Lovers Fight and 18 Bullet Holes
Hello Troy -
I rented a home to a woman Nov 1 2007. Her credit was not the best, so I charged a little higher deposit. Rent is 650. I charged her 950 deposit. She was/is a very sweet woman w/ two nice grown children & one grandchild. The only fault I ever saw in her was that she was very naive for a grown woman.
In June my tenent had a “boyfriend” @ her house. The boyfriend’s “girlfriend” came over @ 4:30 AM & shot 18 holes through the front door, kicked the door down, shot the beautiful & new hardwoods, the stove (which is mine), dining table & chairs (mine) & holes in the walls. I immediately had a contractor over & in two days there was not a trace that one shot had ever been fired.
Then the tenet was uneasy about living in the house, so she never really stayed there very much, so I had to go over & water plants to keep them alive, cut the grass, everything to do w/ outside the house. My lease does not include “watering flowers” but since I spent a lot of money for those plants, I want them to last many, many years.
The tenet continued to pay me post dated checks though she was not living in the house. I started advertising the house for rent in Sept. A few people asked, “is this the house I read about in the newspaper that the lady came over & held off six police officers for 2.5 hours?” I try to look surprised…It is in a rural, very safe & good area & we have never experienced any violence like this. The couple who live next door (my tenents) almost left because of the incident. They watched the entire stand-off w/ the deputies for over two hours. The woman started early contractions & two days later miscarried.
Not sure what my question is. The tenant has paid for the repairs & has paid her rent thru the end of this month when her lease ends. So she has fulfilled her lease, but the stigma she put on that house (thru no fault of her own really - just bad taste in men?) has had a big impact on me and my couple next door. I guess I need to forget that night, forget the tenant and give her a full refund for the deposit? What do you think? I have many attys in my family & when I told them of the shooting incident, the majority said, “get rid of her now!” But I let her stay & we talked a lot about her “nerves”. Isn’t this a crazy story?
Thanks,
Tish
How can Trish reestablish her propertyies immage?
Welcome back!
October 29th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Trish,
That was one of the craziest stories ever sent to me. Here are a few things to consider. Most States require the landlord to provide a safe environment for the tenants and those who visit. As you said, the tenant has a bad taste for men. You don’t want her to invite other men over who cause similar problems or possibly worse.
Don’t make your property a liability to the tenants and others in the neighborhood. A repeat of such an episode could cause you liability. Attorneys look for patterns like that and include those with assets and in law suites. I would suggest finding another tenant. She is at the end of her lease, it is a good time to have her move on.
I hope this helps,
Troy
October 30th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Troy -
Thanks for reply. It is reassuring to hear what I already knew - just let her move on & so shall I. We have a mantra, “no renter is better than a bad renter.” I have always been lucky - & smart too - I checked everyone I have rented to thru renting authority & many, many I did not rent to - because of renting authoity checks.
Thanks,
Tish
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