Is $9900 a typo? Did you mean $900 or $990?

Did you know about it ahead of time? See any signs during turnover?

If so, did you warn him? "Hey, this is a problem. So far, I've done x. I'll continue to do y for the next z amount of time. If that's a dealbreaker, let me know. I'm so embarrassed, but I'm doing my best, and I've got it mostly taken care of-- but it's not 100%."

Did he just move in Oct 1st?

WELL Welcome to Florida Tree Roaches: Big Roaches.

I guess the same size as the wood roaches that Plenty mentioned are in MO.

Basisly Nuisance roaches. Buy large ranch motels will kill them!!!

WELL Welcome to Florida Tree Roaches: Big Roaches.

I guess the same size as the wood roaches that Plenty mentioned are in MO.

Basisly Nuisance roaches. Buy large ranch motels will kill them!!!

You should have been more proactive up front when you first heard the complaint. The first delay and then after he contacted you again you put it on him again. Multiple counts of lack of action on your part could come back to bite you in the azz.

More than likely he just wanted out of the lease, but because you mishandled it from the get-go he will likely be let off the hook and this one could cost you.

$9900 owed in rent?!??

Please tell us that's a typo.

In general, NO, a tenant cannot unilaterally terminate a rental contract/lease. But you need to know your state's laws if you're going to be a land lord. I'd spend $200 to buy 1 hour of a local, experienced, land lord/tenant attorney's time to get educated and a CORRECT answer.

Here's how it works in my state, regarding habitability issues:

1) If tenant has an issue that affects habitability, he must notify the land lord in WRITING (verbal doesn't count!) and allow "reasonable time" to correct it.

2) If the issue is found to be the land lord's responsibility, he has a "reasonable time" to fix it. Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder and may vary somewhat based on how major the issue actually is. Example, if plumbing line collapses, that could take 1-2 weeks to get a crew with backhoes to pull permits and get it scheduled. If the water heater is out, that should be done in 3 days or so. Note: in SFH's, the land lord is NOT obliged to pay for pest control. I specify in my lease we only warranty bug free for the first 30 days, and bed bugs are excluded. What does YOUR lease say about bugs/vermin/pests? If it says nothing....fix it now.

3) If the land lord fails to fix an issue that is his responsibility, the tenant may report it to local code officials who schedule and inspection. If the code official agrees with the tenant, formal notice is sent to the land lord to make the repair. 10 days for repairs are allowed for land lord to respond and challenge the necessity of the repair. If the challenge fails or is never made, the LL has to make the repair again "in a reasonable time."

4) If the land lord still fails to fix the issue, the tenant may fix it/hire someone to fix it and deduct UP TO $300 from the rent. That's the max. Their alternative is to sue the land lord in court and have a judge terminate the lease.

That's the process. There is no "tenant gets to tear up the lease". There is no "tenant hires an attorney to invalidate the contract." There is only ONE WAY the contract is terminated: in court, by a judge, AFTER the tenant has followed the entire process outlined above.

Most tenants don't know the process to obtain relief when they believe they have a valid complaint against a land lord. They also don't know what is/isn't a legitimate habitability issue. They also don't know what is/isn't the land lord's responsibility under their state's laws. This is why they lose in court: they watch too much Judge Judy and try to "wing it" based on what their drunk uncle Judd heard worked for his roommate back in 1982....

Do you know the processes and responsibilities? Knowledge is power.

I suggest spending time and and a few bucks to get educated by a professional (hire a local LL / Tenant attorney). It's cheaper than having a judge educated you in court if you did something wrong. This is a business, and we need to know our trade. There are plenty of pitfalls that can get expensive, and "Your honor, I didn't know" is not a defense. Ask all of my tenants who refused to pay rent for X or Y reason....they all had misconceptions and the judge had to straighten them out (i.e. evicted them, gave me a money judgment)

Good luck!

.

Thank you, folks, for all your helpful discussions. Please note my situation: 1. Previous tenants never reported roach problems; 2. When the tenant texted me a few photos showing a couple small bugs that seem to be roaches, he agreed to treat the problem himself; 3. when he formally asked me to take care of it on Oct 23, I acted next day by myself; 4. I hired Orkin Pest Control, the largest pest control company in the US, on Oct 25 to assess and treat the problem; 5. Orkin Pest Control, after carefully examine everywhere, found only 1 grain-size roach baby. Orkin report says: "roach infestation is minor. The house is habitable for residents." Orkin technician even said: the roaches could be brought in by the tenant himself during moving!

I think I have covered my ground well. To be honest, I would not like to keep a tenant like this. If he would make a big fuss for a couple tiny roaches this time, he could do the same when a fly comes in or a few ants crawl inside! Though he had good credit score, but the score does make him a good tenant.

I have talke to a real estate lawyer yesterday. My laeyer said, this tenant does not have a strong case, especially when my rental permit is valid and I acted promptly. Habitalbe or inhabitable is the key. If the pest control says the house is habitable, my city will follow the same suit. I think I can rest assured now.

any Orkin man who says there is one tiny grain sized baby roach should be fired. aren't there about 50 babies in each of those capsules? isn't there usually a mama and a daddy when babies are present?

also, you won't get the entire $9900 rent ... most jurisdictions will limit your recovery to a few months ... you will need to mitigate your damages to get it re-rented.

my questions would be: multi unit or single family home? how long has the guy lived there?

You don't want this tenant. Say to him:

After reading the report by the Orkin professional, the home is deemed habitable. That said, we understand that you are not happy in the home. We want you to be happy in the home. As a result, we are happy to offer our Early Lease Termination policy to you.

You may pay the Early Lease Termination fee to cancel the remaining months of your lease. We will then agree, in writing, to release you from further rent on the home. The Fee is: $XXXXX.

Make the fee about 6 weeks of rent. Less than 2 months.

Let them out. Then, re-rent and Landlord UP!

You don't want this tenant. Say to him:

After reading the report by the Orkin professional, the home is deemed habitable. That said, we understand that you are not happy in the home. We want you to be happy in the home. As a result, we are happy to offer our Early Lease Termination policy to you.

You may pay the Early Lease Termination fee to cancel the remaining months of your lease. We will then agree, in writing, to release you from further rent on the home. The Fee is: $XXXXX.

Make the fee about 6 weeks of rent. Less than 2 months.

Let them out. Then, re-rent and Landlord UP!

It bugs me a bit that you replied, but ignored a BUNCH of different people asking you to clarify the amount owed. It doesn't make sense that they owe $9900 in rent when this all happened THIS MONTH.

Did you even read what most of the people replied with here? If so, why didn't you answer to clarify the amount of the rent?

- John...

I had a tenant, a lady with 8 children and a husband. They get a free ride each week to the local Latin market were her grocery purchase is placed in cardboard boxes, not bags. The boxes are from shipments to the market, stored in the alleyway. The boxes are invested with roach eggs.

I've told my tenant, given my tenant letters and finally a notice that she is not allowed to bring roach infested items onto the property. This is 5 homes on a lot.

So after leaving the boxes stored in the pantry, her house became a breading ground for the roaches she took into her house hold.

I immediately hired a professional pest control company. They sent out a supervisor and technician. I paid an extra $100 for a written report with photos. They removed all of the roach infested materials, used my provided plastic transparent tote containers to restore food and treated the entire house. My cost for their service was around $300.

The next month the tenant again went shopping and came home with the same infested cardboard boxes. I managed to go through the property's dumpster and recovered the shopping receipt. This market had made the news about their alleyway being used to store boxes used to send food home with shoppers, loaded with roaches and their eggs.

I immediately had my attorney sent the tenant a letter and official 5 day notice, to Perform or Quit. The tenant in turn got free legal aid to come after me seeking damages. They were paying me $1100 for a 3 bedroom two bathroom house with 3 parking spaces, way under market -- under rent control.

So I took the tenant to eviction court for non-payment of rent and violation of my 5 day notice.

In Los Angeles the tenant is always right. But with all of my proof that the tenant was casing the roach problems the judge told them if they pay me for my costs, pay the back rent due plus my legal costs, only up to $500 as stated in my lease, then the judge would allow them to stay. The tenant agreed and my case was put on hold.

30 days later I still hadn't received the rent, legal fee's or pest control costs. So my attorney returned to court and my tenant told the judge she paid me in cash. I had with me 7 years of rental payment receipts, all by personal check. The tenant didn't have proof of a cash withdrawal. I finally won my case and out they went.

NE,

Sorry for this very late response. They see it for the first time when we go over the lease before signing. I am willing to delay signing and lose a day of rent to avoid the "they were here when I moved in" argument. So far, nobody has requested the extra day to do an inspection.