Tenant interfering with repairs - Landlord Forum thread

Tenant interfering with repairs by Broken hot water heater landlord (GA) on June 12, 2012 @18:40

Hi,

I'm the lady who wrote about a week and change ago about our sfm in which the hot water heater leaked. Tenant (in violation of lease) waited weeks to tell us about leak until carpet was completely ruined along with lower portion of baseboards and sheetrock.

I was asked here about contents of locked rooms in basement they would not let repair people enter. It just had household stuff, no meth lab there.

Problem: tenants want workers there only when they are home, which is late at night and on weekends. Contractor would charge more because he has to pay overtime, and we would be stuck with overage because insurance would not cover excess labor costs.

Can we force the issue? Must tenant be home for repairs, or do I have the right as landlord to go over there myself and open house for repair people? Not that I am happy about taking 4 days off of my own job for this....

Problem: I really don't have time for this. Can we insist that tenants meet with repair people during normal working hours so that *tenants* take time off work, instead of me? After all, they created unnecessary damage in the first place.

Problem: Tenant has a dog left loose in fenced back yard. Repair contractor tells me today that on a previous day tenant's dog "ran off his crew", and so they had to leave instead of working on job. He did not charge us for this, but does want us to tell tenant to lock dog up during repairs.

Tenant does nothing but whine about how "patient they have been", when they created mess in the first place. They have already asked for a break on the rent plus compensation for "excessive electric bills" because the repair people had to use their electricity to clean the basement mess *they made*.

As much as I hate the idea of having to go over there and supervise the repairs myself, especially as my husband is working long hours and I have two small children out of school (could they not have pulled this stunt during the school year?) -- I may have no choice but to go over and supervise repairs myself.

Can I get in trouble for this? The emergency is over, now we're fixing sheetrock, baseboards, painting, and putting down new carpet. I don't want to be accused of stealing or breaking anything being in their house without them.

The contractor has suggested putting a lockbox on the door, coded for his regular subcontractors to go in and out. He says this is what they usually do. Has anyone out there done this?

Thanks,

K

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Re: Tenant interfering with repairs by Anonymous on June 12, 2012 @19:07	[ Reply ]

Technically, all you need to do is give the tenants notice of when the work will begin, usually 24/48hours prior to work commencement. Include start date, approximate times the work will be done and the duration. Also, include that the dog must be secured as it has already charged at the crew and prevented them from doing their job as well as exposing them to harm. That notice is sufficient for them to make arrangements to their schedules and/or secure all valuables in another part of the home if they are worried about it. The tenants do not have to be home and nor do you need to schedule the work do be done after non-business hours. You can site that the work will cause noise within the house and outside as the crews move materials and equipment in and out and that would violate the neighbor's peace and quiet. I am sure the town has it's own ordinance regarding work crews between certain hours. As the LL, you are required to repair any damages that would affect the health and safety of the tenants irregardless of who caused it, which you are doing. Assigning the ultimate responsibility of who is to pay for it, is another issue to be taken up at another time. The repair needs to be done because of the mold/mildew issue that has resulted for obvious reason. You are NOT required by law to be forced to pay extra for overtime pay or potential city fines if will disturb neighbors after a certain hour just because the tenant wants the work to be done at night when they get home from work. Since the tenants will not be home during the day, someone should be present to oversee them, you or one of the tenant's friend's or relatives. You mentioned in your other post they have a son who is in high school. School is ending or has ended for most kids and if he doesn't have a day job, then isn't him being in the home satisfy the tenant's issue? Do you have friends or family still in the area? Perhaps you can visit with them with your children on those days and you an pop in and out of the home to check up on progress. As for the lockbox idea, I can see the appeal of it if the tenant is worried that the door will be left open or leaving a copy of a key with a stranger. I have heard of it being used for vacant properties. Others on the forums will probably be able to answer with their experiences. If the tenant bars the contractors from entering after the notice has been given, then you can issue a cure or quit notice and then into court if they still refuse entry.

Re: Tenant interfering with repairs

Re: Tenant interfering with repairs by Anonymous on June 12, 2012 @20:09	[ Reply ]

Ask the tenants if they wish to buy the place. You seem to not have the time or the attitude to be a landlord. It's your rental home that was damage and you want the tenants, who you constantly blame,and caused the damage to oversee the repair work! Com'on now. This is how the damage occured in the first place, you were not around to check!

Re: Tenant interfering with repairs by Eloise on June 13, 2012 @12:44	[ Reply ]

K, I know how difficult this situation is with small children, and this situation they caused has more than annoyed you, understandably!! The tenant caused this, and is being a total pain in the rear about getting it fixed, and somehow think it's your fault and responsibility to tend to their needs. Gotcha! HOWEVER, It is in YOUR best interest to oversee this work. Like the first responder said, technically, all you have to do is give them a 24hr notice and paperwork with a schedule of the job. BUT Considering they caused all this damage, YOU want to take a look at this property CLOSELY, and this is a GREAT opportunity for you to do so. I know your kids are not going to appreciate this, get them their nintendo ds and a portable dvd player with some snacks and suck it up for a few days, you want to see how this people are taking care of YOUR investment, and address any other issues there might be now rather than later. It is REALLY HARD to switch that "landlord switch" on when you are renting a home you lived in and are renting because you can not rent it and not because you WANT to be a landlord, I am in the same boat as you. Things will change eventually, and you will be able to sell the place when the economy turns around, but for now, you need to think more like this is your JOB {not a very enjoyable one, I know} and not a situation you were imposed by your situation. Just ride this lease out with these people, don't renew the lease with them, and for your next tenants, get the LPA lease, it is an AWESOME lease that addresses most of these issues. What does your lease say but pets? They signed a lease where you allow animals under certain conditions, one of those conditions should be that the pet does not interfere with the safety of anyone...

Re: Tenant interfering with repairs by xxx on June 13, 2012 @14:02	[ Reply ]

1) give them notice in advance of when your people are coming in to do the repairs (could be 24 or 48 hours, depending on where you are), then come in and do it whether they like it or not 2) you do not have to schedule the work for when it is convenient for the tenant (nice if possible, but certainly not late at night or on the weekends) 3) if they lock an area you need access to, drill the locks open and charge them for a new lock 4) you do not have to remain there while your people are working on the premises 5) if they need to go into the backyard, you should advise your tenant to keep the dog on a leash while he is there, or you will call animal control to have him removed i had a bad situation once where a tenant was preventing me from doing repairs for months, then had the gall to sue me for not doing the repairs! never again, i'm a hard-@ss about these things now

Re: Tenant interfering with repairs by Nicole (PA) on June 14, 2012 @08:32	[ Reply ]

I agree with the others. Being a landlord, whether voluntarily or not, is a job. If you can't do the job, you should hire a property manager to deal with these people. I've said it previously, you need to be there - the tenants don't have ANY say in how these repairs happen. If you are on site, these problems aren't going to happen. You are putting your contractor/s in the middle of a situation they don't want to be in - they want to do the work and not be hassled for trying to do their job. If the tenant makes it too difficult and you don't intervene, you will lose your contractor.