Remodeling A House So A Tenant Can Pay Rent

Jordy3738

Just curious, would any of you remodel a rental house that you owned if your tenant fell behind in rent, just so that he would be able to work the debt off?

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loneframer

I'd be more likely to give him a job....... then change the locks when he left for work.

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Scribbles

no.

Evict him, fix up the house, up the rent and re-rent.

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Leo G

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Chris Johnson

Is your name Bank of America and you are trying to justify a bailout?

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Warren

I think this is admirable and could be a win win situation. Helping somebody get back on their feet is a noble thing to do and will surely boost his morale. Just hope that it provides a temporary solution and doesn't end up going bad.

K2

Often the tenants who are behind on their rent have no real skills and no real work ethic. But, i've put tenants to work and rented places to the help over the years. I've also gotten paid in motorcycles, guitars, lawnmowers, etc. I got burned more than a few time but have no complaints.... Right now an auto mechanic owes me rent but i'm not going to let him work on my cars. I just don't think he would do a very good job.

MALCO.New.York

By doing this you are essentially changing the dynamic of your relationship and therefore opening a can of worms!!!!

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BobsLandscaping

If he was employed and making enough money to pay the rent and fell behind because of an emergency, then sure. We've all had financial hiccups at one point or another.

If he's unemployed and has no income to cover the rent that I'd start the eviction process.

I'd also make him pay rent during the remodel and figure his back rent into labor hours. For example if he's $1,000 behind on his rent then have him do labor at $10 an hour to pay if off. Give him 100 hours worth of work to pay off the rent. Make sure you have some sort of structured agreement.

silvertree

I tried something like that and it didn't work. But I'm a soft touch for a hard story.

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Resta

Once we painted the apartment where we lived and had one month rent free, next time stucco house part of house foundation matching the colors and had other month rent free. Difference only that we were not short.

catspaws

Dont ask any rental home owners to work for you. Your asking for a legal problem if he hurts him self,and he wont have a problem getting a layer. If hes not paying rent evict him.

A W Smith

So true. Eventually the tenant will think hes doing YOU a favor. Then when there is no more work to do and you don't hire him for outside work he will resent you.

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Winchester

As long as he knows the agreement beforehand, maybe even have a work contract signed that his employment lasts for the duration of "that" particular job and that his wages are to go directly into the rent owed or whatever.

I think it could be nice to help someone during a hard time. Depends on the type of person he is though, because I believe what others are saying, this could cause problems.

e.g. If he has a strong sense of entitlement, or likes to play victim, or is a lazy ass, or likes to take advantage of other people's kindness.

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loneframer

Some of the problems I see in this scenario are:
1. How do you determine the hourly wage?
2. How will you keep accurate records of hours worked?
3. Is the renter actually capable of carrying out the needed work in a professional manner?
4. As someone stated before, it is a major liability issue if he gets hurt during work hours.

If you decide to take this offer to him, you need to either put him on the payroll or require him to get legal and legitamate.

I've been down the road you're on several times, trying to do someone a solid. Every time I ended up being taken advantage of.

Personally, I think you are treading in dangerous waters, just my opinion.

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Celtic

Yes....but only if you can kiss your own elbow.




















I know you guys are trying to

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Darwin

Le'me see...Remodel a house that I own and hire the deadbeat tenant who live there to do the work...hmmm...Yessss !!!

Uhh, no.

CharlesD

A young couple gave me a sob story so I agreed to let them live in my house if he would do some work on it.
I made a list of the jobs I wanted him to do and agreed to give him three months rent for doing them.
I didn't keep close tabs on them (my fault but I was busy) and after three months he'd done one thing on the list and it was wrong.
I told him I'd give him one more month to get the things done or I was going to evict him and go to court to get my three months rent.
About one week after that the house burned down. Later I found him in Texas in jail.
I never did that again.

trptman

Ouch! That's a tough lesson to learn

Generally speaking I don't have tenants working for me. But it would depend.
I don't think I'd ever want a tenant doing much work on their own place in exchange for rent but I have done that with a commercial tenant.

The guy wanted new floor covering and said he'd provide the labor and materials in exchange for 2 months rent. I knew he in turn had guys that worked for him that were going to do the work (not some clueless homeowner) and it turned out fine for both of us.

In the case of a residential tenant, I wouldn't want to hire someone for much more than some odd jobs or general grunt labor, and preferrably not on their own place.
If it's work you genuinely were going to do and needed to hire "somebody" for, then sure why not the tenant (assuming he's capable etc.), but I'd be real careful "inventing" work just to keep someone busy and paying off rent.

Floordude

No good deed, goes unpunished

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