Running your rental property by the book when your renters use underhanded tactics to respond to the landlord’s legitimate actions. For example, due to inflation, it might be necessary for you to review and increase your monthly rental rates to keep up with the rising cost of maintenance. Even with appropriate notice, unhappy tenants may feel slighted enough to withhold rent, or slander you on social media and to local authorities. Besides harming your business reputation, these actions could negatively affect your bottom line. Continue reading below as we’ve put together this step-by-step guide on how to legally resolve tenant retaliation.
What is Tenant Retaliation?
For starters, we need to differentiate between tenant retaliation and tenant action. The latter involves actions renters can take when faced with a policy they don’t like. Using our earlier example of increased rent, the tenant can negotiate for a lower fare or start house shopping. On the other hand, tenant retaliation is more vindictive, usually with the aim of negatively affecting your property, business, or reputation. Most times, these actions are illegal with the intent to punish the landlord. Here are some examples:
Common Examples of Tenant Retaliation
Illegally Withholding Rent
Unlawfully withholding rent is one of the most direct ways of penalizing a landlord. Tenants often opt for this approach when a landlord takes an action they don’t like, such as increasing the rent or serving a notice to vacate. This action may not necessarily be illegal if the tenant has legitimate repair issues, and so the inhabitable rental conditions have a legal basis for withholding rent.
Damaging Property
Another way tenants retaliate is by intentionally damaging property. You’re more likely to see this type of action after refusing a tenant’s demand or initiating eviction proceedings. It encompasses anything from minor vandalism to significant destruction and ensures the landlord incurs some financial loss through avoiding repairs, renovations, or replacements. Aside from the upfront financial implications, damaging property can also impact the habitability for future tenants. For example, if a disgruntled tenant intentionally breaks the stairway railing, it can create a tripping hazard for anyone using the stairs. That’s why it’s essential to find a reliable property management team in Northern Virginia to prevent tension from tenants and proactively prevent retaliation.
Filing Baseless Complaints with Authorities
Tenants may also attempt to retaliate by filing false and grossly exaggerated complaints with housing authorities and other regulatory agencies to get you in trouble. These include reports that your rental is violating safety codes or that you are harassing the tenant. While renters maintain the right to report such actions, baseless accusations can trigger unnecessary investigations into your business that mar your reputation and waste your time and resources. If you’re blindsided without the right strategy, you may even have to part with money to settle fines.
How to Legally Resolve Tenant Retaliation?
Communicate Professionally
It’s common for tenants to choose to retaliate when they feel the property owner is dismissive about their concerns or rude in their responses. That means you can start to practice being a good landlord by listening to your tenant’s complaints to proactively avoid such radical actions. However, if a renter still takes retaliatory action, you need to address their behavior directly, citing how their actions appear to be in response to your lawful decisions. Reiterate their responsibility to the property, advising them to desist from further negative actions and highlighting future legal steps you plan to take if they continue.
Document Everything
Get everything in writing. The last thing you want is to find yourself coming up short with evidence if you have to defend yourself to local authorities. That said, it would be best to keep copies of any notice of rent increase or notice to vacate that you served, which can act as proof or reason for retaliatory behavior. Next, document specific instances of property damage or bogus complaints with pictures and videos, where relevant, and dates and times to substantiate your claims of tenant retaliation.
Seek Legal Remedies
With the evidence you’ve collected, if communicating professionally with the tenant doesn’t work, then you need to proceed with further legal action to protect your property. For example, if a tenant decides to withhold rent, you’re within the right to issue a notice to cure or quit. However, when there’s severe property damage or an attempt to mar your reputation, you may have to start eviction proceedings.
Conclusion
Navigating tenant retaliation can be tricky, especially when you’ve followed due process up to that point. Renters may try to frustrate you by withholding rent, damaging property, or filing bogus claims. In spite of such actions, it’s essential that you do not stoop to their level, and instead deal with such behavior legally. You can start by professionally asking them to stop, highlighting their tenant responsibility in the lease. If that doesn’t work, you can take further legal actions by serving them a notice to fix the damage or leave the property. Still, at every stage, remember to document meticulously so you have proof to defend yourself.
