The Property Management Shop
by Marc Wilson
Q. One of my long-term tenants is becoming increasingly incapable of caring for herself. She is well over 80 and has lived in the building for over 30 years. She has not paid rent in four months, and her behavior is becoming more and more erratic. I have served her with a Three-Day Notice to Pay or Quit each month, and she has failed to tender her rent. Her apartment is a mess and smells like urine. I’m concerned about all the debris inside her apartment as well as the escalating fire risk. My wife doesn’t want me to file for her eviction because she is afraid that the tenant does not have anywhere to go. She thinks I should find her a retirement community. What should I do?
A. You are facing a couple of problems and neither one pertains to the deteriorating mental and physical condition of your tenant. Your first problem is that you have a tenant who is not paying her rent. Your second problem is that you have a tenant who might jeopardize the safety and habitability of the property. Does your wife believe that failing to enforce the covenants of your rental agreement will somehow help this tenant regain her mental faculties? Will you solve your tenant’s problems by allowing her to forgo rent payments and live in unsanitary conditions? Your actions or lack of actions are, in psychological terms, enabling your tenant to spiral into the abyss. You have an obligation to enforce the covenants of your rental agreement and to ensure the safety and habitability of the property. You do not have an obligation to manage or in any way facilitate your tenant’s retirement plans. Your tenant had her entire life to plan for and structure her retirement. Do you think your tenant just woke up one day and was suddenly incapable of caring for herself? Doubtful. You know what they say, “Failure to plan is planning to fail.”
Your energies would be better spent managing your own life so that you do not end up in a similar predicament. You are not a social worker; you are a property manager. Absolutely nothing good will come from any charitable inclinations you might have toward this tenant. If you allow her to skip the rent, you will erode your ability to collect rent in the future. Attempting to assist her with a relocation plan will expose you to wrongful eviction allegations. Is your wife proposing that you drive your elderly tenant around so that she may view alternative housing and care arrangements? I can only imagine how your tenant will express her appreciation when she slips and falls while getting out of your car. Do you get the picture? There is absolutely no business where the adage “no good deed goes unpunished” is quite as true as in the San Francisco apartment building management business.
You need to do two things. First, install two fire alarms in each and every room of her apartment and one more in the hallway outside her front door for good measure. Second, immediately file a summons/complaint and unlawful detainer for possession of the apartment. Don’t call any city agencies or nonprofits until after you have filed for the eviction and prevailed. My experience is that some city agency, nonprofit or even a relative will come out of the woodwork once you begin eviction proceedings. In the unlikely event that you go through the eviction process, prevail and get an order for possession of the apartment without hearing from a third party. Then you should contact social services for the elderly and inform them of your plans to take possession of the apartment and the specific date for doing so. Let the government deal with the tenant’s relocation—after all, the government takes more than half your income so they can help relocate the tenant. Whatever you do, do not start contacting third-party agencies for assistance until you have prevailed in the eviction proceedings. First, get the right to take possession of the apartment and only then, if you are so inclined, concern yourself with helping the tenant.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. Marc Wilson has been managing and selling San Francisco apartment buildings for over 15 years. Please send your questions concerning property management issues to Marc Wilson at 1699 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94109. He can be reached at 415-229-1275. Copyright © 2004.