Giving your property on rent is nothing short of a gamble. You may get lucky and get good tenants, or you may get unlucky and be stuck with bad tenants. Your tenant may not pay their rent on time or may damage your property, and there is no way you can predict any of this before handing over your property to your tenants. While a property manager can deal with all of it on your behalf, having bad tenants is constant stress.

Losing your calm is understandable, but it might worsen the situation for you. So what do you do? To help you deal with bad tenants, we’ve listed down some useful tips! Let’s have a look at how you can manage bad tenants without having to cross any lines.

1. Be Objective. Calm and Rational

Like we said earlier, getting angry and losing your temper when your tenants create problems for you is understandable; however, it will only serve to make matters worse. The pro tip for dealing with bad tenants is to make sure that your emotions don’t cloud your thoughts and rationality. Your tenants will be more receptive to what you have to tell them if you appear collected and act tactfully.

2. Keep Written Records

If your tenants are careless and do not take care of your property, you should make it a practice to document everything. Keeping written records of everything is a lot of extra work, but it is definitely worth it. It will help you avoid any conflicts with your tenants. Taking pictures of your findings and keeping written records will decrease the chances of your tenant raising a dispute over security deposit deductions.

3. Stay Firm

One of the tips for dealing with bad tenants is to stay firm with your rules. For example, if your tenant didn’t pay their rent on time one month, you should make sure to reprimand them. If you don’t do so, your tenant may think that it is okay to pay rent late, or worse, not pay it at all. You need to stand firm with your rules. If your tenant continues to create problems for you despite trying everything, you have every right to evict them.

4. Don’t Be Like Them – Be Kind

Another tip to help you deal with difficult tenants is to kill them with kindness. What we mean by that is that being nice to them may cause them to stop being problematic. Respond to their emails or calls promptly. Go out of your way to have their problems addressed. It will not be easy, especially when your tenants are causing problems for you. However, being nice to them might make way for a strong relationship with your tenants and lesser problems in the future.

5. Hire a Property Manager

If you find dealing with bad tenants too much and you think you lack the patience for it, you can hire a property manager. Property managers are experts at dealing with people and specialize in tenant management. A property manager will deal with your tenants first-hand, and you’ll be spared the hassle of having to deal with them yourself.

Dealing with bad tenants is definitely a test of patience. It is not easy to keep your wits in control when you know your property isn’t being treated like it should or when you keep having to wait for rent payments that never come. Hiring a reliable property manager can reduce your stress significantly and make things a lot simpler.