Extremely rude tenants... What would you do?

@Perp valid point but with these tenants the PM provides me with her thoughts or instructions and includes the tenant's actual email in the trail, which I can read verbatim !!

On a lighter note the tenant did email the PM an apology this morning claiming that there was a miscommunication with her partner... Makes me feel slightly better...

 

Yes, some PMs are the problem.

Years ago we rented for 6 months. The PM was a complete @#$%. Every time we spoke, she talked down to me as if I was scum. One day I was waiting in the office to see her & heard her make two phone calls. One was to a tenant & she was as rude and insulting as could be. The next was to a Landlord & butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

 

I don't trust real estate agents... I have too many stories from too many different situation to be in a trusting mood!

The industry is in dire need of some serious regulation !!

 

There are some excellent agents, but of course, there are some less than ordinary ones too.

 

ah renting... your guilty scum until proven innocent scum!
pm's have a tough job... with some tenants but the sour taste rubs off on all tenants.
i guess most here are landlords so see the nice side of pm's (unless your a pain in the a)
we've been travelling oz and the common theme when you walk into a real estate they are quickly assesing you and to what hat they'll put on! tenants get brushed to the corner.
now this isn't all but is very.noticable and not uncommon.
there are some attitudes that need readjusting! favourite was looking for arental in gladstone, knowing there us some hurt going on up there we only wanted a 3 month lease and knew no landlord would turn us down if they were deperate. the young muppett at the desk gave me - we inly take 6month longer term leases as the market is tight! i was fuming! young girl only knowing the good times talking down to me! i asked for a pm to call me, who was unsurprisingly bending over backwards to show me places even though it wasnt the norm for 3 month lease!

 

That is not why a landlord would likely attend.

Have you not thought that neighbors, other trades etc do report back to PM or owners.

If the person is unskilled, maybe, otherwise, maybe not.

I think this scenario exists because it was hot water and a second attendance reqd. If a third party was sent, they would be getting the hostility probably.

 

Your PM needs to grow some balls and tell them how it works from day 1.
A lot has got to do with expectations. If they are set straight from the start, it goes a long way in getting the tenants to behave.

 

That's a really condescending attitude - "getting the tenants to behave"? Tenants are - I hate to tell you - Australian citizens with the same right to dignity and adulthood as landlords.

 

Sorry perhaps I did not express myself correctly - I did no imply tenants are inferior in any way - I am sorry I came across this way, this certainly was not my intention. What I meant to say was that there are always some people whom given the opportunity will try and abuse the system - whatever it is whether as part of a tenancy or else - and that having a good agent able to be upfront about the rules and able to provide clear guidelines about normal expectations for the tenancy is very helpful in deterring this negative behaviour. On the other hand, a slack/busy/poor communicator PM might convey the impression it might be possible to get away with a few things and indirectly increase the chance of abuses occurring. Of course, this applies only to a minority of people (tenants) who have a tendency to bend the rules in the first place.

 

This type of post doesnt occur with PM managed properties. They get paid to deal professionally with the crap.

 

Just on that, not every landlord is like that. You're right, some people don't want to spend any money whatsoever and will try as much as they can to not spend money. But a lot of landlords want to keep the property up to a high standard, so will happily listen to the tenant when they report an issue.

Sounds like you've had a harsh property manager though :/

 

They get paid but that doesn't mean they will be professional about anything. It entirely depends on the individual PM. I can assure you this type of post does occur with PM managed properties. The house next door has loads of examples of this exact thing. Very expensive "professional" property manager who was anything but "professional".

 

I concur with the majority of this thread sentiment.

If you're not happy with something, what ever that maybe, change it. You're the one steering your ship.

In this situation, you're clearly not happy with the tenants so do not renew the lease - give them the required notice to vacate.

You call the shots. You can be pro-active or reactive.

 

Agree with the majority. You have a problem and a solution to fix it. So go on and do it.

 

I haven't read all the replies, so forgive if I repeat. Tenants like this are better gone, even when they pay the rent on time. They won't change. Don't renew the lease. That being said, until the lease expires you may be stuck with them, unless you offer a break lease, which you may want to do--although in my experience these tenants will always ask for more than what you offer. Is your real estate agent tough enough? I had an extremely difficult tenant about a year ago--like yours, they kept asking for things they weren't entitled to. I had a real estate agent who would--like yours--send me all their emails with her thoughts. That is NOT what you want. She/he is not the mediator between you and the tenant; he needs to deal with the tenant. The real estate agent shouldn't be asking you to do anything; he/she should be saying no to the tenant (where applicable), otherwise they/you will end up being a door mat. You tried to nice approach and it didn't work. Now the real estate agent has to be firm. That being said, if a request is genuine, it does need attending to. Cover yourself in case the matter goes to the tribunal. Also, in my experience, I have found it best to have as little to do with the tenant as possible.

 

I say man/woman up. So what if they are rude? They aren't really being rude to you as far as I could see, maybe they don't get along with the PM. Maybe they are having to report issues that you are contractually obligated to rectify multiple times before the PM takes action. Maybe they are just whinging scum who pay on time.

Do you really care how nice they are?

Mind you, I'd get testy if it kept taking you multiple attempts to rectify issues with your DIY repairs too.

 

By the sounds of this thread I should also change my PM as well, with the tenants' constant attitude emails and the PMs lack of filter it makes for a pain in my backside!!

Great viewpoints everyone thanks for your input !!

The other thing that I didn't mention is that we are building a granny flat at the back (which the tenants knew about and agreed to before coming on board) so I'm worried that not many tenants would agree with a GF..

Oh the complaining about the builders from the tenants, now that's another story...

 

I completely disagree with the PM copying in the emails the tenants write into emails to you, the idea of the PM is you don't need to deal with the stress.
I have some tenants that are extremely rude, but unless there's a big issue at play my owners are usually blissfully unaware of it. Does it suck? Yes. But it's part of my job to set expectations with these tenants, and to let them know their attitude is not on and not to sulk to my owners.
If the owner is aware, it's usually because said tenant is abusive/threatening and the owner is aware that I do not contact them via phone and only via email/text as in most cases I'm gearing up to issue a NTV and need the proof.

Back to the OP. If you do not want the tenant, terminate the lease. It's unlikely they would be cooperative for inspections prior to them leaving, so this is one thing to factor in along with the GF. Is the rent below market for the current tenants? As you may find you need to reduce slightly to get a new tenant in (sometimes).

 

If you're building a granny flat in the backyard, surely the construction will be completed by the time your existing tenants lease finishes up. Don't renew their lease and rent the property out like that. If you've built the granny flat in the right area of the backyard, with enough privacy, you should still be able to find a new tenant.