What To Do When Tenants Trash Your House

An unfortunate but regular occurrence

Do you own a rental property? Did your tenant leave it in less-than-perfect condition? It happens! In fact, it’s an experience that probably every landlord has faced at least once. If you looked at your empty rental property and said, “Help! My tenant trashed my house” then here are some things you can do about it…

 

Is it worth going after the tenant?

You need to first assess the damage and decide if it’s worth going after the tenant. Unfortunately, it often isn’t worth the hassle because it may be a time consuming and even expensive effort to get the tenant to pay you back. However, if the damage is significant enough, you may choose to do this.

Hopefully, your damage deposit covers the amount of damage but with the cost of construction these days, that’s not always the case. A few thousand dollars doesn’t go a long way anymore.

 

Is it worth repairing the damage?

What To Do When Tenants Trash Your House

The obvious answer is ‘yes.’ From holes in the walls to missing toilets – we’ve heard of just about everything you can imagine. Sometimes a bit of drywall and paint will fix the problem, in which case you may want to fix it up and rent it out again, and then just accept the inconvenience as the cost of doing business.

 

 

However, the damage may not be worth repairing.  If you are planning to re-rent the house or list it on the market then your best course of action is to fix the repairs, even if the amount exceeds their damage deposit.

 

You could rent your house to a handyman

One little-known option that is actually really helpful is to find a handyman who wants to rent the house. In exchange for a discount on rent they can fix up the house for you to make it a nice rental property again. Make sure you have a timeline all spelled out, though, to avoid then staying too long without a lot of work getting done. All work should be agreed upon up front and documented.

You could sell the house

Another option is to sell the house and move on from owning a frustrating rental property. However, be aware that if you try to sell the house on the open market, you may have to fix it up first in order for the agent to list it. Another option is to sell privately to a house-buying team like ours. We buy houses in as-is condition and we’ll fix them up ourselves. So when tenants trash your house, fear not. You have options!

 

To get a fair cash offer for your property, no matter what condition it’s in, just get in touch with us and we’ll give you a no-obligation offer and we can even buy your property from you fast. Click here now and fill out the form or call our office at and we’ll get back to you right away.

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Jake Knight

Jake Knight has been a residential real estate investor since 2016. He specializes in acquiring and renovating houses in the Bay Area, Sacramento, eventually expanding to over 15+ states. Jake’s prior experience in lending, going back to 2003, laid the foundation for solving complex real estate issues.

Drawing upon his background in assisting sellers with the task of transitioning from a home they have lived in for decades, Jake launched a “senior move management” business in 2021. This company provides valuable support to seniors during the process of packing, coordinating their moves, and downsizing as they transition into senior living communities.

In 2022, Jake expanded his services by becoming a licensed real estate agent in California, providing comprehensive solutions to his seller clients.

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On the other hand, there are some sellers who need a custom solution due to either the property’s condition or the seller’s personal situation, or a combination of the two.

When the property is in really bad shape, they’re likely going to sell to an investor, so it may make sense to save money on commissions and find their own investor.

Some examples of personal situations that we can help with are: hoarding, pre-foreclosure or other financial issues that require a fast home sale, house with non-paying tenants or squatters, severely delinquent property taxes, homeowners who want to rent back the home longer than normal, or sellers who value privacy and/or are embarrassed by their home.

If your seller lead meets these criteria, you should propose the idea of making an introduction to me. You can simply suggest to them that your partner or colleague buys houses and ask if they are interested in speaking with me. Remember, you are not performing real estate agent duties. See our disclaimer below. The main thing to keep in mind at this point is to qualify them as a good fit or not. I can help you with the documentation and process things.