Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Greetings from Colorado, My wife and I recently purchased our first rental property. One of the tenants has enjoyed cheap rent from an absentee owner and a management company that cared more about a full rental unit than market value. We took possession on May 1 and offered the tenant a 3 month lease at the same rent rate. He is month to month having never renewed the original lease he signed several years ago when he moved in. We asked him to abide by the terms of the original lease including cleaning up his porch, reducing the 4 vehicles he has on the property, and using a gas grill instead of his charcoal grill (it's a 100 YO multi-family building with a wooden deck and our insurance agent was adamant about no charcoal/fire pits). We heard from 3 different people around town who heard him talking about us, saying how he was going to "show us who is boss", claiming to hit us with all the tricks, use his full disability (claims he is a cancer survivor) and get us to build him ramps and " use the ADA against us". He told us May 1 he had mold in his shower. The inspection the month before showed no mold. The walk through with the old PM on April 29 no mold was brought up, but we went down with a friend who works as a property manager to check it out; it was just a dirty shower in a well ventilated bathroom. May 3 we had two hand written complaints delivered via certified mail saying his shower was unusable and demanding we test for mold and that the lease was void because of a typo. We told him he was welcome to give us his 30 days but he claims because of his disability he needs a couple months to find a new place, but he also says he wants to stay. He also has a habit of strapping on his handgun when I come around which according to the police is his right, in our open-carry town and especially in his home. They gave me the option to call them for an assist if/when I feel it is necessary. We don't want him to stay. We want to get rid of the troublesome fellow and get fair market value for his unit (around double). We are worried about ADA regulations so we have not asked him what his disability is that allows him to drive bicycles and ATVs but requires him to have a ramp. Do we agree with him that the lease is void because of the typo and let him go or is he now a squatter? Any advice will be appreciated.

He can do what ever he wants if he is on a month to month legally 30 days notice is all you need to remove him. If he does not leave file eviction with the court and the authorities will move him. Some tenants think they have the right to stay no matter what but that is simply not the case especially when a new owner steps in.

Posted by Richard W, PA on Thursday, May 12, 2016