WWYD in the following situations:

#1- "Fridge Fleece" - Tenant puts off bug spraying a whole month, claiming they needed time to clean. When I finally got in their apartment, it was still hardly cleaned. But a note was on the front door:

"We will be sleeping, we both had a long night cleaning. Please take a look at the refrigerator, it won't stay cold. Hope you can get it fixed ASAP. Thanks!!!"

When I got to the refrigerator, to my surprise I found both the freezer and fridge being closed with duct tape. Only the fridge door won't close fully even pushed on. The steel door was clearly bent out of shape, making it impossible to seal. There's your reason it won't stay cold right.

I tell the tenant that per the terms of the lease, damages to the appliances that cannot wait until end of lease must be paid by tenant. Due to their 6 years of tenancy, I offer to pay half the cost of a replacement refrigerator.

Nope, she won't contribute a dime.

"I always remember it dented. Jon fell on the refrigerator in 2003, but it has worked fine since." she says. "I know it won't hold cold air, but that is due to the seal wearing out. That is normal wear and tear."

Really?

I don't remember renting it to her with duct tape and a door that wouldn't even close at all. In fact she signed a lease in 2019 and wrote "OK" next to "fridge". I was there too. I had cleaned it before they showed up to look at the apartment.

#2 - "Bowled Over"

Tenant of 4 years texts me today. The toilet is leaking, she says, and the wooden floor is cracked. She sends me a picture of a little puddle of water next to her toilet.

I tell her I want to come out and look. I find the toilet has magically shifted over about 2" and is now diagonal on the floor, leaving the silhouette of the caulk where it used to be.

So I straighten it back so its aligned over the sewer hole. It flushes fine then and doesn't leak.

Seriously? You couldn't do that yourself?

Do toilets spontaneously move like that.

I told her I will come back out Monday, i have to put a new wax ring in, and I hope the bottom "apron" of the toilet isn't broken or the toilet will have to be replaced. If I don't, she'll use the toilet and the sewer water will flow under the floor, and soak the basement ceiling right.

Well at least she told me about it before that happened.

Evict, you say, pay to file for eviction. Well they both pay rent regularly and stay, which is not easy to find..... and after all that time and work getting them out I will face a month of cleaning and finding someone else, who may not.

But its just amazing to me how awful tenants are.

In a NON-Rent Controlled property (with partners) tenants didn't know about cleaning. They were all college students living a care free life on this beach front property. Block Wall Design. A single no bedroom with a kitchen, bathroom and Study area went for $1,000 a month back in 1986.

Every 60 days I conducted an inspection. I then sent the tenants with poor house keeping skills a Rent Increase. $125 a month, to cover the cost of a twice a month cleaning crew,.

WWYD? What I would do is not what you will do, so that's irrelevant.

Review your post from the 21st regarding the refrigerator

If they refuse to pay, and they pay for the electricity, leave the refrigerator be as it is & they can continue to use duct tape & have lukewarm milk. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN COMMUNICATED concerning EVERYTHING.

Eventually, you will end up in eviction court and/or might try to get paid for damages.

Next, update your rental agreement already. Include clauses like tenant needs to pay for damages before the next rent due date. All money received is applied first to outstanding debt, they must cooperate with all maintenance and pest control that manager does, & on & on...

Now that it's all in writing - what is expected - you need to strengthen your spine so you can stand up straight in front of them and enforce it.

You have taught them that you do not stand behind the contract (whatever it says), so neither will they. You offered to pay half??!! What?! Come on! Why?!

They (correctly) see you as weak. Whenever you say something & don't follow through, well, just like kids - they will push you as far astray can get you to go, as much as they can get away with, since there are no consequences.

Update your SOP's to the best practices for screening and management the are plentiful on this site.

Now, I know you will not be following this advice, because you have asked many times here & received the same sage wisdom from others many times - yet you keep coming back with the same problems. Tenants take advantage of you because you let them.

I write this hoping that a newer landlord who may be reading will actually listen and save themselves from the stress you have every day.

Oh yeah, the toilet: The bolts are probably rusted through - at least they are obviously very loose. You did not say you tightened them, but I certainly hope you did. Simply straightening the toilet does nothing. Yes, you need to go back right away (better immediately) to replace the wax ring as well as do any repairs to the flange and new hold-down bolts as needed.

Be sure to check for rotten flooring, not knowing how long it has been like that.

Your routine, periodic maintenance visits should include check ing the toilets & you would be aware of this when it was just a little wobble & an easy repair.

DJ nailed it perfectly.

Coming here to vent is great. But having the same type situations over and again means you are either just venting or you believe that all rental properties get run this way.

Them paying rent on time does not put them on a pedestal. That is their job. They agreed to pay so they can stay.

When they start causing other issues they are no longer following the set rules of the business arrangement.

I would bill for the fridge, but I would not replace it until I was paid to do so. They broke it, they need to cover the expense.

The toilet issue I would fix asap. Then if it happens again I would have made a note of the previous issue and decide if the tenant is creating problems or if my place needs professional care.

The bugs need remedied. I feel that the only way to do that is to remove the problem tenants.

With a tri-plex you might only need to drop the hammer on one and the rest will shape up.

Either way if you don't remedy the situations you will continue to hate this job, continue to lose money and continue to fight day in and day out.

Its easy to couch lecture someone to 'have a spine' when they aren't the ones facing two months of expensive renovating of the apartment the tenants ruined in the tropical Midwest heat. IF you can even get them out after a long court battle.

Right now they are paying rent and on time.

If I force them to pay for the new refrigerator, they may come back and say they don't have enough for rent.

I have someone who will take the old refrigerator which is a monster for free, for the scrap.

However I think if they refuse to pay anything toward a replacement, I should stand my ground now and not take out the old one. Otherwise they will be harassing me daily telling me they no longer have a fridge, and that was in the lease.

I'm continually stuck with only the nuclear option, file for eviction which basically blows everything up. But I find it incredibly difficult to enforce more than justified fines with tenants for things they do, any other way.

What other options are there?

I'm looking for people who have found solutions in similar situations. If I wanted a judgemental tongue lashing or people telling me to sell and quit my relatives are always a phone call away, and eager to provide all the abuse they can think up.... no need to log on here lol

This comes down to a personal question - Do you consider these tenants an asset or a liability?

If they are liability, what do you plan on doing to improve your quality of life? If you consider them an asset, then you are happy with how things are going - and there is no need to act.

You don't want a judgmental tongue lashing, but you do not follow the advice of the people who are doing better than you are in this business.

I have made many, many costly mistakes over the years. My father kept telling me that I needed to use my skills to flip not hold. I worked a full time W2 (with OT) and took care of my rentals for years.

Now I have no W2. My father has conceded and admits that my pursuit has paid off. I am not rolling in the dough. I still have the tools in my truck. I owe more than I do not in mortgages.

BUT...

I listened to people. I learned from them as well as from my blunders along the way.

There are still many questions that I have. There are people that I trust to give me their honest opinions. I might not always agree with them, and I might not always follow their advise but I do consider everything.

Also, I act on things.

Your fridge people need gone. You chose not to do that. You are acting on fear of the unknown. Paying rent is only one part of being a tenant. They are not doing another vital part which is taking care of the property.

You know you did not have the fridge dented and duct taped. They did that. Plus the problems with the pests.

As for working in the heat of the Midwest, I am all over that man. It has been brutal for an old fat guy like me. I should be there right now, but I am reading thru this forum for information I can learn from . Hopefully I can share some information as well, since it is a give and take type thing.

Tenant fell against fridge in 2003? I'd say it is time for a new fridge, damage or no damage. Toilet bolts gone? I'd be grateful I had a good tenant that told me about this, rather than just pushing it back.

As for putting off bug spraying, if it is a SFH, in my area, that is on them. I will recommend someone, and I have used a guy from our local landlord group when there were carpenter ants, but those are different. Carpenter ants are attracted to wet wood, not anything that is tenant's fault ( and that house has had a complete tear off, new decking, shingles, gutters, downspouts, fascia since)

Busy, I think your math is off about the fridge.

Also, at least for me, I do not care about the age as much as the damage done. I had one with knuckle marks on the door from a failed anger management moment of a tenant.

I would buy a cheap ass fridge. Not SS. When they move, it would be my garage fridge. And yes, charge them for it. I didn't fall against it. I am sure your lease doesn't say it has to be brand new or SS.And I would have a doc that gave serial and model number that it's now the replacement with both of you signing so it doesn't walk when they leave, which should be soon.