I’ve spent the last couple of weeks preparing another of our rental properties for sale and I was handed another reminder of why tenants are not a landlord’s friend. I don’t want this to be taken the wrong way, I am not saying you cannot be friendly and I am not saying you need to create a hostile environment, but you do need to remember a landlord/tenant relationship is a business arrangement.
The Tale of Two Tenants
So, in this property one of the tenants had been with us for almost three years. During this time we had some hiccups, they had fallen behind a few times, managed to catch up, fallen behind again due to the economy and both being laid off, and then eventually caught up again. I even took them to the RTDRS to protect myself, but recommended a Cinderella or Stay order so they could be put on a payment plan rather than a straight eviction which I could easily have obtained. According to any definition, I went above and beyond to help them.
These particular tenants had a couple of dogs as we allowed pets in this property. We had run into some issues during their stay as we had a yard service come through and cut the lawns on a weekly/biweekly basis as there would be evidence of the dogs on the lawn (I will let you figure that out). In these cases, the lawn folks would do the front and leave the back, pretty simple really.
Anyway, now they are gone, they found an incredible opportunity to move to an acreage for less rent and off they went. It was all pretty quick, they gave me about two weeks notice and they actually didn’t even catch up on the money they were behind until after they were out and it involved applying the security deposit to make it balance. For the record, this is not how a landlord should ever use the damage deposit, but this is an example of being too friendly with tenants and should be taken as a lesson.
So once they were gone, I do the tour (no exit walk through as per our systems, once again when you don’t follow your systems, you lose money!) and find the place is looking rough. No, it’s not vandalized; it just wasn’t kept up that well. There is the little stuff, like the dust on the fan blades in the living room that looks like feathers on the edges it’s so thick, the ripped and torn screens on the windows and the patio possibly from the dogs looking out. There are the dust bunnies that are lying in the corners, hanging from the ceiling and on every cold air intake and fan. The sign that it has been months or possibly even years since a good cleaning was done behind furniture and it has only become apparent once furniture was removed from the property.
Then there are slightly more annoying things, like the three kitchen knobs broken off or missing, the myriad of wall anchors and dents in the walls that need patching, the missing and removed closet doors. Finally, there is the badly worn hardwood floor that needs refinishing due to possibly a rocking chair with a nail or staple that dug into the floor damaging it quite severely along with a myriad of scratch marks throughout the floor from animals and moving furniture. Oh and I mustn’t forget the large burn mark on the deck railing (the deck needs to be replaced anyway, but still).
I’ve already spent about fifteen hours patching and painting walls, I’ve brought a contractor in to get the entire front deck replaced, new windows are on order and I am preparing to get the entire floor refinished and as I am doing all of this, I have plenty of time to reflect. Especially as I paint, and it hit me the one day, this is not how a friend would leave your place. At least a friend you want to keep.
Tenants as a generality are just renting space, they get to move on and leave the wealthy landlord (whether he is wealthy or just scraping by, he owns property so renters like to assume he is wealthy) with the place when they move on. I’m not saying all tenants are like this, but I am reminding you of why you need to treat it like a business, and as a counter point let’s look at tenant number two!
The Other Tenant
So now, I am onto the tenants in the lower suite of the same property. These folks moved to Alberta a year ago from Ontario and owned their own home, but weren’t going to purchase here yet until they determined it was where they wanted to be.
During the time they were with us, they never missed a payment or fell behind. They called us a couple of times when there were any property problems and updated us right away so we were able to send out the necessary repair people or take appropriate actions to remedy the problems before they became serious. When their lease was coming up, they gave us two months notice they were moving as their job was located in the deep South and the property was in the NW. The commute was killing them, although they loved the suite, so moving made perfect sense.
When I arrived to do the exit walk through, the place was virtually spotless, not a burnt out light in the place, and the battery was even working in the smoke detector (not so true upstairs as they had removed the battery there!). The only problem was a couple of large anchors in the wall in one room where they had attached part of a desk. In comparison to the upstairs unit that was insignificant!
Comparison Time, What Was The Difference?
So what was the difference, or differences? Well the lower tenants had owned their own home and I have to assume took more responsibility for their place. The upper tenants had become “friends” (not the type I invite over for dinner or call to chat with, but possibly more the type who take advantage of you once or twice before you push them away) and possibly felt I could take care of their mess.
They were done with the space and simply wanted away, so they left. With the damage deposit applied as rent, I had no payments from them at a minimum of a thousand dollars of cleanup, wall repairs and painting. It’s true that I would have painted anyway after having a tenant in for that long, but it’s the tenant’s responsibility to leave the property in the same shape as they originally occupied it.
The Lesson
You really have to focus on your business as a landlord. When you let relationships get in the way of business, it can cost you money. Sure times have been tough the last couple of years for people, but if you let your tenants get to close, times can be tough for you too as you take responsibility for their actions, or lack of actions. There has to be a line between helping people out and ensuring you and yours are taken care of. Sometimes it’s a fine line, other times it can be very definitive, it depends on your emotional makeup to a degree, but remembering this is a business can hopefully help you ensure you are standing on the correct side of the fine line! It comes down to this, tenants are not your friends, they are your business partner in a rental property and you need to treat them as this.
Have any of you tried to help someone who was a tenant? Or do you feel a tenant took excessive advantage of you? Share some of your stories here to help remind others of where that line is. I look forward to hearing from you.
