Landlord Q: Rental needs repairs - how to accommodate tenant

September 9, 2024 11:22 AM

Please help me be a nice person but not bankrupt myself....

Hi all – I need help deciding how to be a decent person to my tenant while not bankrupting myself, can you assist me?

- I rent out a 1bdrm condo to a perfect tenant; he's been there ~2 years and I would love him to live there forever.
- I have not raised rent since he moved in - rent is maybe a tinch less than market rate or at market rate.
- I am a single mom who lives in an apartment across town, I've owned the condo for 19 years. This is my only property, and I do not use property managers. I have a great job, no child support.
- I eat about $200 dollars a month on the rental as my costs have gone up (HOA dues are now $500/mo, for example), but the rent I charge has not increased.

Issue: there is mold in the kitchen wall (which is his bedroom wall on the other side) and guys are coming tomorrow to take out a bunch of the wall and deal with the mold and the leak happening....tenant won't be able to use kitchen pretty much all day, then for 4 days he'll be able to use everything but the dishwasher.

This is the hopeful path to the end of a looong saga of absolute STANK in the kitchen for months; no one I've hired has been able to fix it. I feel AWFUL for this guy, it's so gross, but he's been really cool and teamwork spirited (to my credit, so have I) and not mad - we just both want this fucking thing FIXED.

Last month I felt so bad about the smell problem I told him to take $200 off his rent that month for the inconvenience. That got me fucked on some bills, and now I'm looking at upwards of $8000 in repairs needing to be done. I'm solvent but broke if that makes sense.

So to finally get to it - I want to offer SOMETHING to my tenant for all the bullshit, and mess and disruption his life will be having in the next few days, but I really can't afford to, like, send him to a hotel for a week (and he has a cat), and from what I've read in our RCW and tenant's rights info, I'm not legally obligated to do anything other than insure his place is "habitable" - it will be thus the entire project. (I am happy to be corrected on that).

I can't afford to reduce his rent, either (but I guess maybe I could make a few bucks work once but not more)

If you were tenant, what would you like? If you were landlord, what would you offer?

Please assume all good intention on my side, I am srsly not an asshole landlord, I try to do everything I'm asked, immediately.

TYSM MeFi, I've been in this community for 22 (!) years and y'all rule.

posted by tristeza to Work & Money (18 answers total)

Speaking as a renter - if you haven't raised rent in 2 years, and you've already given him a discount on last month's rent, you're doing way more than the average landlord would do.

If you still wanted to give the guy something to soften the blow (and again, you would be going above and beyond with this), maybe a gift card from Grubhub or something might be a nice gesture, so that he can order from there for a couple days and not have to worry about washing up. But again, you are already doing more than any of my own landlords have ever done.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:26 AM on September 9

Honestly you're already behaving like a gold-star landlord. If you really really want to do something more than you're doing already then I guess you could give him that GrubHub giftcard that EmpressCallipgygos suggests, so he can eat while hiis kitchen's out of commission - or if he's amenable, bring him casserole or something from your own kitchen. I feel like that will be his main concern for the time being.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 11:35 AM on September 9

Alternatively, if you have a good, informal relationship with him, could you promise him say a one-time rent break in December? If you can't afford it now, he would probably still enjoy one a little bit down the road.
posted by Frowner at 11:42 AM on September 9

Speaking as a renter (who currently has a wall full of mold! Lol), all I really need from my landlord is assurance that the problem is being addressed competently and that I won't be up a creek with a perpetual problem that maybe has health impacts.

In our current situation, I have not even asked my landlord about rent reductions for the month (my partner, who is more comfortable with conflict than I am, suggested it once, when things were actively leaking and we were worried about our electronics, etc., but later said it wasn't worth it -- so that's another perspective for you!) So you're already above and beyond anything that most tenants would feel is required/essential/demanded.

In our case I guess we'd think it was kind and fair if they don't raise our rent next year -- this is like, the 3rd or 4th water-based problem we've had in the three months we've lived here. It HAS kind of been a lot to deal with, and we already pay above market. But you've already not raised the rent, and your tenant has been below or at market, so I wouldn't even think you're out of line there.

Tenants understand that shit happens! Buildings are difficult, and repairs are disruptive. We just want to know things are being taken care of and that we won't have to live with forever mold and random stink.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:46 AM on September 9

As a tenant I would actually feel guilty if my landowner was broke and eating costs they couldn't afford just because they started viewing me more like a friend and didn't want to upset the relationship to ask for market rate. As a tenant with a standard rental situation (where we are not actually friends or family) I would only expect to pay less than market rate if there were many problems with the unit, building, or location.
posted by oxisos at 12:29 PM on September 9

"Not charging market rate" is not the same as "eating a loss," though it sounds like OP already knows that.

It's a little late for this (and maybe, for one day, slightly overkill), but if the kitchen was going to be unusable I'd generally expect the landlord to provide an induction burner so I could heat something up in another room. A gift card to cover takeout for the day (hopefully only one) the kitchen is unusuable would be equally appropriate and can be managed on shorter notice. A nonusable kitchen may violate a state warranty of habitability or the lease itself (depends), but even if it doesn't, it's a violation of the social contract, I'd say. The guy's been living with mold, apparently (?), for a significant period of time, and that is likely to have violated habitability requirements (it's a health as well as a stinkiness hazard), so I think your concern is not overblown.

(The d/w not being available for five days during repairs, eh. As long as the sink is!)
posted by praemunire at 12:47 PM on September 9

One day with no water and a week without a dishwasher is.... just, like, life. If it was your home you were residing in, would you move out for a week? No.

You're doing a great job, it's all good!
posted by DarlingBri at 1:27 PM on September 9

Renter here: I would be thrilled to have a landlord actually fix something. I'd want to know when the workers were entering my unit and leaving, and would want reassurance that they will clean up after themselves and will not be touching my furniture or entering rooms where they've no reason to be (I've had some REALLY bad experiences). Use of dropcloths etc. is a must, as is a warning if they're going to unplug the fridge. I wouldn't expect any compensation unless my items were damaged, my food was left to defrost, or a huge mess was left for me to clean up.
posted by Stoof at 1:57 PM on September 9

Turns out they may have to take part of the wall in his BEDROOM down as it adjoins the kitchen....arrgggh.

Thanks guys, I feel way better but also will find some small thing to do for him (I was going to offer to pay for his meals while he couldn't use the kitchen, I forgot to say that in my OP!)

Stoof: assume all of those things are true! :)
posted by tristeza at 1:58 PM on September 9

I think the bigger issue is not spreading mold all over his stuff during the demolition etc. What sort of contractors are you hiring and do they have good protocols in place e g. for taping off unaffected areas. I think doing one last month of $200 off might be appropriate, but otherwise I would be far more focused on habitability. Everything you're talking about is not just drywall dust but has mold. Does this $8k include really good plastic sheeting and cleanup? Something else you could consider paying for is someone to mop up after them.
posted by slidell at 2:14 PM on September 9

I'd probably do one of these, maybe not all of them, based on what I think his priorities are:

- Give him a ~ $50 gift card for food delivery
- Send in a house cleaner after the wall is fixed ($60ish in my area)
- Offer to take in his cat, or pay for the cat to board somewhere, during the reno days so the contractors don't let it escape

And I'd also loan or provide a Hepa air filter to catch all the dust and spores after the construction is done.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 2:43 PM on September 9

If you can, take over some sheets or tarps to spread on bed, dresser, etc., because demo of a wall is messy.
You are being a good landlord; I've been in a similar position. Stuff happens, you're dealing with it and communicating.Thanks.
posted by theora55 at 3:30 PM on September 9

Thanks again! The company coming to do work is a full-on mold remediation service, most of the bill is fans/filters/plastic sheeting, etc!
posted by tristeza at 4:31 PM on September 9

I think you're doing great. Every dwelling is going to need repairs and maintenance at some point, and it's never convenient for those living in the space. That's just life. Especially with all the news about RealPage, and landlords and property managers colluding to raise and fix prices, that you haven't raised rent in 2 years and even gave a break? Wow. That really should count for quite a lot, and I'm sure your renter appreciates it.

It sounds like you have a good mutual relationship, and really? I'd just be open and honest with them. You're actively trying to fix it, not just painting over the problem, but like you said, this is your only property and you're not made of money. Apologize for the inconvenience, necessary as it is, and perhaps remind your tenant that you haven't raised rent in 2 years, and if this applies, that you don't plan to in the near future. All of that should count for something.
posted by xedrik at 4:39 PM on September 9

I think you're doing great.

I would like to issue a slight cautionary tale X 2.

The first is about renting out a place at a lower cost than expenses. I think this is great of you, but I do worry that if you were laid off that would put both of you at risk, because your expenses (including repairs, vacancies, etc.) could tank things pretty quickly. That does NOT mean go raise the rent quickly, but please think on this. As a tenant I would rather have small regular increases than suddenly find something can't be repaired. If you have a huge savings fund, ignore.

The second is the same, but at sale. My parents, with honestly my encouragement due to the crazy rent situations here in my city, didn't raise the rents for their rental properly for about 10 years (unless people moved and they didn't, because low rent.) Now they are looking at selling it and the value is way less than they thought because due to regulations around rent, any new owner can't increase the rent a ton (fair!! But this is the situation) and because new landlords cannot afford/justify the capital price of buying the building with rents set as low as their are.

For my parents, although this is annoying for them, it won't hugely impact their quality of life. But if you would need to get the full value of your property if you had to sell it, unfortunately you need to think about that at least a little bit when the annual increase period/lease periods come around. My parents in hindsight wish they had raised rent half way - half of what they were legally allowed to do.

If people wonder why small time landlords have to keep rents in line at least a bit with the market, this is why some might. It does suck.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:10 PM on September 9

Thanks again! The company coming to do work is a full-on mold remediation service, most of the bill is fans/filters/plastic sheeting, etc!

Wow you really are the best, that's awesome. So I would say fair is whatever they say he needs to do to be safe (e.g. stay in a hotel one night), minimal cost of eating out while he can't use his kitchen, and potentially a small gift certificate or rent reduction for the hassle (or like, round up on the cost of eating out). Just my two cents!
posted by slidell at 8:56 PM on September 9

It's worth talking to your accountant to make sure that you are optimizing your taxation relative to this rental. If your time spent renting the property qualifies as active participation, and you are experiencing a loss you might be able to use that loss to offset income, subject to limitation. the cost of repairs should be listed on your Sch E and you might be able to put the HOA fees on there too but you 100% need to check with your CPA, EA, or Lawyer, because I am not a CPA (yet), this is not tax advice, and tax ideas from internet strangers should not be considered justification for a tax position.
posted by donut_princess at 8:28 AM on September 10

Honestly, it sounds like you are doing way more than required and are acting like a good human to the extent possible. Your tenant is most likely super grateful to have such a good landlord and more than willing to put up with a small amount of inconvenience in return.

Longer term, do consider warriorqueen's advice. My wife just sold a rental property that had been rented for years at well below market rate because she wasn't comfortable with increasing the rent to 'meet the market'. Because of the low rental, she took a hit on the sale price in exactly the way warriorqueen spoke of. I'd never suggest a landlord take advantage of renters and it's the right thing to do to keep the rent as low as feasible, but this is an investment for you and has to be thought of like a business. You can be an ethical, kind landlord without heavily subsidising someone else's living expenses.
posted by dg at 5:27 PM on September 10