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Okay, I admit this is venting, but here goes: I inherited tenants when I bought my building. They have a while to go on their lease and a very low rent.

Man, do they complain! I keep the heat at a reasonable temperature at night (65 degrees or so), start it very early (5am) and switch to night late (midnight). I get a screaming call from the tenant, who tells me he isn’t going to take it any more because it is freezing in his apartment. He plans to put a heater in the apartment, which is against the lease.

The wife complains about how cheap everything is (admittedly not high-end, but not bad and they pay next to nothing), how much noise the tenants above them make (they exercise in the afternoon, during her nap in the living room, where she sleeps instead of the bedroom) and curses at me, if she even bothers to say hello. They have changed the lock and not given me a key. The police have shown up twice due to fights with their teenaged daughter and the have screamed at me and the third-floor tenants for calling the police (we didn’t call the police; the teenaged daughter did). And the scream and scream and scream at each other!

Oy vey! What a handful. Any advice about how to smooth things over for the duration of their lease?