My tenant says that he won’t pay rent to me because the roof leaks. What should I tell him?

Good question.

Tenants that threaten landlords or try to withhold rent for repairs not being done are asking to not have their lease renewed. If a tenant does this, you need to first, get a qualified property management company to go introduce themselves to the tenant.
They can explain to the tenant how it works and what their options are if they refuse to pay rent. The very experienced property managers know all of the games that tenants play. They key though is you need someone that is experienced with evictions not a new property manager that has never evicted a tenant.

It is your property. If a tenant disrespects you with this sort of crazy talk, then you need to let a property management company take over. Make it clear to the property manager that you want them to get this tenant out asap legally. Let them know that you will pay for a lawyer to help if needed but you want them to just get them to agree to move out.

I know the temptation to give tenants a warning but it never works. A leopard does not change its spots and neither does a bad tenant. Getting rid of that one bad tenant makes room for a golden tenant that will live there for 30 years and pay rent and have rent increases met with understanding.

Don’t threaten your tenant or do anything. Just break off communication and send in a property manager to speak to the tenant for you. One that is very experienced that has been through lots of evictions.

I hope that helps and good luck with your investing!

Benjamin Z Miller
www.benjaminzmiller.com