Tenant keeping apartment untidy and unsanitary
I have a tenant who has given notice to move out on June 30, 2024. He has agreed to facilitate showings for prospective tenants. However, every time a showing is scheduled the place is so messy that it is impossible to get inside without tripping or potential injury. The place smells bad and there is barely any space to walk. This tenant has been whiny and difficult from the start and I feel like he is doing this to jeopardize showings.
Is there anything I can do within my rights to address this situation amicably? I don't want to ruffle his feathers and can't wait for him to leave. There has been a lot of interest since I released the ad but people coming for the showings are hugely turned off by the condition of the unit. The unit was newly renovated and looked amazing when it was rented out last year.
#2 Market Trends & Data Contributor
- Investor
- Miami Beach, FL
Hi Sridhar, Check your agreement for any clauses that relate to the condition in which the tenant must keep the property and their responsibilities regarding showings. Often, there are stipulations about cleanliness and accessibility that you can politely remind the tenant of.
Usually this is one of those times that you'll have to wait until they are out to show the property in earnest. I've seen this sometimes as a passive aggressive retaliation to the showing of the property, even though it is clearly allowed in the lease. You also run the risk of burning good leads by showing them a filthy apartment.
You may want to appeal to your outgoing tenant that each of your goals are aligned, and the sooner you find a qualified applicant, the less showings will need to occur - and the level of housekeeping (or lack thereof) is working against that mutual goal. I would under-react about the house cleaning as they will be quick to retort that they are in the process of moving - just state that it would be helpful to have the apartment "show well" so you can get this part of the process over with and both you and they can return to preparing for the transition.
Quote from @Sridhar D.:
Stop showing the property. Showing a property in bad condition is only going to attract low-quality renters. You are better off waiting until this renter is out, cleaning the place up, and then showing it vacant.
Your lease should include something about the tenant maintaining the property, you should inspect every 3-6 months, and you should have consequences for tenants that fail to comply.
@Sridhar D. continueing to show a property in bad condition may lose you good tenants. If you want to advertise you can advertise as anticipated vacancy and have a showing open house date in the future. or just wait and advertise when it is vacant.
Stop showing it...waste of time and effort
Your only leverage is to start discussing how much deposit will be held if there is a lot of cleanup after move out...damages etc. Right now my concern would be how bad things will be at move out....how much I'm going to have to clean up and fix. That would be my focus and I would start leaning hard on that with the tenant. I often provide a sheet of costs for certain cleaning/replacement items that will be assessed if they have to be dealt with at move out- Leave out that its making showing hard..... they dont care. Start talking about THEM losing $$ and you may get some response.
Your goal is to minimize how crappy the place will be at move out....get that dealt with and worry about showing it after that
Thank you all for the very valuable feedback. Based on all of your suggestions I decided to simply advertise the unit as an anticipated vacancy and mention in the ad that I can only show the place starting 07/01 and that it is available to rent anytime after that. I would rather absorb the loss of rent than deal with any more passive aggressiveness from the current tenants and lose out on good leads as a result of that.
I really appreciate each of you for taking the time and clarifying things for me.
@Sridhar D.
I am dealing with something similar, here are my suggestions:
1. Make sure you have your move in checklist
2. Make sure you have pictures reflecting the condition at time of move in
3. Pull the listing
3a. You will lose a month's rent
3b. IF you lease the unit now, you are likely to get a lower quality tenant & quality of tenant is everything
4. Follow your state's process in withholding security deposit
4a. Get quotes for clean out
4b. Get quotes for cleaning
4c. Get quotes for repairs
In MA, we have up to 30 days to return deposits.