If you own a rental property but had a tenant trash it when they leave then make sure you read this article because we’re addressing the all-too-common problem that landlords have when they say, “Help! My last tenant trashed my Connecticut house!”
Do you own a rental property? Did you have a 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 Connecticut 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. It’s imperative that you take as many pictures of the damage as possible to give as clear a picture as can be made for anyone looking at them. If it’s mild damage, 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 pursue legal action. Severely damaged property could warrant an arrest. Even if you aren’t interested in pursuing an arrest, it’s still a good idea to let authorities know the name of the individual or individuals. It’s important because it may get reported and you can help other landlords to know not to rent to this individual.
Is it worth repairing the damage?
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, if the damage is not worth repairing yourself then you might be interested in a couple of other options:
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. You would obviously need to make the basic repairs and make the space livable and safe first. But once those initial repairs are completed you may decide to rent to a handyman to help continue the repairs in exchange for a discount on rent (or even free 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 them staying too long without a lot of work getting done.
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). This way you don’t have to worry about putting another dime into the property. Just leave it as-is and we will handle the rest. Selling is a good option if you don’t have the time or the money to spend on getting the needed repairs completed in a timely fashion.