Help - Tenant Doing Homemade Repairs (lease, construction, evict, security deposit)

[aaauger]

We own commercial property. When one of our tenants gave notice and vacated, it became obvious that the property had sustained thousands of dollars of damage. The tenant is insisting on doing the repairs without our approval (as required by the lease). The tenant knows the damage is substantial and doesn't want to hire a licensed contractor. The tenant has no construction credentials and does horrible work.

So what are our recourses? The court system in Austin TX is so backed up that we can't evict the tenant. Is there any way to stop the tenant from further destroying the building? The tenant is hell-bent to "finish" the repairs before we can take action.

[Zig'sbird]

Best advice I can give you is not to pay attention to what anyone says here and talk with your lawyer, immediately.

[pghquest]

Originally Posted by aaauger

We own commercial property. When one of our tenants gave notice and vacated, it became obvious that the property had sustained thousands of dollars of damage. The tenant is insisting on doing the repairs without our approval (as required by the lease). The tenant knows the damage is substantial and doesn't want to hire a licensed contractor. The tenant has no construction credentials and does horrible work.

So what are our recourses? The court system in Austin TX is so backed up that we can't evict the tenant. Is there any way to stop the tenant from further destroying the building? The tenant is hell-bent to "finish" the repairs before we can take action.

Some thoughts to consider.
1) Are the damages structural damages, or cosmetic?
2) Did you get enough of a security deposit to hold to cover the damages? Do you think this is the sole reason for them wanting to make repairs, or is it because they feel guilty and want to fix their damages?
3) The tenant has vacated, does this mean they are out of business, or moved to another location? This would determine recourse because if they are out of business, what would you possibly collect on?
4) Did the individual sign the lease, or a "company"?
5) Would you prefer they simply do not do the repairs, and simply vacate?
6) Estimated costs of repairs? I'd get photos and an estimate asap from a professional.
7) If they've actually vacated, and left the property, have they legally, (see a lawyer) vacated the property to the point you can simply do a lock out. Its a lot easier to "lockout" a commercial tenant then a residential tenant, especially if they have already vacated. I would assume (and its just an assumption) that you would be able to change the locks, provided doing so would have no adverse affects upon their ability to conduct business.
8) Future leases, I would add an adendum to allow regular inspections to the property to limit any such future actions by other tenants.
9) Were the damages they caused, needed to be done in order for them to conduct business? Example I had a tenant tear apart an office space to put a retail space in, (with permission of course). If thats the case, future potential use of the property affected due to damages?

Obviously I'm not providing legal advise, just offering some questions to ask yourself.

[Poltracker]

If they are major repairs, and being conducted without permits, perhaps you could call your local code enforcement office. (always check with your attorney first)

[aaauger]

The bottom line is that the tenant did a lot of damage (not wear/tear) and still wants to get a refund of the security deposit. The tenant is breaking the lease by doing unauthorized repairs but the tenant figures that he'll get away with it since he's leaving at the end of the month. As much as we don't like attorneys, it sounds like we need to contact one to find out if we have to accept repairs 1) done by a non professional, 2) that weren't allowed explicity in writing. Maybe that's where building code enforcement personnel come in....

[pghquest]

Originally Posted by aaauger

The bottom line is that the tenant did a lot of damage (not wear/tear) and still wants to get a refund of the security deposit. The tenant is breaking the lease by doing unauthorized repairs but the tenant figures that he'll get away with it since he's leaving at the end of the month. As much as we don't like attorneys, it sounds like we need to contact one to find out if we have to accept repairs 1) done by a non professional, 2) that weren't allowed explicity in writing. Maybe that's where building code enforcement personnel come in....

Then you are on very legal grounds to simply
1) POSSIBLY lock them out if they have officialy left.. this part get legal advise on, but you can
2) Let them do the repairs, at their expense... (provided they are not removing load bearing walls etc, any repairs you could build on
3) Not return the security deposit because they violated the lease.
4) Wait for them to sue you, and then use the violation of the lease as a defense. You wont need a lawyer for this part unless the deposit runs in the thousands. Provided its small enough to be heard at a small claims court, no lawyer needed.
5) File a countersuit to undo the repair work not done properly, again, no lawyer needed.

Get photos, get photos, get photos..
Get estimates of current repairs, and then estimates as to the repairs that you will need to undo
You might want to consider bringin in code enforcement, but keep in mind that if they sight the building in violation, that you would need to have them repaired prior to rerenting the property out.

Again, I'm no lawyer but those are the steps that I would probably take.

[okaydorothy]

Change the locks. If he has vacated, he has no business being in the building.

Then, get prices on what it would cost to finish and sue him. If he has no construction experience, he has no business doing the repairs himself. Alsoif he does them wrong which of course he will do, and the town comes in, you will need to ahve them redone.

Our trashy tenant got an electrician in to do some work. We had initially said we would get it done, but no, she knew better. Anyway, the town came in, we needed to get an electrical certificate and it cost us a fortune. The person she knew, was not licensed.

So it would be better to also contact a lawyer.

dorothy

[aaauger]

Good advice. At this point, there probably isn't time to force him to stop through legal means. Even though he's removed his property, his lease runs through the end of the month. So we'll just let his "repairs" happen, then reopen the walls that he's covering, and bring in a licensed contractor to review the "repairs". We want to be code-compliant, so we don't have a problem bringing someone in to review the property. Also, it's a simple property - sheet metal building - with not much to it.

The tenant is now actually damaging the building. Ex. He pushed a wall far out of alignment. He tried (key word) to straighten it, then made holes in the concrete floor to secure it.

We should have enough material to defend our position in court. This tenant has broken the lease in so many ways. Yesterday, we received a piece of mail: the tenant, a sole proprietor who went out of business, has apparently formed a corporation listed in his spouse's name and home address, but he is operating it out of our property. A background investigation may yield useful information for any legal action. Does anyone have experience with these?

Also, this tenant is threatening to make trouble for us if we don't refund his entire deposit. How would you handle that?

[Paula Lynn]

I never allow my tenants to do their own repairs. What if he gets injured? Then you have to deal with workers compensation. All my vendors have to be licensed and insured.

[pghquest]

Originally Posted by aaauger

Good advice. At this point, there probably isn't time to force him to stop through legal means. Even though he's removed his property, his lease runs through the end of the month. So we'll just let his "repairs" happen, then reopen the walls that he's covering, and bring in a licensed contractor to review the "repairs". We want to be code-compliant, so we don't have a problem bringing someone in to review the property. Also, it's a simple property - sheet metal building - with not much to it.

The tenant is now actually damaging the building. Ex. He pushed a wall far out of alignment. He tried (key word) to straighten it, then made holes in the concrete floor to secure it.

We should have enough material to defend our position in court. This tenant has broken the lease in so many ways. Yesterday, we received a piece of mail: the tenant, a sole proprietor who went out of business, has apparently formed a corporation listed in his spouse's name and home address, but he is operating it out of our property. A background investigation may yield useful information for any legal action. Does anyone have experience with these?

Also, this tenant is threatening to make trouble for us if we don't refund his entire deposit. How would you handle that?

If he went out of business, then listed his spouse's name/address etc because he continues to do business, research "fradulent transfer act" in order to go after "new" corporate assets, but there are stipulations that must strictly follow to go after them by this means. (such as shared bank accounts, customers, marriage status etc)

As for the troubles, I would right now begin logging any and all contact with this tenant, including phone calls, conversations etc, logging everything that was communicated. If they start trouble, you have legal recourse as to damages, provided they do not state their "opinion" and they cause financial hardship by either vandalism, or causing other tenants to not rent the property.