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Landlords, we feel your pain. Some tenants can make your job as a landlord stern. Even when you do everything right, there’s always the potential for tenants to damage your rental property through carelessness or malicious intent.
We’re not referring to typical wear and tear in this article, but significant damage, such as shattered windows, appliances, walls, and flooring.
If the tenant causes damage to your property, there are steps you can take as a landlord to protect against further damage. Keep reading!
Doing this allows you to offer evidence and justifications for any actions you take, as well as being necessary if things get to the point where the courts must be involved.
Take high-resolution photos of everything the tenant has damaged. Hopefully, you have some “before” pictures from when they didn’t live there. You’ll want to document every instance where you attempt to inform the tenant of their responsibilities, which will be helpful for the next steps.
Excessive wear and tear on your rental property could lead to it being taken off the market for repairs. Be sure to get contractors in as soon as possible to estimate the cost of damages. You must get more than one estimate to ensure a reasonable price.
If you believe the damage was caused by an accident or your tenant has a history of good conduct, try to talk to them and come up with a solution.
You could discover that the tenant is ready to accept responsibility for their actions or negligence, and you could resolve the issue quickly.
A security deposit is designed to protect you from this type of situation, so hopefully, you were able to get one before your tenant moved in.
If you and your tenant disagree about something, or if the tenant can’t pay for repairs alone, you are allowed to deduct the cost of repairs from their security deposit.
If the tenant is either unwilling or unable to pay for the repairs, you could choose to file a civil lawsuit. However, if the figure was only a few hundred dollars, it might not be worth your while in terms of time and money investment to take legal action.
If you don’t want to deal with a tenant again or the damage is substantial or expensive to repair, you could sell your property to companies that buy houses in cash.
An eviction is a viable option if you have an unruly tenant who cannot fulfill financial obligations and poses a significant risk to your property.
The eviction process is usually complicated and takes a while, so be confident that this is the best solution before moving forward. Keep in mind that if you tell a tenant who is violent or vengeful that you are evicting them, they could do more damage to the property.
If the tenant’s actions are becoming too much for you to handle, call the police. With documentation of what is happening, they may be able to stop a violent episode or arrest the tenant altogether.
It’s one of the best options to avoid further damage by problematic tenants. With this offer, you’ll give your tenant a sum of money—like a few hundred dollars—to leave peacefully without needing to escalate the situation.
You may find yourself in a situation where your rental property has been trashed, and you’re not sure what to do, selling to homebuyers like Travis Buys Homes. In that case, we buy houses in Charlotte, NC.
You don’t have to worry about fixing it up or dealing with potential tenants again; we buy any house in any condition. Plus, we can close quickly so you can move on from this unfortunate situation as soon as possible.
You won’t have to deal with mortgage approvals, open houses, or spending high agent fees when you sell your home to Travis Buys Homes.
Request our services today to get started!
Travis Buys Homes
We Buy Houses In Triad Area As-Is | (704) 766-8660