Was the T just upset about the water issue or does he normally act like this? I don't think he should be cussing you out, but I could see the emotions getting in the way.

If that's the case, fix the problem and go on with life. I honestly don't care if an idiot likes me or not. He needs to show a little respect tho.

Now if he is constantly acting a fool then give him his walking papers. I didn't get into this business to deal with constant harassments.

Its up to the landlord to demonstrate proper behavior. Calm, kind, and responsive.

In this situation, I would have shut the water off, just to clean it up, then turned it back on to determine source of leak. Off to hardware store for parts, then swap out the shut-off valves, or supply lines, or the cartridge in the faucet. I do keep a spare cartridge for faucets in my plumbing box though, so that one wouldn't necessitate the trip to hardware store.

Stop using gender as an excuse. I'm a sixty year old grandma, with carpal tunnel syndrome, fear of heights, and spatial relations learning disabilities ( how things, flip, turn, slide) I have learned many different ways of turning a tight nut, or bolt, even with my 'bad hands' , I am proactive about plumbing, and any maintenance, really. My husband will help me if something is on a roof, and he'll go over things with me if I am unsure. I slowly go over a procedure if I am having trouble figuring out which way to turn. Even will ask the tenant or neighbor if I am unsure. But, my rentals are NOT his responsibility, they are MY business.

See, showing that I have limitations doesn't mean I am weak. It means I know how to OWN my challenges. I know my strengths, too.

I don't think you can evict someone for cussing you out.

You CAN evict someone for not allowing you to take necessary steps to make a repair which results in damages to the unit.

Be sure to follow the law, not your emotions. I get it. There are tenants whom I'd LOVE to send packing immediately when they act like fools, but I have to wait for them to give me a valid reason, such as non-payment of rent or another kind of lease violation that will be serious enough for a judge to uphold.

I would terminate their tenancy as fast as possible. Some time ago I had to make a NEW dripping faucet repair. The tenants parents were the only ones there. The father said i need to take better care of my property.

I made the repair, went home and typed up a $100.00 rent increase effective the first of the month in 45 days. I drove and handed it to dad. I said, give this to your daughter.

The advantage of the month to month. In the past, I would have had him out in 30 days. I am not going tolerate hostility from a tenant.

Now I am using one year leases and there would be a note in his file to non-renew.

Jim, I laughed at that. I always assume that parents of tenants are uninformed jerks, else they would have raised there children up to be home OWNERS, not renters. And, if the parents were there in the property when tenant was not, what's up with that? Are they 'sponging' off of their daughter? Probably. I pay no heed to those uninformed 'know-it-alls' who don't know squat.

Busy, parents were visiting from out of state.

As so often, I have a different point of view. While the tenant was out of line, this poster clearly isn't landlord material. Rather than deal with the situation calmly and quickly, she went home and tattled to her husband and son. She is too emotional if something this trivial gets her riled up.

Barb in LA, Thank you for sharing what happened. The tenant was very wrong to have cursed you in an emergency situation when you simply suggested a fix. I am sorry because you yourself probably felt equally flustered over the water.

I didn't read much answers yet, but I will. I read what you said about landlord material, Nicole. My husband was 40 miles away when the husband called him. My husband said to go and shut the well off. My husband fixes everything he can fix around there. The tenant cursed me out just because I was going to shut the water off. I found out he is disrespectful.

I meant the plumber outside to pay him 255 today. My husband said he is not going in there and could have fixed it himself.

I have a 4 plex 40 miles away and another house around that one. I have been a landlord doing fine for 13 years. I asked the plumber what the floor looked like. He said the floor is sagging from the water because it is a raised house and is damaged. My husband did work on the house before they moved in 6500 worth. Now we have to pay somebody to repair the floor because they waited to call him letting the water run. The houses in the area are going for 1700 a month. This house is not a slum house, but an older house. I am not given them a new house for 900 a month. Their lease is up June 1st. I didn't say anything wrong or treat them wrongly.

It seems sometimes that the "F" word is the only adjective so many folks know.

FWIW:

In my most recent revision of my rental agreement, I added something to address this

"C) Be a good neighbor: Tenant shall not commit any waste upon said premises, or any nuisance or act which may disturb the quiet enjoyment of any neighbors. Neighborhood complaints of noise, trash, unkempt yard, improper parking, unruly children, unruly animals, noisy visitors, arguing, yelling, multiple police calls, are grounds for termination of tenancy. Bad treatment including verbal or physical threats or foul language toward neighbors, repairpersons, Landlord or staff, is grounds for termination of tenancy. "

Sounds like you would really benefit from joining a local apartment association, AND attending the Mr Landlord bootcamp. Jeffrey Taylor, aka Mr. Landlord, teaches so well.

Regarding tenant selection, Tenants begging me to get into the property is NOT a part of my screening process. I have a written list of criteria, and do not vary from it during the application process for a unit. If I want to change my criteria, I wait till the unit I'm currently screening for is rented, then add or subtract from the written list of criteria.

Cooperation is my number one criteria. I have a little test built in to my system (won't share it online.) Tenants' begging would be NOT COOPERATING. There is the saying, ' Tenants are tenants for a reason.' I consider it our job as landlords to offer a well-maintained product to properly qualified applicants.

A house having foundation issues isn't a reason to charge low rent, nor is it a reason to put off regular maintenance or quarterly inspections. Age of the house doesn't figure in either. Older homes can be very well-maintained, and some newer houses need repairs ( Jim had a NEW faucet that was dripping. ) Point being, running your eyes over the property on a regular basis, checking for leaks, replacing filters, tightening doorknobs, all those things let the tenant know you want the property well-maintained.

Rick mentioned month to month. I agree whole-heartedly, I've only ever used MTM. And, I have long-term tenants. I tell the applicants, as I hand out applications, " I do month to month because I think it keeps us BOTH on our toes. If I'm not maintaining the property, my tenant can just give me 28 days notice ( Wisconsin thing,) and move. If my tenant isn't doing things well, I can just give them notice. Having said that, I DO want long term tenants, though if life changes, I don't want to tie my tenants to the property. And I am planning on having these house long-term". Or, something similar to that, haven't placed anyone for a couple of years. I have it in my scripts. That statement goes over well, most applicants say something like, oh, that makes sense. Some do ask if I'm planning on selling, and I assure them I'm not, though ... life can be uncertain.

Silence one of the best tools in the landlord toolbox. Use it wisely. When a tenant vents, remind yourself, "They are tenants for a reason," and remain silent. Use some time to think. Tenant didn't want water shut off. The foul language, just let that roll off. Focus on how to either : 1 avoid having water shut off or 2. Have a supply of water available for the time water will be off, with a timeframe given for repairs, or, even, 3. Offer to pay for a night in a motel while waiting for repairs.

The offensive language, oh, sometimes that's just how some people talk. Being argumentative, well, that's how this tenant got in this house in the first place. Begging is just another form of arguing, and it was stated that was among their qualifications.

Barb, I see your replies to Mike. You sound more thoughtful, calm, now. So, possibly you were already doing the things I suggested. The first post, and the subsequent post directed at Nicole sounded a tad more reactive. I get that; sometimes we just need to vent.

Sorry to read you aren't a fellow tool- monkey. I love fixing things, but, its ok.

Silence one of the best tools in the landlord sounds good.

One of the best phrases I have when a tenant is being an asshat is" Try and have a better day."

I say this as I am leaving. They can be as unruly as they want. I am not going to fix them right there. I move on and deescalate the situation.

Barb,

You are the landlord and you have to stay in charge.

If that starts to slip away - and you provided an awesome example of how quickly it can, you need to try your best to have the resident hit the reset button. That isn't always easy either.

When I find myself in a situation like yours I find myself asking - is this person having a stressful day or is this a constant thing. If it is a constant thing, the next question I ask myself, is this person trainable. If they are trainable, is it worth my wild to train them.

If it is a typical December 28 day outside up here in the snow belt, I know finding a replacement might be problematic. I might throttle back on the energy. If it is early April, I would be more inclined to use the happy clause.

I am not sure how you indoc your new residents, but you might want to look at this in the future. Let them know things will go wrong and we can work together to get them fixed. If they prevent that from happening, they need to hear that they are doing so - and if they still push, let them know that they are now quickly approaching becoming new U-Haul Tetris contestants. I find that if I force them to guide the conversation to the results I want - they feel like they won. I am more concerned about the end result and not who is doing the victory lap.

Thanks for all the comments. Busy, I always say I could write a book. I can positively say they treat my husband different because he does the work. I worked to buy the building along with his hard work. But what tenants don't realize what it takes to manage rental property. My water bill is $700 a month for the 4 plex. we manage everything. They are section 8 tenants. Oh, I don't want to start another brilliant

I have to ask. How did a verbally abusive tenant get through your screening process?

" All I said is they don't qualify, but I would need to get the rent. their records showed Social Security that was 1600 a month."

SS is not garnishable. They didn't qualify to begin with. It is better to leave a place vacant than have a bad tenant.

I don't how you can judge a person by just talking. He didn't seem like he would act like that when I met him. Maybe not too intelligent, not drug people,. I will check back on that statement some put about acting up, etc. We went in and changed a dishwasher and everything was good. I don't really know why he acted that way. I was only quessing he didn't like me coming because my husband is the one for the repairs and his back and she said I put them down, which she couldn't give me one example. I am the landlord and like to stand up for my rights. Nobody is going to push me around. And I tell them I don't want trouble. Everything is in the lease. I never did or said anything to them,

There is nowhere they can go for 900. Do you think he would have the brains to know better not get in trouble with the landlord? Apparently. Not! Yes, I learned a good lesson. What they say will roll right off my shoulders. Yes, shaky ground he is on. We take care of our properties. We can get them out in 2 weeks for an eviction in this area. Happy. Happy. I wrote to her. The plumber is coming sometime today. I am not involved with the house anymore. Gave husband's #. The rent came be written to ...him. You will not get any calls or text from me. He is your contact as of now.

She wrote: Thanks for letting me know! I wish things could have been better. You have a nice day!

Lease up June 1st.

She realized they messed up. I sent no more information.

I have a bit of a temper which is probably not the best thing. I would have told him right then and there to start looking. That's one of the reasons I only do m2m. That allows me some latitude in dealing with these sorts of situations.

I don’t think he got his way. I don’t want to handle idiots. I think my husband should have gone, but I didn’t want to argue to try to make him go. How can you find out a person has an anger problem when ready to rent? My husband put the cart in front of the horse with them and the family to rent. I am not sorry they were there 10 months. They are paying the rent. It’s hard to get perfect. I just have him marked as ignorant. You can’t fix ignorant. If I didn’t have my husband take over, I would be sending that non-renewal letter. Time will tell. I have the other house to rent and will have to concentrate on it. Will be asking 1500 a month.

The problem is not paying the rent because they know they have to pay for that lower amount for the Northshore and Southshore is worse. On the 1st, the rent is paid. I get it about not Qualified. What I need to be concerned about is his anger and vulgar mouth. The sister told my husband that the husband is proud and doesn't want any help from her family. That was a red flag. The lease is turning to Month to Month on June 1st. She keeps the place nice, but he is ignorant and verbally abusive and will get him NOWHERRE BUT GONE. I think my husband knows now that he didn't put his foot down in the beginning when the family kept coming to get the place.