TRANSFERRING THE PROBLEM RESIDENT ON SITE

Who is this “Problem Resident”? -- The problem resident is fairly easy to spot. He is complaining about his neighbors, every new neighbor that moves in, constantly has repair issues in his unit, has his door kicked down in the middle of the night by an ex-girlfriend, seems to be hypersensitive to every little noise he hears, is never satisfied with anything, thinks his carpet smells, thinks there is mold in his apartment, does not like the location of his unit, is being stalked by former friends. Have you met him yet? Well, he wants to move to another unit on-site.

Should you move the “Problem Resident”? -- A natural response by a leasing agent or property manager is to try to accommodate a resident and not have a vacancy. Some of the resident’s claims may be legitimate, but how many are really caused by the resident or due to something the resident has created in his life? Will moving the resident to another unit really solve anything, or will the problems just continue or possibly escalate?

Examine the resident’s complaints – An experienced property manager will take each and every complaint and objectively examine whether an on-site move is really the solution to the problem. Let’s look at some of these complaints. Noise from neighbors: you may have a unit in a very quiet building with no children and assume that this would make him happy. Suppose a family with children move in. Where will you be now? Stalking or damage to the premises due to an ex-girlfriend: do you really think that the ex-girlfriend will not be able to find him once you move him to another building? How many times have we seen knock down drag out relationships get patched up again, only to deteriorate into a problem once again? Odor of the carpet or mold: can you detect any odor in the carpet, or is this guy just imagining an odor? Have you seen any mold? Do you really believe that once he is in the new unit, he will be happy, and everything will be just perfect?

If the resident is moving to a larger or smaller unit, and the request to move is not coupled with a myriad of other complaints, this is really a different issue, and usually there is no problem involved. Possibly the family size has changed, or the resident needs an additional bedroom for a home office. Not all moves on-site are suspect or should be avoided.

The Decision – Careful thought needs to go into relocating a resident on-site. Our experience has shown that in most cases, the problem follows the resident and will follow the resident his entire life. A geographical relocation on the premises usually will do nothing other than cause you a further headache and make it appear that you are giving this resident some sort of special treatment, which could even end up as an issue in a Fair Housing case against you by another resident.

The Mechanics of the Move – A typical property manager simply makes an addendum or new lease with the resident and sets a moving date. Unfortunately, huge problem can arise when moving a resident, including but not limited to dealing with damage left behind, the incomplete move, monies owed on the first unit, the list goes on and on.