As much as I tell folks to repair things right away, I had an issue in a bathroom where an electrician drilled through te bathroom ceiling on the first floor from upstairs trying to run some wire. The promised to fix it but I had trouble getting them up. So I got others to look at it and they said it looked like all the sheetrock had to be removed etc. Well I knew that was not true. So months go by.

This week tenant did not leave rent check on her door. I email her and she informs me that she has five days to pay. I tell her that I have decided to get a drop ceiling put in her bathroom since the electrician is not showing up. No response.

This morning the construction inspector calls me and said that the tenant said "the ceiling is falling down". He is talking to me like I am a stupid little girl.

I explain the situation. He does not hear me or not listen and continues about sending someone out blah blah blah.

I call the handyman. No reply. I call my plumber who does bathroom rehabs and asks what he thinks. He was just in there a week ago with a stuck broken faucet cartridge and saw the little hole with some missing coating.

He sends out a plaster guy and a worker who take off the lose paint, which is what came down over about an area of a foot by foot square. They skim coat and dry that and then skim coat and paint. All in a few hours. Job done.

Now what am I going to do with his passive aggressive lady tenant who reported me to the town? I took photos and will take them over to the construction office tomorrow. I really don't like to have a war with a tenant.

I will suggest if she is not happy here, she has a month to month lease, The Happy Clause.. I did that when she complained that the snow removal guys didn't show up late one night. I think that sometimes puts tenants into a warfare mode though because it is indirectly threatening their security. I may offer her some compensation for her duress.

She's the one that overloads plugs and plugged in a dehumidifier into an extension cord. I told her about that and gave her an appliance cord and reminded her that there is a dedicated plug in the wall that I put in for her space heater in the same room.

I am losing my perspective. What would you do next?

As the owner, you can't let things slide. Once the first employee/contractor caused a problem you should have kept on his back until it was taken care of.

If a few days goes by and no response, then you have to issue a warning, "fit it now or I'll get someone else to do it and deduct it from your billing or charge you any excess costs".

Regardless of the finances or who did what to cause the problem, you have to step in and get someone to fix it right.

Tenants that pay rent are entitled to safe and sound housing. A ceiling falling down or with holes that pests can travel is a big no-no.

If it's warfare she wants, I'd make sure it's warfare she'd get. I'd start with not renewing the lease. If she want's to remain, it's up to her to talk you into it, otherwise you'll get a better tenant paying a higher rent.

She played the nuclear option when she sicked the inspector on you on a problem you were already trying to fix. There's no way I'd let this go on, especially since there's a history.

Ms. Ally: Sorry to hear about your issues.

How about "I have found some issues that need repair and the disruption is such that the unit should be vacant before the work can commence". ??

Unfortunately more often than not it comes down to us vs. them. No matter what's been done, hasn't been done, what should have been done or what has hallucinated to be done. It just is what it is.

I would refresh my familiarity w/the Anti-Eviction Act [that Rick mentioned above] found at

www.nj. gov/dca/ divisions/codes/publications /pdf_lti/grnds_for _evicti_bulltin. pdf [close up the spaces]

looks like section 'g' is for your case.

2) The landlord needs to fix health and safety violations and it is not possible to do so,

while the tenant resides at the property. When the landlord serves the eviction notice

he must also notify the Department of Community Affairs, Landlord-Tenant

Information Service, P.O. Box 805, Trenton, New Jersey 08635-0805. In addition,

upon request, the landlord must provide the Department of Community Affairs with

information as required under the law, so that the Department may prepare a report

informing all parties and the court of the feasibility of the landlord to fix the violations

Hi. Thank you for all the experienced and well thought out comments. Robert CA, you are correct, I should have badgered the electrician.

The hole was a full inch because the helper was trying to run wire for a baseboard heater upstairs.

It was such a small area, maybe four by four, but just unsightly. Somehow over the past two weeks more of the skim coat that was damaged came down. I think the tenant pulled more down herself.

In this state I can only really evict for nonpayment so if she does that I will go to court.

Frank, thank you for citing the Community Affairs wording. This is a duplex and Community Affairs only gets involved when it's a three or four unit not owner occupied.

Thank you for your support. This woman seems like she would be a good tenant being divorced woman with grown daughter but she is very difficult. She does not like heat or AC so I have had to do a lot of juggling to keep the upstairs unit properly heated and cooled by adding baseboard heating and a mini split. This bad tenant supplies her own window units. I used to supply them but she has so much furniture and stuff on the floors and up against walls that the handyman and I could not get to the plugs.

About two weeks ago I was in there with the plumber to fix a cartridge in the tub faucet and I saw that she had a dehumidifier plugged into a small extension cord. I was angry when I called her and was not nice about it. This was not the first time. She got mad at my tone and attacked by with holding rent and calling the inspector about the ceiling and making it worse.

I have always been very patient and polite with her but this past month has been difficult for me with abdominal muscle pain due to my previous surgeries and I was not able to be nice.

I encourage everyone to calm down before speaking to tenants as a one time slip can ruin the relationship and cause a war. Maybe have someone else call. Also watch out for adults bringing an adult child to the rental. I think this woman's adult child is managing the mother's mental problems. The mother visited France two years ago and now thinks she lived there near Monet's gardens and has hung Monet prints all over the walls and bought French style furniture.

Emotions are the Achilles Heel of landlords. You are right. Before I respond to a tenant in a potentially contentious situation, I consider in my mind what a liberal judge would expect or how this is going to appear in the Better Business Bureau complaint section on the Internet. It never fails to help me tamp down my first response.

She is leaving!!! I got a certified letter in the mail today. I am so happy. This woman has caused me so much grief and I had to walk on eggshells since day one. I realized something was wrong about her the first day when she asked me to replace the door out of the garage to the back yard. I did it to keep peace. She had the thermostat for awhile and would never turn up the heat enough to warm the upstairs so I had to put it upstairs and she opened windows all winter. Then I put in baseboard heat upstairs to supplement and gave her back the thermostat.

Her note to me said that the building is making her sick. I think it's the two rabbits she has in the dining are that are making her sick. She told me one time that she is allergic to their food which is hay. Today she says that there is mold in the basement. There is not. This goes on and on. She basically took over the building and I had no parking on the property for my upstairs tenant. She and her daughter were paying $1100 a month and I pay heat so I did appreciate the money and tried to accommodate her. But when someone is self centered, demanding and thinks they should be catered to, it's tough. One of the more off the wall demands was for me to come and take care of the rabbits one day because her daughter was too drunk at a party to drive home. Then she wanted to put her son's cat upstairs in my empty unit when he visited this spring. Uh, no I don't want the carpet destroyed. the list goes on.

Hi Vee. The house just passed a fire inspection with another inspector so there really are no problems other than what she creates. She's a hoarder. Stuff all over.

She said things like the yard is overgrown but I have grass guys weekly. I have been trimming things and had a crew come out two weeks ago. Everything grows so fast as it has been raining almost every day.

She mentioned something odd. She was leaving the cellar door open and I told her not to because mice and other animals and bad people could come in. She complained about that today and said I made the basement inhabitable. I don't know where she's getting that. It's a common area and not her living space.

Ally,

As you are planning what changes you are going to make, please look honestly at your management practices. I see that you have changed the heat/AC, and a door, and who knows what other accommodations you have made because she didn't "like" something. "Walking on eggshells", etc sounds like the tenant is in control - not you. It should be the other way around. Landlord is in charge, not the tenant.

When a prospect views a well maintained rental, what you see is what you get. If you don't like it, don't rent it - but don't move in and start complaining & demand changes. Firm & fair is a good policy, you teach the tenant by your demeanor and actions - or lack of action - how much they can get away with.

Regarding the topic of this post: I would have fixed that small hole right away, and I would also tell the tenant plainly that direct communication with you - such as a repair request - is the most efficient and trouble-free way to address maintenance & repair needs. Remind her how to do that.

Best wishes.