When we first bought our house about two months later I got orders to be stationed in Japan. so we decided to rent out our house for the next 2yrs. In the beginning the tenants seem fine, they cleared the background check and the husband is also in the military (if they don't pay rent we can talk to his command). After a couple months the trouble starts. The tenants has been complaining about how the house is painted and how the yard has ants in it. We kept telling them the walls are suppose to be an off-white color and that there will be ants in the yard and that those mounds arent ant mounds but refilled holes from the last owners dogs. Suddenly the fridge is no longer working so we sent out a repair man who said it would cost more to fix it than to just get a new one. So the wife send us an email saying they would like a new side by side from Lowes. We tried to tell her we're going to get them a new top freezer fridge, so she writes back saying she has a family to feed and would need a big fridge (it's just her and her husband) and how having an icemaker would be better since her and her husbands makes lots of drinks, and buying bags of ice would be an inconvenience. So we got them a used side by side and now she's complaining of the smell, the guy who installed it told her it would have a little odor and to put some baking soda in there and let it run for a while. Needing a second opinion she calls Lowes who then tell her it shouldn't smell at all. We pleaded with them to just clean it a little and that might help, she said it smelled like something died in it, refused to put her food in it and says if it still smells, there is going to be a problem. So we paid for a maid to go out and clean it, lo and behold the fridge doesn't smell anymore! A day later the fridge hose burst and the downstairs portion of the house got flooded. Called our insurance who took care of it right away, they had to strip the walls and the floors. Now the second fridge isn't working the tenants demand to know where we bought it and wants $200.00 compensated for food loss. So we bought them a top freezer fridge from Lowes with an ice maker and compensated them the $200.00. During the repairs the wife writes to us asking about what kind of carpet and flooring we're choosing for the house, my wife tells her its between us, the insurance people, and the repairmen. She then writes to me, saying vinyl is outdated and we should upgrade so the house value goes up. Even the repair man was saying she keeps asking if she can look at samples of the counter stones and carpet and if she chose one would it fit the budget We're not changing the counter tops at all, she just wants new things. My wife went down to san diego to visit family and told them a week in advance that she was dropping by to look at the repairs and the talk to them about the ant problem (the ants started to come inside). When she got there they asked her why she came all they way down from Japan to just check upon them, she told them she didn't and explained it was to see her family. My wife then chooses the carpet sample, and of course the tenant had a few things to say about it. My wife tries to tell them that if its just ants and it doesn't seem to look like an infestation that in the lease we're not responsible to pay a professional just for ants because when they first moved in there weren't any ants and now that its the rainy season they going to come in and they'll do that in the summer and so on. We can't afford a professional every time this happens. They said they tried everything possible and only a professional would work. This gets them upset and they started threatening to get a lawyer and sue. So not wanting a confrontation my wife says we'll call someone and pay for the first spray and then from there the tenants would be responsible. They agreed and this calms them down. Not a week later we get a implied warranty of habitability notice from their lawyer stating they're refusing to pay rent if the house isn't repaired by Dec.1, if after they're going to pay a pro-rate. So we called the people working on our house and told them the situation. They said the only thing missing is the carpet and vinyl for the kitchen but everything else is in working order, the sink, toilet, fridge,etc. The carpet should be done by next week, so I think they just wasted money on a lawyer. My wife is extremely upset and wants us to see a lawyer as well, she believes if they refuse to pay rent they should stay some were else while the repairs are being done, its states that in our lease agreement as well.Its only been 3 weeks since the first fridge broke. We feel like we're losing more money instead of making any. We're in the process of talking to a property management company but it seems like nothing will ever please these tenants, what should we do?
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