Landlords and their tenants don’t always get along, and that can be problematic. If you are a landlord and have a problem with a tenant, you may be frustrated and eager to evict them, because you want to move on and have a tenant who doesn’t cause you problems. At the same time, you have to respect your tenant and their rights.
Tenants and landlords both have defined rights by law, so remember that you could accidentally violate your tenant’s rights if you’re not cautious about how you approach a dispute. If that happens, you could be fined or face other penalties, and you will still be in a frustrating position with your tenant.
How do you resolve a dispute with your tenant?
If you want to resolve a dispute with one of your tenants, you should start with the least invasive and upsetting options. For example, you may ask to have a chat with them to discuss some problems you’ve noticed and to discuss how they can be resolved in a way that you’re both comfortable with. For instance, if you’ve been seeing too many people in the household who aren’t on the rental agreement, you may ask the tenant to update their information and request that they pay additional for extra tenants. Some people will agree to this to avoid trouble.
If your sit-down chat doesn’t work, the next option may be to consider arbitration. With arbitration, you and your tenant will present both sides of your case and have an arbitrator make a decision on it. This can be helpful, since the arbitrator will give a binding decision that settles the disagreement immediately.
Finally, if you can’t resolve your conflicts outside of court through less formal means, then you could go to court to ask a judge to step in. You may want to do this if you plan to evict the tenant or if you need to have a judgment against them to help you get compensated for damage to the property.
These are a few things to consider if you have a dispute with a tenant. There are multiple ways to resolve problems with tenants if you approach the situation methodically.
