My tenant painted the exterior of our house without permission (lease, eviction)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
He also painted all the interior woodwork. Ugh. I feel sick about this. The woodwork was beautiful and nicely finished. Now it's all white. The exterior was blue. It is now salmon.
Our Realtor has also informed us that the basement (with no egress window) is being used as a bedroom for what looks like multiple children.
Otherwise, he pays his rent on time and doesn't seem to have done any more damage than destroy the woodwork and paint the exterior the one color I absolutely detest.
We are 1400 miles away, so eviction could potentially not be easy, but I'm afraid of what he's going to do next, since he seems to feel he can do whatever he'd like to do to the house. I am also extremely uncomfortable with children sleeping in the basement.
What does your lease say? Is there any clause about what the tenant can and can't do to the property? Ours is very explicit about 'no painting.'
I would definitely evict a tenant that did that many alterations to a property without asking and getting approval.
I'm not really sure if there is anything you can do about the kids in the basement, unless it means that there are more people in the building than allowable by the lease. If it's not a clear violation of the lease, I'd ignore it and just focus on the breach of contract by painting the property.
I'm not a landlord, so I don't have any advice, but I do have some questions! I wonder if now that you do know about the painting, if you don't do anything, can that be considered tacit approval? And would it then be troublesome to charge him later to repaint the house and remove the paint from the woodwork? If there's any chance of that at all, I would evict him immediately - and go after him for whatever it costs to put the house back the way it was.
As a renter I've painted the interiors of houses - but always in the same color they already were - I just wanted fresh paint with no dings and dents. But it would never in a million years have occurred to me to paint woodwork - that's causing actual damage to the house - damage that's expensive to reverse.
What does your lease say? Is there any clause about what the tenant can and can't do to the property? Ours is very explicit about 'no painting.'
I would definitely evict a tenant that did that many alterations to a property without asking and getting approval.
I'm not really sure if there is anything you can do about the kids in the basement, unless it means that there are more people in the building than allowable by the lease. If it's not a clear violation of the lease, I'd ignore it and just focus on the breach of contract by painting the property.
The lease does not state anything specifically about painting, but it does say: "Tenant shall make no alterations to the buildings or improvements on the Premises or construct any building or make any other improvements on the Premises without the the prior written consent of Landlord."
I did give him permission to paint the interior walls ONLY and specifically told him to leave the woodwork alone.
There may be more people in the house than stated in the lease. He is supposed to have four kids. Neighbors are now reporting he has no less than 7, but no one knows for sure if they live there are just visit a lot. I think that might be hard to prove. He's got beds set up for 6 kids, but I suppose he could argue that the visiting children need to take naps or something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bouncethelight
I'm not a landlord, so I don't have any advice, but I do have some questions! I wonder if now that you do know about the painting, if you don't do anything, can that be considered tacit approval? And would it then be troublesome to charge him later to repaint the house and remove the paint from the woodwork? If there's any chance of that at all, I would evict him immediately - and go after him for whatever it costs to put the house back the way it was.
As a renter I've painted the interiors of houses - but always in the same color they already were - I just wanted fresh paint with no dings and dents. But it would never in a million years have occurred to me to paint woodwork - that's causing actual damage to the house - damage that's expensive to reverse.
Good luck!
I can't even imagine how much cost will be involved with removing the paint and refinishing. There is a lot of wood in there. His security deposit won't even begin to cover it. And, of course, I have to add the amount needed to repaint the exterior.
It might constitute tacit approval if we don't do anything about the painting now that we know about it. That's a good point. I don't know what the chances are for getting the money from him that we would need to restore the house to the condition it was in. Probably quite small.
I'm not a LL or lawyer, but I am trained in building code research for all types of dwellings.
Some districts have rules about how many occupants per SF of property. There is certainly a rule like this regarding multi-family dwellings in your area. If yours is a single family home there may or may not be. You're realtor should know the occupancy laws.
Also, find out who the JHA (Jurisdiction Having Authority) and permit office is for your property. You'll have to find out what building code is used for your home, and then research the egress rules. There are clearly stated rules, overseen by your JHA, that spell out what can constitute a bedroom.
Most townships have the current and past code books on file at the library. But find out from your JHA what version you need to look at. It will depend on when your home was build and what the current version is that they use. (e.g. some places use old codes NFPA codes from 2000 while others might use the 2006 version.) Once you know what versions you need, you may be able to find the books at your local library in your new location. Code books cannot be checked out. If you have a friend who is an architect -- they can be an invaluable resource here.
Since I'm no lawyer, I don't know where the liability would fall if, God forbid, there were a fire and children were injured. I think it would be wise to understand the building code regarding allowable uses for the basement, and to send a letter to your tenant stating these rules.
It might constitute tacit approval if we don't do anything about the painting now that we know about it. That's a good point. I don't know what the chances are for getting the money from him that we would need to restore the house to the condition it was in. Probably quite small.
It sounds like you may have to sue him for the balance...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maggi07
Oh! He also removed the For Sale sign in the front yard. Our Realtor is supposed to be addressing this with him today.
Well if you're selling the house, maybe you can just leave the woodwork white? I know you don't like it painted, but the future buyer might be just fine with it?
But back to your tenant, removing the For Sale sign speaks volumes. You can't just write him off as just a guy who went overboard with the painting, and hoped you wouldn't notice, if he's also removing the realtor's sign. He's evidently got a bit of an aggressive streak. Fun!
Is the realtor doing the job of a property manager? If so, what does s/he say about the situation?
No, he's not, so he's hesitant to give us advice. We'd like him to manage if/when we get future tenants.
He did say we need to get them out ASAP because he thinks they will sabotage any efforts to sell the house.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWayISeeThings
Some districts have rules about how many occupants per SF of property. There is certainly a rule like this regarding multi-family dwellings in your area. If yours is a single family home there may or may not be. You're realtor should know the occupancy laws.
Since I'm no lawyer, I don't know where the liability would fall if, God forbid, there were a fire and children were injured. I think it would be wise to understand the building code regarding allowable uses for the basement, and to send a letter to your tenant stating these rules.
Thank you! I will look into what you suggested. This last part is what I'm afraid of.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bouncethelight
It sounds like you may have to sue him for the balance...
Well if you're selling the house, maybe you can just leave the woodwork white? I know you don't like it painted, but the future buyer might be just fine with it?
But back to your tenant, removing the For Sale sign speaks volumes. You can't just write him off as just a guy who went overboard with the painting, and hoped you wouldn't notice, if he's also removing the realtor's sign. He's evidently got a bit of an aggressive streak. Fun!
I agree. I think removing the sign says a lot about his attitude. I just spoke with the Realtor and he said he can't seem to get a return phone call from the tenant, which doesn't surprise me. He says if he won't put the sign back and leave it alone, he'll slap him with a 250K fine.
If someone likes white woodwork and wants to buy it, that's fine. I think the wood was a big part of what made the house appealing and I'm afraid having it painted is going to make it harder to sell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6
Good question. How exactly are you managing this property from 1400 miles away?
Well, we moved and couldn't find a buyer, so we rented it out. We interviewed a few different management companies and didn't like them, so we just did it with the help of friends. It's been a couple years and this is the first problem we've had. The only reason we found out was because we just put it back on the market for sale.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
