Work-at-Home Tenant giving me a Headache!?

Question

I took a tenant against my better judgement who moved here from out-of-state last year. She told me she had a home based business, but I diid not realize all that would entail. She NEVER leaves the house! Worse yet, because she has no real hours to keep, she paces, talks on the phone, and makes noise into the wee hours of the night. I live in the lower unit and strongly feel that I need a tenant on a similar "first-shift" schedule as me. Am I asking too much? She does pay her rent on time...I am not sure if I should risk getting rid of her or "grin" an bear it?

Answer 1

Try asking her to talk quieter when on the phone or say "I am introducing a new rule where the house should be quiet after (say time when you want to sleep). If you want to talk loudly on the phone then please don't do it here. Also could you not pace? It disturbs me." It is sometimes hard to find a tenant who always pays the rent on time, but as it's your home you have the right to kindly ask her to do something or you can offer her that could she please be quieter and stuff(say whatever bothers you here kindly). If you don't want to do this could you please move out? If you need to continue doing this then I will give you(say an amount of time here, ex. 3 weeks) to move out or get a shift like me or I am going to make you leave.

Hope this helped!

Answer 2

What's a tenant that pays rent on time?????

Answer 3

If the nighttime noise is strictly walking, pacing, talking on the phone and the like, they are normal sounds of living.

I will tell you that as a landlord if one tenant came to me complaining about another with this issue, I'd get rid of the one complaining.

It is not like she is blaring music or having parties. You seem overly sensitive. IMHO, it sounds more like a "you problem" than a "her problem".

You cannot dictate, via house rules, what time of night she must stop walking around or use the telephone, that is ridiculous.

As far as her never leaving the house, that is her business. You may be asking too much, but it is your property.

I'm sorry but you are going to have to grin and bear it, at least until her lease expires. It sounds like this is really bothering you and you feel that you need a tenant on a similar "first shift" schedule as you so strongly, you should probably not renew her lease.

You do not have to renew her lease and you do not have to give her a reason for non-renewal.

Answer 4

YES - YOU ARE ASKING TOO MUCH - CHILL OUT!!!

Be glad you have a tenant that is paying rent on time.  You have no right to dictate how she runs her life.  Your only rights in this situation is to ask that she not make noise past a certain hour at night and that is it!

You have to deal with having someone live above you same as any tenant would.

Answer 5

.  Welcome to the world of landlording.  Life is so much simpler without tenants.   It is like getting married to them.  If they move out in the middle of the night, your world is turned upside down while you clean and re-rent it.   And if they pace the floor at 2am, you get to share it with them.

The key is the money.  They are paying enuf to cover your mortgage payment on the rental and that is everything to a landlord.  So i would let her stay.  And i would say nothing about the pacing and talking.  But , at some point your sanity is in danger.  THen you have to give her notice.