Problem With Renters

[Aimster]

So I signed a contract to have my house rented on the 17th. The tenants did not show up on the 17th for the walk-thru and to get the keys. They showed up on the 22nd and said some things were wrong with the house and would not be able to move in.

Everything in the contract said a move-in date of the 17th.
Its obvious to me that they are living paycheck to paycheck and are trying to get the move-in date pushed back to the 1st of the month because they are moving out of their current resident then.

I am going to tell them I will not rent to them. Am I legally responsible for any damages they incurred as a result of me not allowing them to rent the house? They were not ready on the 17th.

 

[arcenite]

So I signed a contract to have my house rented on the 17th. The tenants did not show up on the 17th for the walk-thru and to get the keys. They showed up on the 22nd and said some things were wrong with the house and would not be able to move in.

Everything in the contract said a move-in date of the 17th.
Its obvious to me that they are living paycheck to paycheck and are trying to get the move-in date pushed back to the 1st of the month because they are moving out of their current resident then.

I am going to tell them I will not rent to them. Am I legally responsible for any damages they incurred as a result of me not allowing them to rent the house? They were not ready on the 17th.

So I signed a contract to have my house rented on the 17th.

The tenants did not show up on the 17th.

It sounds more like they may owe you $$ for lost income. In other words, get a lawyer.

 

[HeXen]

rent started on the 17'th. i'd charge them for it regardless of when they move in.

 

[IronWing]

If you choose to rent to them, then yes, charging from the 17th is appropriate. If stuff needs fixing, fix it. If it really was stuff that would reasonably prevent tenants from making full use of the property then abate the rent due to account for the loss of utility.

If you choose not to rent to them then I suggest you walk away clean and forget about lost income. The first rule of lawyering: Never sue poor people.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Charge them on the first when they have their money.:twisted:

 

[olds]

Did they pass a credit check?

 

[Cheesetogo]

If you have reasonable doubts about them, I think you want to get them the hell out of there. You should probably talk with a lawyer though.

 

[Gibson486]

Is it really even worth it?

 

[Gibson486]

If you choose to rent to them, then yes, charging from the 17th is appropriate. If stuff needs fixing, fix it. If it really was stuff that would reasonably prevent tenants from making full use of the property then abate the rent due to account for the loss of utility.

If you choose not to rent to them then I suggest you walk away clean and forget about lost income. The first rule of lawyering: Never sue poor people.

Yeah, I had a lawyer tell me that it's never worth lawyering up when it comes to rental tenants because you will end up loosing more than you gain most of the time, especially when you take into account lost time.

 

[Sluggo]

The first rule of lawyering: Never sue poor people.

This, let it go and find a new tenant.

 

[dud]

Is it really even worth it?

What Gibson said.

No, it's not worth it. Your "renters" broke the contract not you. Send them a letter stating that you will NOT be renting to them because they failed to meet the terms of the contract (include a highlighted copy of where they failed).

Lifes just too short to worry about crap like this ...

 

[spacelord]

This is a sign of worse things to come if you rent to them. Ditch them if you can.

 

[Powermoloch]

Let 'em go

 

[woodie1]

nm

 

[Greenman]

You could get all kinds of crazy and ask them what the problem is. Perhaps something came up and they are short some of the rent, maybe they are having trouble getting their deposit from the last landlord. My point is that rather than going balls to the wall slumlord on them, ask a few questions, maybe you could help them out at no real cost to yourself. You might even get a little respect in return.

 

[boomhower]

Skip these tenants. Then review your screening procedure and find out where you went wrong to prevent it from happening again.

 

[Six]

You could get all kinds of crazy and ask them what the problem is. Perhaps something came up and they are short some of the rent, maybe they are having trouble getting their deposit from the last landlord. My point is that rather than going balls to the wall slumlord on them, ask a few questions, maybe you could help them out at no real cost to yourself. You might even get a little respect in return.

I've once told myself not to be a slumlord, and I've helped out renters. And guess what? In December, my renters showed up at my doorstep the with mom, mom's grandma friend, and teenage kid....gave me $300 of the $1700 late rent...and said "Merry Christmas." Judging from their trash bins, they sure had a nice Christmas, while I was down almost three months rent before being able to legally kick them out.

Nowadays, I'm smarter. You've got to act like a jerk, because most renters think you're making 100% profit off them. Therefore they feel entitled to handouts. Potential renters will to try to scam you with fake names, fake social security numbers, inflating their earnings, lying about job title, etc. No need to earn someone's respect at my own expense no more.

 

[Anonemous]

I've once told myself not to be a slumlord, and I've helped out renters. And guess what? In December, my renters showed up at my doorstep the with mom, mom's grandma friend, and teenage kid....gave me $300 of the $1700 late rent...and said "Merry Christmas." Judging from their trash bins, they sure had a nice Christmas, while I was down almost three months rent before being able to legally kick them out.

??? So you took payment of their late rent and were able to kick them out? I thought they advise you not to take the payment unless you didn't want to evict them.

 

[Schadenfreude]

This is a sign of worse things to come if you rent to them. Ditch them if you can.

This.