tenant problem
I own a 3 family which I also live in. One of my tenants decided that he wanted to paint his apartment and bought paint last winter. He later asked me to help him paint and I painted his bedroom. Now he has decided that I must paint his entire aprtment and has become hostile…
I own a 3 family which I also live in. One of my tenants decided that he wanted to paint his apartment and bought paint last winter. He later asked me to help him paint and I painted his bedroom.
Now he has decided that I must paint his entire aprtment and has become hostile and aggressive, ,barraging me with nasty emails and phone calls. I have told him that I will paint his apartment, on my own schedule, and have not made any promises. Today he paid his rent, a week late, and deducted 220.00 for the paint he bought. He provided me with a credit card receipt from a paint store, with the total of his purchase, but not an itemized receipt. Is it legal for him to do this? I want to return his rent check and tell him I will reimburse him for the paint,separately from his rent when he gives me an itemized receipt and that he cannot deduct anything from his rent. Is it okay for me to do that? In 12 years, I have never had a tenant like this and am not sure how to handle the situation.
I have to wonder about all those who are telling Flora the problem is her poor communication and she should continue to put up with him. I doubt you’d be giving that advice to a man. I don’t care what the tenant thought, his behavior is inappropriate and not to be tolerated.
Once a tenant gets an attitude it doesn’t improve. You don’t have a lease with him so give him his 30 days notice and get him out.
In my 2 family house where I live, I had tenants 3 years ago who threatened to repair and deduct without cause (among a lot of other things). They were OK (not great) for the first one year lease. As soon as the second one year lease was signed they became impossible.
I wrote a strongly worded lengthy letter which I had an attorney review prior to sending it registered and hand delivered to their door. I used words like egregious, inappropriate, harassment, not legiimate, violation, spiteful, despicable. I followed up my letter with posting a “Notice to Cure” for every single lease violation and they were still furious when I refused to renew their lease a year later.
They can only “repair and deduct” if the conditions substantially breach the warranty of habitability and affect the tenant’s health and safety. Aesthetically displeasing paint color and poor quality paint job don’t do it.
In your case, without a lease, I believe you can still post a Notice to Cure for the overdue rent. Get him out now.
I’m speaking as a tenant here. In my old apartment building we had a tenant who was a lawyer. Every little thing she could make an issue of, she did. We did have a rodent problem at one point when they did all the construction downtown and their entire neighborhood saw a huge influx of rats. she called the DOB to complain the landlady kept the building as a slum (so not true- my landlady was one of the best and a really really nice person). Needless to say, one bad tenant can make you miserable. I got to see both sides of the issue as I was the building manager for the landlady- sometimes tenants just have a me-vs-you mindset and nothing makes a difference.
Your tenant really is out of bounds. He is acting illegally- which housing court really frowns on and should he fight you on this, no judge will allow it. He should have gotten permission and I am not sure of how often you have to paint, but it sounds like he and his ex have been painting, and they shouldn’t have been. You are also within your rights to insist they only use certain colors, you don’t have to allow hideous shades of greens or reds.
Maybe letting him know that his is a month to month, what he is legally allowed to do, and legally what you are obligated to supply will be enough to make him calm down. I’m sure he doesn’t want to lose a nice place to live. If he is determined to make your life miserable there’s not much you can do except legally evict him with 30 days notice, but as everyone has pointed out, it’s a really unpleasant process.
Make sure you know what your rights are too- for the type of building you have and number of units. Ultimately it’s your home, first and foremost. Good luck- hope you can work it out.
I think it’s too late to deal with this on your own. hire a lawyer to write a certified letter to the tenant that explains why he cannot withhold rent, and that the paint is for the tenant to apply, not the owner.
give the tenant an out if he wants to bail, and make it clear he will not be speaking to you like this ever again. hire a good lawyer.
“I had the same deal w the landlord”
Key word here is deal. I had no such deal with my tenant. Thanks to everyone for all your input, sincerely, it’s interesting to hear the different takes on this. Just one last question
I do have a good lawyer, don’t feel that it’s quite come to that point yet, but if the tenant doesn’t calm down and pay his rent, I’ll let the lawyer handle it. I also think I’m going to hire a management company and not deal with the tenants at all going forward.
Just one last question to the fellow landlords here: if you had a tenant who threatened to withhold rent to force you to do work in his/her apartment that you actually are not required to do, or not able to do as soon as they are demanding, how would you respond to the threat to withhold rent?
The value of having an attorney write the letter to the tenant is that it MIGHT put a buffer between the tenant and owner, which MIGHT change the dynamic and MIGHT actually reflect the law, rather than what many presume to be an owner’s or tenant’s rights. After receiving notice from an attorney, hopefully the tenant will understand that owner has some “back-up”. Hopefully, the owner will employ a skilled and skillful professional (easier said than found). Flora, there’s nothing wrong with being friendly with your tenant. You can be friends, have a heart, and still maintain both your position and integrity when it comes to the business part of being a homeowner and landlord.
Well, I’d be in agreement with the notify/evict majority, which is everyone.
But if you are stressed out about your heart, let him do his thing. Your health vs. $220?
When I lived in BH in a rental a long time ago, I had the same deal w the landlord. He let me deduct paint from the rent every three years (free market apt) and do my thing.
PS, I am painting the top floor of a gut reno in the South Slope right now, about 1000 sft. I’ve already been thru much of the second 5gal pail of quality primer, 5 gals first quality BM eggshell, 2 gals cheaper BM eggshell for the insides of two closets, and a gal of semi-gloss trim for the windows. I must be close to $1000 in paint, and I’m only half done. So $220 ain’t bad.
Dear Flora
Due to your having serious cardiac issues it might be wise to seriously consider to find a way to remove the irrational tenant.
Whether he is rich or comes from money is a minor subject. Who cares!
Stress is dangerous to your health.
I wish I could say the removal might be peaceful but it might not be.
If you did not live in the same building your situation might be less stressful.
I think that was obvious, Ysabelle.
Ysabelle, this person is concerned about having to evict while experiencing cardiac problems, and sounded like they wanted to prolong the situation (adding more stress) as a result. Sounds like the perfect time to pay a professional to handle the problem. A few hundred to an attorney will be cheaper than missed rent if the tenant stops paying – he’s already stopped paying fully. There’s penny-wise and pound-foolish, you know. If the situation does not get better, she should get an attorney recommened by someone she trusts – you don’t hire an attorney, any more than you’d hire a contractor, without getting recommendations.