Most landlords are nice people. They realize that they’re helping real people, in addition to meeting their own investment goals.They have a heart!

Landlord Mistake #3 is avoiding conflict and confrontation.

There’s a reason you have your tenants sign a lease. It is a legally binding contract that explicitly details responsibilities and expectations. It protects you. It protects the tenant.

Good tenants will read and follow the terms of their lease. But others will disregard the lease or violate it intentionally. What do you do when that happens?

That is a challenging situation, especially if you prefer to be a “Nice Guy.”

Here are some recommendations:

• Be legal. Implement a thorough, comprehensive lease. Don’t leave anything that matters open to interpretation. The {{our_company_name | default}} lease has been reviewed by an industry expert. You can trust it.

• Be attentive. Your tenant has a right to privacy. You should not be knocking on their door all the time (and should not enter without their knowledge and permission), but you SHOULD know what is going on at your property. You can keep tabs on this by driving by it occasionally, scheduling regular inspections, and listening to reports from neighbors, vendors, and your HOA.

• Be firm. Managing a tenant is a little like parenting a teenager. Tenants can be skilled at manipulation. There always seems to be a “valid” reason for a lease violation (late rent, an unapproved pet, another HOA complaint, etc.). But, as the saying goes, when you give an inch, they take a mile. There is a reason you have a lease. If you don’t enforce it, it becomes irrelevant.

• Be compassionate. Confrontation involves holding someone accountable for their behavior. That doesn’t mean you have to be heartless. By addressing issues right away instead of avoiding them, you are maintaining a healthy landlord-tenant relationship. In the end, this is best for both parties.

• Be a communicator. Talk to the tenant. Remind them of your expectations and their responsibilities as stated in the lease. Send them written notice of violations to remind them of the consequences. Give them opportunities to make things right, but follow through if they don’t.

Do you think you’re making mistakes with managing your rental property?

Let us help. The team at Ironclad Property Management can deal with conflict professionally so your tenant won’t take advantage of your kind heart and you won’t have to endure the stress of holding them accountable.