The good news? Most every state has very straight-forward landlord/tenant state laws that address each of these situations. These laws offer legal remedies and guidance for landlords on how to address these situations.

Anticipate bad tenants, and be proactive

Landlords should not wait until they experience bad tenant situations. They should anticipate pitfalls, and plan accordingly. We are posting these photos and descriptions so landlords can know the most common pitfalls, see the potential costly damage, and implement strategy to avoid these bad tenants and issues.

Learn the state statutes and remedies for the most common bad tenant situations. Then adopt a strong lease that proactively addresses these pitfalls, with remedies. Landlords should consider using a real estate attorney to craft a strong, solid, relevant lease to use. This lease should address the property’s specific individual elements plus outline expectations within the law.

What does it mean to be PROACTIVE?

As an example, does the property have a septic tank? Having a septic tank comes with it’s share of challenges. Is it old? Do you have it on schedule to be drained regularly to avoid overflows? Does it have a built-in filter that causes more frequent backups?

Landlords should consider adding an Addendum that outlines how to properly deal with a septic system. No baby wipes flushed down the toilet! Don’t wash the dogs inside! The lease (or addendum) should clearly outline expected care of the septic system, not to park on top of the drain field, and remedies for back ups, etc.

Are pets allowed? Leases should address both approved AND non-approved pets. Why? What if a landlord simply states pets, okay, assuming it was only one small dog that the tenant had at the time of the move-in. And 6 months later, the tenant has adopted four puppies and two indoor cats? Is that a situation the landlord is comfortable with?

A good lease should address unauthorized pets, with a remedy. And example of a remedy could be an immediate increase in the rent, or termination of the lease.

By proactively planning to avoid pitfalls, both the landlord and the tenant will have a very clear understanding of expectations by both parties. As a result, this clear outline of expectations helps to avoid most common issues.

This is the AC closet vent. SO GROSS!!! These bad tenants apparently never cleaned or changed the AC filter. Looks like there’s splatters of nastiness (dog slobber or worse?) all across the walls, baseboards and the AC vent. When tenants move out, the AC vent, AC closet and AC filter should be left CLEAN.

These bad tenant moved out and left a badly stained carpet in the hallway. This is NOT considered “normal wear and tear”. Carpet cleaning is relatively inexpensive. These tenants SHOULD HAVE hired a carpet cleaning company to clean this up. These are spiils that they left to stain the carpet, there is no reason to live like this.