Being a landlord comes with its fair share of challenges. Issues such as problematic tenants and unexpected repairs can test your patience. What is the best way to address these issues as a landlord? Becoming aware of the most common rental challenges helps landlords take proactive measures when there is an issue arising on their property.
Read this article as we explore some of the most common rental challenges and how to deal with them.
Table of Contents
Handling Late Payments
Most landlords face the common issue of collecting late rent payments. While some tenants may fail to pay the rent on time occasionally, if you see a tenant with consistent rent payment delays, you need to take action.
At the time of signing the lease agreement, you need to specify the rent due dates. In most instances, it can be on the first of every month. You can also send reminders to the tenant before the due date. When there is a delay, you can get in touch with the tenant and offer a grace period. If a tenant fails to make the rent due after the grace period, landlords should be able to issue a formal late rent notice. It would be a violation of the rental agreement as well.
Talk with your tenant if they are experiencing any personal issues that affect their delayed rent payment. If the tenant has been making on-time payments for the past few months, you can offer an exception for up to a month. But if the tenant is habitually making late payments, you need to include late fees and inform the tenant about it.
If you sense that you are dealing with a difficult tenant in collecting rent payments, you may collect enough documentation before processing the eviction notice. When in doubt, it’s best to consult with a legal professional to be safe before proceeding.
Managing Property Damage and Wear
Even with responsible tenants, regular use can still cause a property to wear and tear. As a landlord, it’s best to establish routine maintenance to address minor damages promptly before these small problems turn expensive. Prepare by assembling spare appliances, basic tools, paint supplies, and common replacement parts. Then, you can tackle repairs on your own.
For example, you can fix leaky faucets, worn-out screens, or dripping icemakers. Maintain thorough maintenance records, noting issues reported for each unit. In addition, be aware of the steps you can follow to prevent common home repairs and follow them.
When confronted with more significant tenant issues, take pictures immediately. This applies best to issues such as shattered windows and stained carpets. You need to do it while informing the renters that they bear responsibility per the lease security deposit clause.
Provide tenants with a reasonable window to personally rectify issues or cover repair costs before intervening. Property managers in Northern Virginia emphasize that handling these common rental challenges is essential for landlords to maintain smooth operations and keep tenants satisfied.
However, with extreme willful destruction or refusal to address problems, consult an attorney regarding the next moves, particularly if police involvement proves necessary.
Dealing with Noise Complaints
Excessive noise represents one of the most irritating and frequent tenant complaints. When renters are disturbed by noises that neighbors make, you will get complaints. Start by reviewing acceptable thresholds for sound along with off-limit hours for disruptive levels. Then verify your state’s statutes regarding disturbance of peace regulations when unacceptable noise persists.
Once you are familiar with the local regulations about noise complaints, you can take appropriate action. You may visit the premises during the times when noise complaint is present. Then, you can validate if the issue is real or not.
If clear noise violations occur, issue a formal warning outlining the lease violations while mandating immediate correction.
Addressing Tenant Conflicts
It is completely natural for disputes to occur among tenants. As a landlord, you have the authority to address such issues. Once you get a complaint, you need to schedule a meeting, inviting both parties. Then, they will be able to share grievances and suggest reasonable compromises. Provide appropriate lease documentation to reinforce community guidelines like noise limits or guest policies.
If problems occur due to differences in lifestyles, you may think about possible unit transfers. Separating the tenants physically will help you to overcome such problems in most instances. However, when the problems involve discrimination or harassment, you should not tolerate it. This is where you should consider possible evictions.
When investigations into criminal threats, violence, or civil rights infractions occur, you need to refer to federal, state, and local housing laws. A structured approach to managing tenant complaints ensures that issues are resolved efficiently and fairly.
Handling Maintenance Requests Efficiently
Property maintenance is a duty you have as the landlord. However, you need to have an established maintenance routine in place to complete it efficiently.
You should first have a proper submission procedure for maintenance requests. For example, you can use a mobile app or a web portal, where the tenants can submit their maintenance requests. Allow it to create work orders and assign those work orders to your maintenance team members. Make sure to assign an SLA (Service Level Agreement) upon completion of all assigned work orders.
Set automated reminder systems to follow up on outstanding issues requiring tenant access or contractor coordination. It is better to have a system in place to handle emergency requests separately with a quick turnaround time. Other requests can take a few days to complete.
Dealing with Pests and Infestations
If you don’t take proper measures to maintain your property, you will hear renters complaining about pest infestations. Pest infestations, such as mice, roaches, and bed bugs, can escalate quickly if unaddressed. This is why you need to get a specialist pest infestation professional to look into the issue.
At the time of addressing the pest infestation, make sure such issues won’t happen again. This is where you need to go for more reliable pest control methods. You can also advise renters to store food properly and minimize clutter where pests breed. It can provide a helping hand to you by keeping pest infestations away from happening.
Final Words
When dealing with common rental challenges, landlords should be ready to navigate through these issues. This includes managing expectations between damage and normal wear and tear, dealing with delayed late rent payments, and noise complaints, and establishing maintenance to prevent further property damage.
Being aware of these situations is a great first step for landlords to strategize their resolutions, cost-effectively.Remember that establishing good communication with your tenants is another way to resolve these issues and avoid further damage to your rental property.
Read Next: Landlords Responsibility for Home Security During the Holidays