Long term landlord here, experienced, but this one is new to me... I've got a duplex with an upstairs and a downstairs. Downstairs are long-term tenants and I like them, but after one day in the place the new tenants are already backing out. Downstairs aren't partying nor have loud pets or anything like that, but they have a nonverbal autistic child that shrieks... often. I wasn't told that explicitly but I suspect that was an issue.

Any ideas how to proceed?

Unfortunately, one of our favorite tenant passed in the unit tonight. The coroner has removed the body and the family has been notified. The tenant’s passing has come as a shock to us and the family. We want to be considerate of the family since this is such a shock but also we have a business to run.

Any tips on how best to handle it?

My husband and I are first time landlords in Florida and recently rented out our primary residence. We found tenants, and their lease began October 1. We gave them their keys, but they never moved their belongings in because their current lease doesn’t end until November.
We lived in the house for four years and never had issues with roaches. I think we saw a dead one maybe once when we first moved in, but it was a new build, and we hired a pest control company and never had any other concerns. We kept quarterly pest control for the entire four years we lived there.

Five days after receiving access to the house, the tenants reported seeing a dead roach. I called a pest control company to come inspect, and they found another dead roach and a few smaller bugs they couldn’t identify. Even with that, the pest control guy specifically said he wasn’t concerned about an infestation, but of course he couldn’t completely rule it out.

Three days after the initial complaint, I had our regular pest control company come out for another inspection and treatment. They treated the property for roaches and documented no signs of active pest activity.

The tenants originally asked to terminate the lease and have us keep their October rent, refund their security deposit, and waive the early termination fee that they both agreed to in a signed addendum. We declined their offer and referenced the fee in the lease.

They then sent us a formal email declaring the property uninhabitable, stating that the lease was terminated immediately, and telling us they left their keys in the house. They’re now demanding October’s rent and the security deposit back within seven days and threatening legal action.

The thing is, they gave us new images in this demand email that we had never seen before. One photo shows what seems to be a German cockroach, and another shows specks in a cabinet that could possibly be droppings. They claim to have seen multiple life stages of roaches, but neither pest control company documented an active infestation.

We’ve already consulted a lawyer, and I’m following up tomorrow. We also scheduled another pest inspection. Our goal is to recover possession, make sure there isn’t an actual pest problem (and treat it if there is), and rent the house again as soon as possible. But I’m not sure how to handle accepting their surrender separately from the financial dispute.

Has anyone dealt with anything similar? It’s just odd to me that we’ve had two pest control professionals inspect the house and neither found evidence of an infestation.
How would you handle recovering possession in this situation? And would you pursue the early termination fee or negotiate an agreement and move on?

TL;DR litigious, possibly mentally ill tenant seems to want to force me to court, how should I protect myself?

I have a small 3 unit building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. No tenant issues in 15 years; my older tenants have been there for 10 and 15 years respectively and we have a good relationship.

Unfortunately, 6 months ago I rented to someone who is seemingly mentally unwell. She's filed 45 "maintenance" requests so far (and counting). Sometimes more than one per day. She's also abusive, entitled and nasty. My contractors won't enter the apartment alone because she says really off the wall things when they're there. Of her many requests, only 2 were legitimate, a broken ceiling fan and a stuck window (both of which I immediately fixed). She's also bragged to one of my tenants about how litigious she is and how she "screwed over" her last landlord.

I've already moved her from text to email, and told her she may only submit a list of requests on the first of the month. But the nature of the requests make me think she's trying to build a case to trigger rent withholding and a code inspection. I have great documentation if she calls me in front of the magistrate, but I don't want to go to court just because she is bored.

My mental health is really suffering from the constant abuse from this woman, not to mention she's driving the other tenants and my contractors crazy and costing me a fortune in needless service calls.

She pays rent on time because she has a cosigner (parent). I've tried to involve the parent but without much luck. My contractors haven't thus far been able to prove that she's damaging the apartment, though I have some suspicions (e.g. brand new AC unit had marks like she shoved something in it).

Obviously I'm not going to renew the lease, but there's 5 months left. I'm going to make big changes to my leases and the tenant screening process going forward, but is there anything I can be doing to protect myself legally from this person?

How do you handle this? Some of these span months and are usually older people and many children during summer months. These are people who do not have a financial presence in the united states, no credit history etc.

I want to be accommodating for a few weeks but anything beyond that i am not sure. What are the issues that can crop up?

I do not plan to use a property management company. I am using Zillow Rental Manager and I am wondering what approach anyone else uses while on that platform?

Which inquiries do you take seriously? And is it ok for me to not want to give tours of my property until applicants at least answer the self provided high level questions on Zillow about lease length, credit score, income and pets? Seems like a waste of time to show your place to someone making 1x rent a month, right?

Currently, I get about 5 request for a tour a day (by pressing the tour button), and a handful of folks requisitioning a tour via additional information message without providing any information. Is this the norm?

What is everyone process leading up to an actual application for lease?

Hello,

I am trying to move into my home. The lease ended October 1st but I gave them October 2-5 for free to move out. They didn't move out. In lousiana you give a 10 day notice if a piece of paper of a 30 day notice wasn't posted or certified mail sent. I was stupid and gave them notice over email months before along with an uncertified mail 30 days before. Im out of state but moved cross country and all my stuff is in my girlfriends parents house. It sucks.

10 day notice ends this Friday. An official file for possession is happening Monday. These people have a new place but they want to coast the packing process. I've cut all contact bc my lawyer told me to.

When the file for possession happens, it will be on their record. In lousiana this can't be expunged. I've verified this inside and out.

My question is: are people generally aware of this? Do they know the consequences of even a filing? I'm assuming they will move before the court date so it will be dismissed, but the dismissal will not be settled, it will say moot, meaning they basically what I said, they left before the court date.

I'm having an electrician install some 240v outlets throughout the house. I notified the tenants and pointed out the electrician may need to access the attic through access panels in the bedrooms. The message I received back was this:

"There is fiberglass in the attic. Everything will need to be covered in plastic. Also, the hallway carpet will need to be covered in plastic if he accesses the attic from the hallway. I've already stepped in fiberglass from the last time he went up there and the carpet wasn't covered [he stuck his head up there while he was looking around for the quote]. The issue with fiberglass is it doesn't get vacuumed up entirely unless using a special vacuum."

I'm a mom and pop landlord, and my instinct is to tell them- "if you want it covered in plastic- go for it- at your own expense" I also think they're being dramatic about the fiberglass. But I'm wondering if I have any legal obligations in this case to prevent fiberglass irritation from common blown-in loose fill fiberglass insulation. I'm also wondering how far I should go beyond my legal obligation to make this tenant happy. Any advice/experiences/thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Fellow landlords, I’d appreciate your perspective.
How many reminders, inspections, and written notices are reasonable when tenants repeatedly fail to take care of a rental property?
I’m not talking about normal wear and tear or expecting a spotless home. I’m talking about recurring issues like poor housekeeping, accumulated debris, wet and dirty bathroom sinks and floors, neglected dryer lint filters, loose handrails creating safety hazards by unlatched storm doors repeatedly slamming into railings and causing damage.
These issues continue despite previous reminders and notices. And the damages are not just damages but need repairs which cost money.

I take my responsibilities as a landlord seriously, but I also believe tenants are responsible for reasonable upkeep and preventing avoidable damage.

At this rate, paying rent on time is not enough to make someone a good tenant when they repeatedly neglect the property.

At what point do you stop issuing reminders and decide not to renew?

I’d love to hear how other landlords handle repeated issues, document violations, and determine when enough is enough.

M.

I live in NY and I’m a first-time landlord renting out my 5 bed/4 bath house down in Henry County, GA. I listed it for $2,700/month (a bit under market) and my requirements are pretty standard: 680+ credit, 3x income, no pets, and a 1.5x deposit.

I am getting absolutely hammered by scammers on Zillow. I’m seeing fake paystubs, forged bank statements, synthetic credit profiles, and people hiding multiple housing evictions. Some are even wasting my local family's time showing up for in-person tours.

These platforms feel pretty useless for actual screening. They just act as a dumb funnel. A tenant uploads a poorly photoshopped W-2 or paystub, and the site just passes it along to me with zero verification.

Since I’m managing this myself from out of state, how do you guys weed out these professional tenants?

I want to force digital income verification so I don't have to play detective with PDFs anymore. I've heard of Findigs, RentPrep, Payscore, and The Closing Docs. Does anyone actually use these? Which one do you recommend, and at what point in the process do you make the applicant use it?
Thanks!

I’m a single property landlord and have had good luck so far with good renters. I expect no issues renting this place .

I have an applicant with three cats. None of my renters have ever had cats. What are you experience good and bad with cats?

What else should I look for and any guardrails I should put in place ?

I’ve been lurking in this subreddit for a while, taking notes and absorbing advice as I’ve planned to become a landlord. My wife and I bought some land and are mid-construction on our new home. We want to rent out our current house rather than sell it because the interest rate is ~2.3% I can’t justify walking away from that.

I’m nervous, though. With AI advancing, a lot of people could lose their jobs in the coming years. I’m concerned that local or federal governments might bring back (or expand) the kind of renter protections we saw during COVID, where it was extremely difficult to evict someone for non-payment. If job losses are significant enough, removing a non-paying tenant could turn into a multi-year process if it’s even possible.
Have any of you thought about or prepared for this? What are your thoughts on the risk?

This seems to be on a fast trajectory and I think it's an issue landlords will be dealing with in 2 to 3 years not a decade.

2 year lease, standard Texas Realtors form, moved in end of July.

Dishwasher stopped draining. Warranty tech said the dishwasher itself is fine, the air gap is clogged and has to be replaced. Landlord wants us to pay the $65 warranty fee plus the part.

His reasoning from the last few texts: “It worked for 2 months. If it was from before, you should have had this problem on Day 1.” “Even though it was not intentional, it is still caused by you.” "Motor failure would be wear and tear, but not clogs from non rinsed dishes." We do rinse.

Basically if it worked at move in, he thinks it’s on us.

The only clause about clogs is 15D(2)(d). Tenant pays for “damage from wastewater stoppages caused by foreign or improper objects in lines that exclusively serve the Property.” 15D(1) says everything else is on the landlord unless we caused it. Nothing else in the lease mentions clogs or drains, and nothing foreign was found.

Same thing happened in August with a bathroom sink. Same argument, plumber found long term buildup, and he paid but said it was “this time” only.

The money isn’t really the issue. We have 22 months left and I don’t want every clog to automatically be ours. He says he’ll ask “real estate leasing experts.” Am I reading the lease right, and how do I keep this from becoming the default?

TL;DR: A non-paying tenant has unauthorized guests living in the home, commits theft and property damage, creating a hostile environment.

I’m renting an apartment with a family member, and we are both on the lease. 3 months in this person stopped paying rent and utlities. They also started having a guest live in the apartment, rent-free. Over time, as I’ve made it clear that I don’t accept living with people not on the lease, who don’t pay rent, the other tenant and their guest have become hostile. Throwing away my food and belongings. Damaging or stealing furniture, and weirdly hiding it in their bedroom. Kicking in my bedroom door and trashing my room. I’ve called the cops and they’ve done nothing. Every week the situation escalates and it’s an extremely uncomfortable living situation.

Is there anyway my leasing office/landlord can assist with removing the tenant (and their unauthorized guest) OR placing me in a new unit? Thanks in advance!

My first rental.

I have posted our rental townhome on zillow for about a month but haven't gotten any leads. All the people that contacted either don't have the income or have pets which I won't entertain. I have not scheduled any tours for the property.

I have only posted on Zillow.

I am considering to use a property management company or a realtor.

I did get one person that has the credit and income but they are only interested in a 6 month lease and my minimum is 12 month.

Any advice what I should do next?

The property is a 3bed 2.5bath townhome.

Edit: location is in the suburbs of Chicago about 50 miles out.

There are other rentals +/-200 the price i have mine. I have been keeping an eye out the past 3-4 months.

Currently under contract on a property in northern IN. The property looks clean, but it came back with issues like the main beam is fanning and sewer line has roots in it. The house is built in 1922.

The REA suggests that these are common in the area, and doesn’t need a structural engineer as a basement GC would be able to properly quote costs and saves a few hundreds. So they are getting their recommended GC in to quote the cost to then ask for a price reduction, and asking the seller to jet the sewer line and rescan before close..

Is this standard? Wondering if these are bigger issues than the agent may be showing.

I own a house in Myrtle Beach, SC, and I’m thinking about moving back to Pennsylvania next summer to be closer to family. Nothing is set in stone, but I’m going back and forth between selling the house or keeping it as a long term rental through a property management company. Not looking to do Airbnb.
I’ve had people suggest both options, which hasn’t made deciding any easier lol. Some have suggested keeping it and renting it out, while others think I’d be better off selling once management fees and everything else are factored in.
I’m planning to contact a few local companies to find out what it could realistically rent for and what they charge. I know nobody can tell me whether it makes financial sense without the numbers, so right now I’m mostly looking for experiences from people who have actually done this. How much did you still have to deal with yourself even with a property manager? Were there unexpected fees or issues that caught you off guard? How did you find a company you could trust to handle things when you weren’t nearby? This would be my first time being a landlord, so I’m trying to get a feel for what I’d be signing up for before making a decision. Would especially love to hear from people who only have one rental and live out of state. Are you glad you kept the house, or do you wish you’d sold and saved yourself the headache?

I have been a landlord for 7 years. I have 10 units. I do regular keep-up work with all my units: two inspections a year and address all the recommendations since I don’t plan to sell my units.

I work with property management companies and treat them as nice as possible. I maintain great relationships with them and the tenants.

Until the end of 2024, I would rarely get a surprise maintenance work. Starting from 2025, something changed. I receive so many maintenance work requests that the last 7-8 months my income consistently reduced by 30%.

I started suspecting if I’m doing something wrong, if this is normal or if I’m being scammed.

Every single month, there are some plumbing issues, some tile breaks, water heater needs repair, etc. Small looking things, but they add up. I still make sure they are fixed in high quality.

This week the same issue that was fixed in early 2025 happened again. A fix that was supposed to last at least 10 years didn’t last 2 years.

Am I getting unlucky or is this normal for other landlords?

When I moved in, the landlord said they did not have a chance to repaint and that I could either paint the house whatever colors I wanted as long as I paid for the paint or wait a week to move in for them to paint it back to white. I took them up on painting it myself. Now 3 years later that I am moving out she wants me to both pay for white paint and paint everything “back to white”. However the house was not white when I arrived, and needed new paint that I took on the labor of doing then. I feel like this is an unfair ask? If I had known this was the case I would have just waited to move in and have her do it. I’d probably even be willing to paint it, but I am frustrated with being told I need to pay to around $500 in paint costs.

I self-manage (leasing, rent collection) but repairs are the part I'd happily hand off. Has anyone found a PM willing to just handle maintenance calls and coordinate vendors without taking over full management? What did it cost, and was it worth it? If you looked and couldn't find one, what happened?

EDIT: Thanks everyone, consensus is pretty clear: build your own bench. For those who have a plumber/HVAC guy or really any trade specific person you actually trust, how did you find him, and what made them be the one you kept?

How do you respond to a tenant contacting you asking how to get mail they received for a previous tenant forwarded to them ? The current tenant has been a problem so I’m not sure if I should even reply to such a request

I’m curious how other landlords handle this. What do you normally do with them? Keep them in a drawer and hope you'll figure them out later? Try them in every lock? Label them somehow? I'm asking because I'm looking into a solution for this and I'm trying to figure out whether this is actually a problem people care about or just something that annoys me?? If you deal with a lot of keys, I'd love to hear how you keep track of them.

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Landlords/property managers: I’m curious how you view a situation where a tenant has been paying their rent into court through a rent escrow case for several months.

I’ve been paying my rent into the court for 3+ months because of an ongoing issue with my apartment. My property management company knows about the escrow case, and the case is now headed to a bench trial in about a month.

I’m wondering what this looks like from the landlord/property management side.

Does having a tenant’s rent sitting with the court for several months actually create any concern or pressure for the property management company? Or is it basically just:

«“The tenant is paying, the court has the money, and we’ll see what the judge decides”?»

Do property managers/owners generally get nervous when a case continues for months and a significant amount of rent is accumulating in escrow? Are they worried about potentially losing the rent, having to make repairs, terminating the lease, attorney fees, or other consequences? The property manager hired a lawyer to represent them during the pretrial.

Or, from the landlord’s perspective, is there really not much financial impact until the judge actually makes a decision?

I’m especially interested in hearing from landlords, property managers, or attorneys who have dealt with rent escrow cases, rather than tenants speculating.

For context, this is in Ohio. Mediation was ruled unsuitable, so the case is proceeding directly to a bench trial, currently scheduled for about a month from now.

Just trying to understand how the other side typically views this situation while the case is pending.