If you own rental properties long enough, a difficult tenant is inevitable. Here are the three things we recommend doing immediately, before a frustrating situation becomes an expensive one.
If you own rental properties long enough, it's going to happen. You're going to get a difficult tenant. That's just the reality of this business. The question isn't whether it will happen. It's how you handle it when it does.
Here are three things we recommend doing right away.
Document everything
This is the first thing and the most important thing. There is a very big difference between a tenant who is being difficult and a tenant who is breaking the lease. Those are two different situations and they require two different responses.
A difficult tenant might be calling you multiple times after hours. They might not be kind in the way they speak to you. They're a pain to deal with, but they're not necessarily violating the terms of their agreement.
A tenant who's breaking the lease is a different story. They're not following the rules they signed. That's actionable, but only if you have the documentation to back it up.
Either way, you need to be documenting from the very beginning. Every conversation, every incident, every communication. Write it down, save the texts, and keep a timeline. If you ever need to take action, whether that's a non-renewal or something more formal, your documentation is what protects you. Without it, it's your word against theirs.
"There's a big difference between a tenant who's being difficult and a tenant who's breaking the lease. Knowing which one you're dealing with changes everything."
Get an expert in early
The second thing we recommend is bringing in an expert as soon as possible. Don't wait until the situation has escalated to the point where you're stressed, frustrated, and making reactive decisions.
An expert can tell you things you don't know. They can look at your situation and say "here's what you should do," and just as importantly, "here's what you should not do." They can be a sounding board when you're not sure whether the tenant is actually violating the lease or just being unpleasant.
If you have a yearly lease signed, that's a powerful tool. Even if the difficult tenant isn't technically breaking any rules, you can simply choose not to renew when the lease term is up. You don't have to give a reason beyond "we're not renewing." That's one of the biggest advantages of having a properly structured annual lease.
If the tenant is violating the lease, an expert can walk you through the proper notification process and make sure you're doing everything by the book. Skipping steps or handling it wrong can cost you time, money, and legal exposure.
Keep it business
The third thing is harder than it sounds. Try to keep it as professional and business-like as possible. Sometimes people are going through difficult things in their lives and they take it out on you. That's challenging. Nobody likes being on the receiving end of someone else's frustration.
But if you can stay professional, stay calm, and lean on the expert you brought in early, you're going to get through it in much better shape than if you let emotions drive your decisions. The worst outcomes we see in property management almost always involve a landlord who reacted emotionally instead of following the process.
If you have a property management company handling your rentals, they're probably already signing year leases and managing the documentation. In that case, the worst thing that's going to happen with a genuinely difficult tenant is you endure the remaining lease term and don't renew. It's not fun, but it's manageable, and it has an end date.
If you're dealing with a difficult tenant right now and you're not sure what your options are, we'd love to help you figure it out. Call us at (210) 802-9959 for San Antonio or (512) 708-3172 for Austin, email us at info@peaceofmind.co, or visit www.sanantonioproperty.management. This is exactly the kind of situation where having an expert in your corner keeps a bad month from turning into a bad year.