Property Management and Landlord Horror Stories In the Spirit of Halloween

Now that it is October, SPOOKY season is officially upon us. This time of the year is all about haunted houses, pumpkin carvings, horror movies and scary tales. If you are thinking of hiring a proper management company, these stories may help you decide to pull the plug and hire a trained professional to deal with potential ominous issues that may arise. Shockingly, as many as 28% of tenant applicants have some kind of criminal record. As such, it’s hardly surprising that more and more landlords are enduring the inevitable fall out that comes with doing business with nightmare tenants. Needless to say, the need for property management has never been greater. Don’t believe us? Let’s dive into these horrific first-hand accounts from landlords just like yourself that are sure to give you a fright!

1. Unreasonable Complaints

Some landlords receive complaints that are ultimately out of their control. Here are just a few of hundreds of queries raised by tenants which to most of us seem laughable:

• Too many homeless people in the neighborhood

• Unpleasant smells wafting from nearby restaurants

• Receiving a parking ticket for leaving a vehicle in a clearly marked loading zone

2. Playing with Fire

One landlord received a concerning text message saying, “Our building’s on fire.” The landlord obviously went over quickly and sees to their dismay that the property was indeed up in flames.

Apparently, one of the tenants was angry about the increase in rent. Consequently, he got a trashcan, dumped a load of paper towels in it and set it alight. Luckily, no one was hurt, and all the pets were rescued. However, most of the units in the apartment block were utterly gutted. This led to the property being condemned. Fortunately, the Red Cross shelled out for hotel rooms until the landlord could figure something out. As for the disgruntled tenant, he was subsequently arrested and sectioned after having his day in court.

3. Homemade Skylight

Unfortunately, this particular person left their condo and forgot to close their window during the winter time. This caused the water pipe located in the ceiling to freeze. Needless to say, the pipes cracked. Not only did this cause a leak, but it also triggered the whole ceiling to come tumbling down!  

4. Where did the kitchen go?

One self-managed landlord ended up with a big shock when his tenants moved out. They had taken his entire kitchen with them...even the kitchen sink was gone! “Until then, I’d never heard of a tenant liking a kitchen so much they decide to take it with them when they leave. From my experience, theft from investment properties is more common than landlords realize,” said Carolyn Parrella, executive general manager of Terri Scheer Insurance. Perhaps this could have been prevented if the landlord entrusted their investment property to a property manager instead of self-managing. By thoroughly screening and vetting tenants and conducting regular inspections, any odd behavior would have been flagged early on before the damage was done.

5. The Novice Plumber

One tenant decided to push loads of marbles down the drain because the sink was blocked. They believed this would help ‘push the clog out’. Unfortunately, this caused the clog to go deeper into the city line. As such, contractors had to come and deal with the situation which was now impacting the whole building (as many as 30 units)! 

6. There Was Always Something Fishy About This Tenant 

Sadly, this man’s appalling behavior led to his eviction. In response to his eviction notice, he decided to rip sections of drywall to insert fish into the walls. He then proceeded to patch things up and leave the place to stink. Consequently, no-one knew where the smell was coming from. This went on for months. They commissioned the property for numerous deep cleans. Eventually, they realized the stank was coming from the walls!

7. I Aint' Afraid of No Ghost.....

The first commercial property we bought, the seller informed me there was a tenant who would be problematic. She would not let my team inspect her unit, but it was fine when we closed. Soon after taking over, she said she couldn’t pay rent because of ghosts. Yup, ghosts. Needless to say, things only got worse with her. We ended up having to evict her and on her way out she complained to the city that she had unsafe living conditions. While, we were able to evict her, the unit was in awful shape and now we had the city on us. Luckily, they believed us as she never complained about repairs, but nonetheless it ended up costing me $15k in repairs, attorney fees and lost income. Lesson learned: don‘t hesitate to offer cash for keys to tenants who will be a pain!

Have these stories of nightmare tenants prompted you to consider the benefits of property management services? Luckily for you, Bundled Solutions Property Management has got you covered!

Please feel free to reach out and contact about our services. We’d love to help you with this. Speak soon!