One of my least favorite things about owning a rental property is dealing with difficult renters; I’ve rented with some really good people, but I’ve also rented to disappointing people.
Currently, I have a renter who’s somewhere in between! He hasn’t trashed the house, he keeps the lawn cut, and the neighbors never complain. However, sometimes he’s late with his rent payment and he’s always complaining about something. One week his dishwasher doesn’t work, the next the floors are creaking. His most recent complaint has been his utility bill. I’m having the floors redone in the condo because they’re really old and in disappointing shape. He’s complained about the floors multiple times, so it should not be a large deal. However, it’s causing a lot of dust and dirt, which is clogging the air filter. I dropped off a pack of fresh air filters for him to rotate in and out while the construction is happening, but he doesn’t think that he should be the one to replace the dirty air filter. He’s also complaining about how high his utility bill is due to the blocked air filter. I’ve told him multiple times that if he’s not willing to replace the air filters while the dust and debri is floating around in the air, then I can’t help him with his utility bill. I’ve come to accept that this renter can’t be content and it’s best to leave him alone. I’m replacing the floors that he complained about and all he can believe about is a temporarily high utility bill even though I’ve given him the tools to reduce it.