99.co’s Halloween Specials: How to handle a tenant from hell

On paper, landlords have more power than their tenants. Once you have been a landlord for two or more years, you’ll see the fundamental flaw in this assumption: a person with no house and no money (hence the late payments) has far less to lose than you do.

At a certain point during the tenant / landlord fight, your tenant will drag you down and beat you, because you can’t risk going as far as they can. Plus, tenants (even a tenant from hell) tend to have the public’s sympathy. So here’s what you need to do instead:

First, how to identify a tenant from hell

The demons come in four particular flavours:

The unseen haunting, who will never meet you, answer your calls, read your texts, or do anything that allows you to interact with it. What it will do is live on your property and refuse to leave, while paying rent in intervals ranging from “30 days late” to “never”.

The wailing banshee, who is the opposite of the unseen haunting. This tenant from hell will call you, text you, email you, and if possible sit in your living room with a PowerPoint deck on 762 renovations that need to be made. This type is quite fastidious and will pay on time, but they will also call the SCDF emergency line if a faucet leaks. You will never be left in peace.

The high priest of mayhem, who drives every other resident around your property crazy. This tenant from hell hosts parties with 60 guests and a live metal band on Monday nights, or holds the All Singapore Drone Flyers Convention in your dining room.

Destructor, Lord of Broken Furnishings, who is generally accompanied by the sound of apologies and breaking glass. This tenant from hell has an unholy aura that stains curtains, cracks wood, and rusts metal within a 10 metre radius. After a one year lease, they will manage to break more furniture than you can afford to replace.

Second, work out incentives that appeal to each type

My policy is to always try the hard approach first. You, on the other hand, might want to try a soft approach because tenants mean money.

Even if you can evict them, it can mean legal costs (if they fight you in court), a bad reputation that drives away other tenants, and the acquisition costs of finding new tenants (even if the deposit covers it, you waste time on marketing).

For the unseen haunting, go down to the house and tell them you want to help them pay the rent (literally, lead with that opening). Then find out why they’re paying late.

Some may have jobs with inconsistent payments, or clients who don’t pay them on time – I find these are the two most common reasons. It’s usually possible to work out an alternative payment scheme, such as weekly or bi-monthly, which suits their cash flow. Be flexible in how you get your money.

You may also want to give an unofficial discount, as a reward for paying early. You can actually work this into the rent. For example, set the rent at $3,400 for a month when you actually just want $3,300 a month – then give an unofficial $100 “discount” for prompt payment.

For the wailing banshee, you need to set parameters. Be frank and tell them you have a limited budget, but you will see what you can do. Tell them to list all the problems they want fixed – then pick out a few and agree to settle those. That’s your compromise. If they want more or are not happy with it, there’s nothing else you can do.

For the high priest of mayhem, offer to help them book a place for their events. Like the condo clubhouse, or the BBQ pit. I’ve booked places at my club (at subsidised rates) to help a tenant hold a big celebration (his daughter’s graduation), instead of using my property – I knew the celebration would go on till late, and the neighbour had the personality of a pissed off cobra.

For Destructor, Lord of Broken Furnishings, there is no possible enticement. Simply move your valuable stuff out. Do not attempt to give them a discount for keeping things well-maintained. It almost never works, and they will just get into a fight with you when they attempt to claim said discount (despite breaking half the house).

There is a certain personality that cannot accept responsibility for breaking things. This is that personality. This is the type of person who will bend an iPhone in half to fit it into his pocket, and then fail to understand why it’s his fault when he tries to claim the warranty.

Third, start getting assertive

The key here is to be assertive, not aggressive. On the vehemence scale, think annoyed golfer and not Mixed Martial Arts fighter. If you get aggressive and start shouting, the typical response is more aggression – and that’s not something you want from a person who is in your house.

Specify what your tenant has to stop doing, and send it to them in writing. In you have a high priest of mayhem type, slip a letter under the door. Be specific in your demands, and state your intended follow-up action:

“If I receive another noise complaint this month, I will be forced to call the to evict you, as I am accountable to other residents in the building.” Don’t just send a message saying “please don’t do X”.

Keep the message short. Don’t dredge up past events (e.g. I already tolerated it when you and your friends watched football and cheered at two in the morning…) When you do that, it sets an adversarial tone. Remember: assertive, not aggressive.

Fourth, work out possible penalties based on the contract

If incentives don’t work, call your property agent or lawyer, and look over the contract. In extreme cases (the tenant is destructive and has caused multiple home insurance claims, or has caused the police to visit multiple times), don’t hesitate to quickly evict the tenant.

Remember to take pictures of any damage. If the police have been called to your property, contact them and ask for copies of the report (if there are any reports made on the incidents). You should start gathering documentary proof of misbehaving tenants early – don’t wait till the day you decide to evict them before you scramble to do it.

Check out other rental related articles here: 7 basic steps to take when screening a tenant on your own and Ask the 99.co expert: Top 10 FAQs on landlord-tenant disputes

Find the rental home of your dreams today at Singapore’s largest property portal 99.co!