Best Way To Get Rid Of A Bad Tenant

Q: Gerald, I have a tenant that’s been a nightmare ever since she moved in–she’s always late on rent, only pays after I threaten to take her to court and she bothers and harasses the other tenants in the building.  What should I do?  Mattie, King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

A: A healthy landlord-tenant relationship must be a symbiotic one.  If you want good tenants, you have to be  good landlord and it’s important as a landlord that you set and manage expectations from the beginning.  That said, if you have a problem tenant, it’s normally in your best interest if you can to work out an agreement with the tenant to leave and avoid having to go to court where you’ll have to pay legal and court fees, particularly since even if you end up in court, you’ll likely end up going before an arbitrator who’ll encourage you to try to work out an agreement with the tenant anyway. 

Working out an agreement to avoid going to court may not be possible if your tenant is unreasonable, but it’s certainly worth a try. Also, after you finally resolve the issue, you should scrutinize and update your tenant screening process to try to avoid renting to another problem tenant in the future. 

Thanks for your question, Mattie, good luck.

For more real estate tips and information visit my blog at geraldlucas.com.

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