Renting a property could mean serious cash flow plays in your portfolio. It’s one of the quickest and easiest ways to pay down your mortgage while still generating passive income. Many people tend to rent out their places for extended periods of time to pay down their mortgage. However, renting your property to an unknown person is the most overwhelming decision you can ever make. 

In an ideal world, your tenant is very sophisticated, humble, and agreeable for the requirements you put forth. Hopefully they are ready to pay the bill if they cause any damage to your property. But in the real world, you could find your tenant could have damaged your property, not bothering to tell you, and refuse to pay for the repairs. They could even ditch you and leave the property without giving any notice. This could be frustrating and costly! 

Let’s dive into the steps you should consider and ways to fix it if your tenant damages your rental property.

Moreover, take pictures of items you noticed to be damaged due to tenant ignorance. These pictures would become your witness in the event of breaching the tenancy agreement of protecting everything in the premises of your property.

It is suggested to do a walkthrough at least once a quarter. 

Stains on walls, carpet threadbare, doors creaking, are all a result of wear and tear and no one would be responsible for the property damage. You as a landlord should manage to repair these rental property damages regularly to avoid major damage down the line which can harbor resentment toward your tenant. 

However, if you wish to make a deduction from the tenant’s deposit and your tenant does not agree to do so, then you should involve a third party as an adjudicator who holds the tenant’s deposit. The adjudicator decides whether to proceed with the tenant’s deposit or not. All deposits you take from tenants must be kept in a government-backed tenancy deposit scheme. There are three official accounts you can use – My Deposits, Tenancy Deposit Scheme, and Deposit Protection Service. 

When a tenant moves in, give them a checklist of items damaged or in good working condition. This will save you a headache once they move out. Compare their move in checklist with their move out checklist to determine if anything has been damaged. 

Eviction is regarded as the last choice if a tenant is continuously not abiding by the terms and conditions of the lease agreement. You might not wish to bear any major damage to your property due to the ignorance of your tenant. But you can’t just kick your tenant out of your property. You have to evict them. And to do that, you need to follow some very specific procedures which can vary depending on where your property is located. 

Remember that evicting your tenant might cause your tenant complete resentment which causes more damage to your rental property. For that purpose, you need an attorney to make sure the process goes smoothly and quickly. 

Moreover, during your lease agreement, there are also some tenant’s rights that you must follow. You can’t evict your tenant without legal proof otherwise you will be fined a huge amount in the court of law. So, choose this process wisely.

Security Deposits Help To Ensure You’ll Get Something When a Tenant Damages Your Property

At the time of the agreement, your tenant deposits some amount as a security bond to make compensation of repairs if the tenant causes any damage. However, if the damage caused by the tenant exceeds the number of security deposits then you can sue in a civil court of law to attempt to recoup your loss. 

The security deposit at least helps pay for the tenant damage. Even if the lawsuit is successful, and your tenant does not give you any money for repairs,  then worst case scenario, you must make repairs out of your pockets to fix up the property for your next tenant.

Sell Your Rental Property

After huge trouble and a lot of hassle in dealing with tenants damaging your rental property, and finally evicting those creating issues, sometimes you are now left with a damaged rental property. You may prefer to hold onto your property for a while but that is not a wise choice. Your property is damaged and now you have to pay a lot more for its rehab. There are tons of taxes and utility bills attached to your property that you have to pay every month. If you find yourself in this type of situation, sometimes it is best to sell it as soon as possible. 

Often, the quickest, easiest, and most cost-effective solution is to sell your rental property as is so you can offload all those hassles and expenses to focus on enjoying your life again.

We can help you get rid of any landlord problem you may be facing. If you are looking at selling your rental property, but still want the passive, on-going payments, we can help make that a reality for you. If you would like to sell your property outright, we are always looking to buy. We can close quickly and pay all closing costs! Call or text us at (704)-327-2120.