I have a no visitors rule in my rooming house and there's one tenant who's a slob who has violated that rule twice; he had his brother in his room one time and a couple of days ago, his mother came by to "help him clean up". I'm on the fence since these are relatives, but the rule is that you request permission before just bringing folks in. A part of me doesn't want to be too harsh, but the other part says an example must be made or I'll have everyone flaunting the rules. As I mentioned, the tenant is a slob, he messes up the bathroom, his room is a mess and he comes off as being drugged on occasion although I'm not 100% certain of that. He's never had a problem with paying rent however, but doing that is only one requirement. I've warned him about all of this on at least one other occasion.

Should I throw him out?

I'd tend to disagree. He has family, a support system who are willing to help him. My DH is a slob and without me, he'd be lost.

What about OTHERWISE? Is he respectful, non-belligerent, etc?

If it was me, I wouldn't do it now but might in the future if it became too much. The rule is basically to keep out druggie friends, prostitutes, shack-up turnovers, in other words to keep out possible trouble. Short-time relatives I would allow on a case to case basis. Especially if they are helping him clean the place. So far, he's the only one who flaunted the rule, and no harm done, and maybe none of the others ever will flaunt it. So till they do, you don't really have a reason to lay down the law.

As the Rooming House Turns !

To Boot or Not to Boot,

a Slob tenant who Pays rent on time.

Consider All of your (Crazy) possible alternatives.

Do what ya gotta do.

First, what do you mean by "no guests?" No one can sleep over night? No one can come over AT ALL? Clarity, please!

No guests unless approved by me is the policy. If someone needs a caretaker (as was the case with one tenant), I will not withhold approval. There was one person who needed a relative to come by to watch her kids which I approved. Another tenant had visitation every other week with his kid, which I approved.

I came up with this policy initially because I didn't know what sort of tenants I would have and I did not want conflicts to break out between guests and other tenants or folks running in and out of the building at various times. As it turns out, the tenants I have are far better than I anticipated. I've thought about changing it but am not sure what I'd want to change it too. I definitely would not allow overnight visitors. There are 9 roomers with shared kitchens and baths if everyone had a visitor, that's 18+ people using up water and potentially messing around in the kitchens and baths. That drives up costs and concerns and that's the main reason I've not changed.

WMH: Other than being a slob and breaking the visitation rule, he's not been a problem. He pays his rent. One time he locked himself out and broke into his room breaking the door jam. I have to fix that and charge him. He seems drugged and spaced out at times and lucid at other times.

I'd give him permission to have his mom come over to clean. I can't see much problem with that as long as she has her own home where she goes and isn't trying to live in your rooming house.

Is the brother a problem? Drunk? Druggie? Loud? Ask the brother how often he thinks he will be coming by and give your permission for him to be there a small number of hours every week. Short stays, no overnights.

GARKL, you make me laugh in a good way. First you say other than being a slob and breaking visitation rules, he's not been a problem. Then you tell us about the time he kicked in his own door by locking himself out. And finish it off with he looks like he's on drugs and potentially clinically depressed. Anything else we should know about this "not a problem" tenant? ;-)

Maybe this is par for the course in rooming houses, but the phrase "not a problem" wouldn't be a phrase I'd use to describe him. "Time bomb", "major hassle", "soon to be leaving"...come to mind.

Keep posting this, though. I do enjoy the stories. Your spirit is admirable, and overall the rooming house does seem like a great strategy for amazing cash flow, as long as you're willing to deal with the different dynamics.

Here's why I'm on the fence: He's paid his rent and although I suspect he may be drugged on occasion, I've no proof and I don't know what sort of drug it could be if that's the case at all. If he is drugging it, it doesn't appear to be hard drugs like meth or heroin nor is it weed. He just seems spaced out on occasion.