A messy rental apartment or home isn’t just a poor habit on the part of the tenant.  What starts out messy can rapidly deteriorate into an unhygienic, dangerous, and costly repair environment very quickly.  It’s no surprise that an extremely messy living environment is often a reflection of the tenant.  How they keep or fail to keep their unit can often be correlated to their personal lives, finances, behviour etc.  And that will almost certainly affect the tenancy. A Clean Up warning form should be issued for tenants exhibiting hoarder traits and/or those who are not keeping their living situation clean and sanitized.  Clutter can also be unsafe and increase risk of an accident  or risk of fire safety.  If you’ve spoken to your tenant about this (or even if you haven’t yet but are aware of the state of the rental property) you must send them this warning letter which also contains a 4-point checklist that the landlord can check off to address specific areas of concern (Clutter, Food, Cleanliness, Fire Hazards).  The letter clearly describes the personal safety risk to the tenant and the potential fines, cost assessments, and even an eviction if not corrected by a certain date.