I have 10 male students who do a bad job putting out their garbage to the curb and there’s foodstuff laying all around the house. My concerns are I will get ticketed for having exposed garbage and the place looks bad when I show it in November to new groups.

I’m thinking of offering to take out their garbage for $80/month. Some landlords in my area include, in the rent, taking the garbage to the curb on garbage days, so I’m wondering if I should just start taking it out for them at no charge.

I’ve also considered writing a strongly worded email, saying they are violating terms of the lease, but I suspect no action will be taken by them, unless I file an eviction with the city. In 16 years of renting to students, I evicted 1 tenant, so I’m not familiar with the eviction process. These guys pay the rent on time and seem ok otherwise, so I’m reluctant to take a heavy hand to them.

Any thoughts? Thank you - Bill

I would a 'team meeting' and lay out the rules, coupled with an 'advisement" that if it continues there will be a special assessment for the issue, prrhaps graduated escalation levied should it continue.

Hmmm, I've never done a "team meeting" I wonder how many would attend? I like that idea though, meeting face-to-face. I'll bet that would work, if I can get a majority of the guys to come out.

And no I never have adult guarantors on the lease. My thinking has been, if you treat people with respect and as adults they will live up to it.

I do and have done exactly as you. I have no clue how the court process works because ....frankly, students don't need eviction.

Students need about everything else.

I routinely roll out trash cans as I also maintain the grass. Eliminating those two items from a student house basically insures the house will look fine to the neighbors.

If you could bribe one of the students to do the task. Normally there is one responsible person. And although it sounds a bit goofy, having a pizza delivered to this one person every couple weeks would be fairly easy.

In my case, I have a maid, so on occasion the maid will straighten up.

Great stuff there Smokowana. You put a smile on my face with "Students need about everything else". You got me thinking about the maid and doing the garbage. Taking out the garbage would eliminate the angry texts I get from my neighbor and the occasional court appearances, assuming I did a good job:-)

I'll bet the parents would love a weekly kitchen and bath cleaning, along with putting out the garbage. Maybe I could cancel my quarterly exterminator visits:-)

How often do you have a maid come to clean and what does they do? Interesting thought on the pizza. Does sound a little goofy but if it works..

BillW,

Jeffrey teaches to communicate your expectations.

I say you only get what you expect IF IF IF you tell them and inspect...and charge.

The "be nice" used to work but our culture has changed, esp with your GenZ kiddos. You are seeing that in action. It's not working.

You can still speak nicely, with respect BUT you MUST enforce the rules. That's what managers do. Firm and fair. Friendly but not friends.

A strongly worded email will probably go no where. (and people don't read emails anymore)

I would DELIVER letters labeled for each res reminding them the lease states they are responsible to take the trash to the curb and return the cans to the storage area each week. Out no longer than 24 hours.. And if you drive by and notice these tasks are not done you will do it and charge them $100.

But that is extra work for you to drive by.

I like the idea of increasing the rent by $50 and paying one student $10 per week.

If I had student rentals I would absolutely require all parents to sign the lease. It's your only clout. Mom and Dad will set them straight in a jiffy when they learn little Johnny is not taking his trash out and Mom & Dad might have to pay $100.

Let us know what develops.

BRAD

AllyM that is a good point in identifying who’s in the wrong. Applies to my sentence below.

Vee, I’m afraid I might dump the garbage into the back seat of an innocent bystander

BRAD, I’ve been doing this for 16 years and usually I don’t have a problem. I rented this 10-bedroom house during covid and it wasn’t easy to find a group and I compromised

.

You are right about emails, especially group emails, that people don’t read them.

I’m considering your suggestion of individual letters but I’m afraid that once the group sees 10 letters in the mailbox it will be treated more as a group notice than individual.

My thinking is I treat students as adults and with respect. They generally act in kind. As I mentioned above, I’ve only evicted 1 person in my history. I’ve had 100% occupancy through the 16 years and other than this guy, two others, and covid discounts, I’ve never missed a full rent payment.

At this point, I’m in a bit of a procrastination mode on moving forward with this, but I promise I’ll do something and let you know how it turns out. Thank you for your consideration.

Sorry for the slow reply.

Couple things about my maid. Maid service is not in the lease so I am able to send in a maid only when I chose to.

The maid comes out sometimes a couple times in one month, and then nothing for two months. What this does for the teni is it shows them that they let things get a bit messy, it was cleaned for them, but if they like the way things look they need to participate.

I often straighten up the laundry room, and then ask the maid to follow behind. The maid can skim over bathrooms and kitchens without doing every space. (For example no need to spend hours cleaning the fridge).

Thanks Smokowna, Interesting about the maid service. You don't charge the tenants for this?

Well, here's what I emailed:

When I was by today, I noticed the garbage outside and inside the house is getting worse. Also, inside the house are unsanitary conditions with food sitting around and garbage cans overflowing.

This is a violation of the lease and must be remedied.

If the outside garbage is not cleared out by October 1st, then the garbage and recycling will be put out for you at a charge to you of $100/month, that will be added to the rent withdrawal from your account each month.

If the inside of the house continues to be unsanitary this will also need to be addressed.

Let me know if you have any questions on this.

Bill

BillW,

I cannot imagine 10! male students in a house on their own! That's like a fraternity without a house mother.

This might be a wake up call that GenZs are not like Millennials.

I would DELIVER the envelopes, lay them on the kitchen table.

I truly hope this goes well for you.

If I were one the ten I'd say an extra $10 outta MY pocket is a no brainer - cheap so I don't have to haul the trash out and the cans back in. Convenient!

Hang in there! Congrats for staying on top of this.

Thank you BRAD for the encouragement!

Most times groups of guys are good, especially when they’re engineering majors and the like. I didn’t have the greatest feeling about this group, but was fortunate during covid, and with in-person classes not certain, to be renting my big house.

I’m curious to see if your right, and they pay for the garbage removal. I already sent the email above.

Thanks again.