Good friends/bad tenants

If there is one thing that I have learned lately, it's that renting to your friends is not always a good idea. Just because someone is a good friend in no way means that they are going to be a good tenant. I have had a bad run of tenants here in this duplex that I rent half of and it's made living here a real nightmare. A friend rented the other half when I moved in, but broke his lease and abruptly moved out two weeks after I moved in, leaving me holding the bag for the utility bills. I found a college friend who was looking to move and needed new housing, so she moved in and we got along famously, but rather unfortunately, she turned out not to be the best at managing money and after a lost job, struggled to get other jobs and kept losing them as well, leaving her with no money for rent or utilities. So I was once again on the hook for paying water and electric. Sadly, she fell so badly behind in the rent that she was evicted a few months ago. Another old friend expressed interest in renting the other unit in this duplex, and that has turned into another nightmare, this time, leaving me with a hostile tenant who is also exhibiting signs of mental problems on top of things. She refuses communication with me and once again, I find myself holding the bag for paying the entire utility bill here. It's downright exasperating to have rented to friends who turn out to be nightmare tenants who can't pay their fair share of the utility bills here, leaving me stuck with the entire cost. It's enough to make me consider moving out.

I feel like I am being taken advantage of, and in point of fact, I am. It's not fair and I won't stand for it. The landlord is 2000 miles away and can't really exert any control over the situation, being so far away, and we have no local management to handle these problems, so I am stuck holding the bag and hating every minute of it. If I do end up staying and if I can pry the current tenant loose and get her out of the place, I am going to rent to strangers from now on, graduate students who will be here only short term and then leave. I think that such an arrangement would be far better for everyone involved. Enough is enough. I want my home back from nightmare tenants who've made living here utter hell. If things don't improve, I'm leaving. Nobody should have to put up with tenants from hell. Nobody should have to deal with uncooperative tenants who won't pay their fair share of utilities. Tomorrow morning, I am going to call the city and look into our meters being split and each unit having its own electric and water meter. That way, I will pay MY share and the other tenant will HAVE to pay their bill or they will lose their water and electric. Hey, it's only fair. It won't be MY problem if they are sitting in the dark with no water flowing. So time to step up and do something about this situation and at least exert SOME control over this place. I'm happy to pay for MY electric and water use, just not someone else's and then give them a free ride. No such thing as a free lunch, especially not here at this house!