Landlord vs Tenant Dispute: 10 Ways to Resolve Them Before it Gets Ugly
June 9, 2007 by Maricel Ferrer-Custodio
Filed under Finance
A rental property business is not that hard to manage. The returns can be good to really profitable with minimal effort. You don’t really handle a lot of people. Most of the time you just have to deal with a realtor, a lawyer, maintenance people and your tenants. However, it involves a big amount of investment. Thus, if things go wrong it can be really costly.
Usually, the problem arises from tenants. The most common disputes are unpaid rent and home maintenance issues. The worst part comes during the eviction process. Things can get out of hand, just like this fake craiglist ad
"House being demolished. Come and take whatever you want. Nothing is off limits."
The house was stripped by strangers (technically not robbers) looking for salvage materials. It lost its light fixtures, hot water heater, kitchen sink, vinyl window and even the front door among other things.
The police cannot intervene because it is being treated as a civil and not a criminal case. Apparently, the ad came out a few days after the owner’s sister was evicted. You can read more about this story in the Seattle Times online.
Nowadays, its not uncommon to hear about landlord vs. tenant disputes.
AllBusiness.com has a good list of ways to resolve these disputes or avoid them in the first place:
- Avoid disputes by knowing the laws
- Keep your cool
- Talk it out
- Meet face to face
- Get a professional mediator
- Submit to arbitration
- Document everything
- Let the lawyers decide
- Small claims court
- Take it to litigation
Incidentally, I used to be a tenant before. I had a problem with the assigned property manager. He was a real estate newbie lacking in customer service and knowledge of the law. I was able to settle things with his superiors. I was also quick to implore the help of the proper government agency to make sure that we get a fair settlement of the issue.
Did you experience any landlord/tenant dispute? How did you handle them? Do you have any suggestions on how to settle a problem with your landlord or tenant?
