Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I am thinking of letting our handyman live on the property rent free while he renovates it. I'm just wondering what sort of agreement(s) should I have him fill out beforehand. Worried that something will go wrong. Not sure if this is a good idea. He will live there possibly for 3 - 4 months until the house is finished. We have a regular handyman who lives down the street from the property and he can check up on him now and then. We live in another state 2,000 miles away. This should save us money in the long run. (He won't have to pay rent and therefore do odd jobs and other maintenance work while occupying the house). Please if anyone has a opinion on this could you please respond asap? Thank you in advance for any help.

These situations rarely work out to the landlords advantage. The couple of times we have tried this, the handyman becomes slipshop about the timeline and the lines get blurred about when he is working and when he is relaxing. We had to evict one 'handyman' because he did less and less.

Posted by Kathy J, WI on Friday, September 4, 2015

Not a good idea at all. Your kindness will not be appreciated at all. We did the same on a rental home. When the time was up he hadn't done a thing. The only thing that saved us from him squatting, was a lease. If you go against this wisdom. Do a lease that states his duty's and responsibilities and make it month to month. Again, Don't be a soft touch and remember what W.C. Fields said. "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, never give a sucker a even break, or smarten up a chump"!

Posted by Charles F, CA on Wednesday, September 23, 2015