How to deal with Bad Roommates

by Hien Quoc
- Fortiment.com - Free Roommate Finder Service

I'd definitely had my share of bad roommates. Not that they didn't pay rent on time but mainly because they're messy, creepy, or nag about everything cause they got nothing better to do.

I've had dirty dishes stacked so high in the sink that it reeks nasty pipe grime and rotting pasta with mold colonies growing in every way possible. You can't even wash anything without having to clear a path for the faucet head to swing. Not that you would want to but you can imagine how bad it is.

Well basically, I have a very high tolerance on that kind of stuff. Normally the landlord won't even let that mess get to that point but I'm going with the "Be a mature adult and clean after yourselves approach." I knew that eventually someone is going to complain about that mess. I don't really use that kitchen that much but every time I do I had to clear a way for the running water to get to my dirty dishes. I always wash my dish right after I use it.

Ants were a huge problem cause there was plenty of left over protein and sugars for them to build a great empire.

So what I did was I left it for weeks to months and eventually the culprit who uses the dishes frequently runs out of dishes to wash and eventually needs to wash their dishes. I let them pretty much live with their own mess until they can't stand it anymore.

When a roommate does complain about it then I go to each and every roommate to find the culprit and tell them about the complaint and have them wash dishes. What works great is this. Tell this, "Hey, I've been getting complaints about the dishes not being washed and its keeping them from using the sink and eating comfortably. I need you to wash your dishes right after you use them. Otherwise I'll need to hire a maid because its unacceptable for me to have this as the property manager/landlord and its not fair for the other roommates. I would need to raise rent if I end up getting a maid to take care of this problem."

RAISE RENT!!!! NO!!!!! that usually brings a shock to them. Some might be defiant and if they do they already need to go anyway. Read my article that I posted before this one on how to evict roommates.

The next article I'll talk about is dealing with common household PESTS. Stay Tuned.