Communication is an essential skill for landlords and property managers. However, even those with excellent communication skills may feel at a loss on how best to communicate with tenants who cause problems. Dealing with a tenant who consistently pays their rent late or regularly causes issues with other tenants can stir up feelings of dread. It may be tempting to ignore the issue, but this is likely to increase tensions between you and the tenant, or even worse, encourage the bad behavior to continue or worsen.
Having a challenging tenant is never fun, but you can often take precautions to put an end to the bad behavior before it even starts. Clear communication also can help to alleviate tensions and correct the problem behaviors. Here are a few tips on how you can improve communication with problematic tenants and prevent unwanted behavior.
Clearly State Your Ground Rules
Many of us have experienced a time where the rules are unclear. If rules aren’t laid out, how can you know whether you’re breaking them? The same goes for tenants. To prevent confusion, make sure that your ground rules are clearly laid out in your lease. This will give your tenants fewer chances to say they misunderstood. If they do break the rules, you can direct them to the part of the lease they’re violating.
You’ll need to be consistent with enforcing the rules and should have penalties for each type of contract breach. Many tenants will take advantage of leniency, so having consequences that are enforced – such as late fees for late rent payment – is essential. The penalties shouldn’t be unreasonable, but firm enough to discourage bad behavior.
Offer Digital Methods of Communication
To ensure excellent communication with your tenants, it’s recommended that you offer them multiple ways to contact you. Calling, texting, or emailing is standard for many properties. Some may even choose to have a Facebook page, Google account, or website. The more channels you offer your tenants, the easier you make it for them to communicate with you.
This is an especially important consideration for millennial and generation Z tenants, who overwhelmingly prefer to communicate through digital channels as opposed to phone calls to face to face interactions. As these age groups make up a large percentage of renters around the country, it’s beneficial to implement communication methods that accommodate them.
If you decide to have multiple digital communication options, it’s also a good idea to state the hourly availabilities for each. This will let your tenants know which method to use and when.
Practice Patience
Challenging tenants can take many forms. Some of them may be actively disruptive, while others might be well-behaved, beyond regularly being behind on their rent. Regardless of the situation, dealing with problematic tenants can be frustrating. However, when communicating with these tenants, it’s important to come from a place of patience. Approaching anyone in a tense or hostile manner is likely to make the situation worse. Civility can go a long way in correcting unwanted behavior.
The best approach is to communicate with your tenant in a patient, understanding, and professional manner. Explain what they’ve done wrong and give them a timeframe for when they need to fix it. If you’ve given the tenant several warnings with no change in their behavior, you may have to resort to eviction. Since eviction is a lengthy process, you may want to give them a chance to correct things before taking the issue to court. Don’t hold the threat of eviction over your tenant, however, and make sure that if you choose that route, you aren’t initiating eviction over minor annoyances.
Set Deadlines for Your Tenants – and Yourself
Another way to prevent issues with tenants is to set definitive deadlines and stick to them. The date your rent is due should be clearly stated in the lease. If you offer a grace period, this should also be clear in the lease. Once rent is officially late, you should take action. Letting the issue slide may set you up for a cycle of late payments. Without consequences, your tenant is more likely to make a habit of paying rent late.
You should also set deadlines for yourself. Responding to tenant questions, concerns, or requests shows your tenants that your care and are responsive to their needs. If you take too long to answer, your tenants are less likely to come to you for assistance. Even if the issue seems like a minor one, it should be taken seriously and addressed as soon as possible. The problem may appear to be minor to you but remember – it’s your tenant’s home, and it might feel significant to them.
Cultivate Respectful Relationships
You may not like every tenant, but a good business relationship is built on mutual respect. Tenants should have an understanding of what your expectations are of them while living on your property and be respectful of your rules.
Likewise, landlords should be respectful of their tenants and their personal space. Unless they’re involved in illegal activities, you should avoid prying into their personal lives or stopping by unannounced. Not only does this create an uncomfortable lack of privacy for tenants, but it could also put you at risk for legal action.
Better Communication Creates a Better Working Relationship Creating an environment of open communication and respect is essential for a good relationship with your tenants. From a practical perspective, hostilities and tension can lead to vacancies or high tenant turnover. Beyond that, no one wants to have bad relationships with people that they’ll have to communicate with regularly. Focus on setting reasonable, clearly stated policies and allowing for open communication with your tenants, and both parties will benefit.
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