I am so annoyed at the moment -- and I set myself up for it!

[IdaBriggs]

My mother recently decided to retire from managing some property she owns. Its been 35 years, and I can totally understand why! Anyway, my husband and I have taken over managing the property (after extensive training, of course!), and let me just say -- CHALLENGE!!!

One of the tenants is a painter, and he is getting very behind on his rent. He still owes from December (when my mother was in charge), and hasn't paid anything for this month, but has been doing work "in trade" for us, so he was able to go from seven weeks behind to about four (counting this week). The projects we've had him doing are "little", and his pay has been a mixture of "trade for the rent" and some cash. (He's been having trouble finding work.) Anyway, he totally torqued my husband off with the last project by getting 2/3 done, and then demanding more cash for his labor, but there was kind of a misunderstanding about the paint (he had asked for Sherwin-Williams, and my husband provided Behr, which meant "2 coats instead of 1" which my husband didn't understand, and Tenant guy didn't say anything about until after he'd started painting), but I was able to soothe the troubled waters, resolve the fact there had been a miscommunication, and get things worked out. I was feeling pretty proud of myself, and so when he put a bid in on another job that we hadn't planned on doing anything about at all, I persuaded my husband to give it to him. The price was good -- we paid for supplies, plus a $100 for labor, and he was going to sand and seal the wood shelves and moldings in an office. He was also going to get another week's free rent plus more cash (plus we paid for the materials) for painting the room, and he had three and a half days to do it. (The room isn't huge, by the way.)

Today he called -- half way through the wood portion of the project/hasn't started the painting part yet -- and informed me he wanted DOUBLE THE PRICE FOR THE LABOR because "he'd underbid the job so much." I told him that wasn't my fault, and it wasn't going to happen. He told me to evict him then, and hung up on me.

I'm *SO* annoyed. I think my being reasonable about the "communication problem" with the other room gave him the impression I'm a sucker, and I don't appreciate someone trying to blackmail me when the project is in progress. If he'd quoted the "double" labor rate, the project wouldn't have been started and his "if I quoted too high then you weren't going to hire me" cries are falling on deaf ears because he's right: I wouldn't have.

Looks like I'll be serving my first eviction notice this week. Sigh. My fault, but I'm still ticked off.

My husband, of course, is simply shaking his head because he kind of saw this coming.

Idiot Tenant. Now he's lost the painting job, AND he's about to lose his room. Jerk.

But I've lost credibility with my husband on whether or not my judgment about "tenant trustworthiness" is valid.

:mad:

[mike_c]

1. evict him....

OK-- I'm totally on the side of "work with people and the hell with profits" but it's the challenge he issued that would piss me off if I were in your shoes-- unless you can sit down with him and work something better out. But jeeze, when people jerk you around even when you're trying to help them, you have to kick them in the ass.

[IdaBriggs]

4. Yup. The "I underbid the job or you wouldn't have hired me" thing

is REALLY torquing me off, along with the "I want double agreed upon labor." He's the expert, and I felt like everyone was coming off a winner. We've also been waiving his late fees for the last two months -- DONE NOW! He's a weekly renter, so it won't take us long to get rid of him. If he wants to be evicted, I'll be happy to oblige him, especially since he's not paying anyway!

[EFerrari]

2. Tenants give you big red flags. Changing the terms of any agreement

is one of them. I had to learn that, you just did. Chalk it up and move on.

Seriously, good tenants keep their agreements, have kept their agreements and will keep their agreements. That's shy you do a credit check -- not to check their credit but to check their word.

All of us who deal with perfect strangers in our property, tenants, learn that. It will be okay.

[IdaBriggs]

5. It could have been a lot more expensive lesson, too.

I gave him a chance, my husband gave him a chance, and my mother did, too. The transition was challenging, and she warned us that we would be "tested" to see if we were actually going to enforce "crazy rules" like "pay your rent on time." (There's another tenant who has suddenly "forgotten" when his rent is due -- he's also getting served this week.) I think once the eviction notices start flying, and word circulates that yup, we're serious about the rent money, things should calm down. In the meantime, I'm more annoyed with myself than I am with the Tenant -- I played right into it! But NO! I had to try to be "fair and reasonable" and see both sides of the issue. Well, there's only one side to this one -- he wants more money. So do I, by the way, but its not like I'm going to double his rent or anything! (Even though I could, technically, since its a week-to-week tenancy. Sigh. But I won't do that.)

But he's going to get charged late fees from now on until we get him out! :mad:

[EFerrari]

9. If you double his rent, you'll get double of what he's already not paying.

Don't take it personally. He'd do the same thing to anyone.

You play by the rules, including late fees, and when he shoves off, you can be satisfied that you did that.

I really don't get it. I've done rental prop management for many years. Some people really do have situations and problems and we can work them out somehow. And some people are just users and, imho, we need not to co-sign their anti social behavior. It doesn't work for anyone over time. Good for you for i.d.ing this one before he made more of a mess.

[hickman]

3. This is the new world.

Never give a sucker an even break. He thought you were an easy touch. Just don't let this creep stop you from giving the next guy a chance. Learn from him, don't become him.

[IdaBriggs]

6. Good advice. Another thing that was my fault was he started trying to

play me against my husband. That isn't going to happen. I was willing to go to bat and "be fair" when it was obvious to me there had been a miscommunication, but trying to blackmail me for more money is in the "too bad, so sad" category. He'd already cracked his credibility score with my husband when he asked for more money on the first job, but I thought I'd patched that up. He should have stuck to the agreement on this one.

I'm pretty convinced we'll still work with people. My mother has a pretty good track record for 35 years of "landlord/tenant" stuff. Also, my husband is an excellent judge of people; I kind of fell for the sob story because I am a bit of a sucker, which is why I shouldn't have intervened in the first place. (We've got duties divided, and my soft heart was a big discussion issue before we decided to do this for my mom.) It was a good lesson, and I'm glad we learned it as quickly as we did.

I have already begged my husband's forgiveness, and he's graciously only done a couple of "told you so" takes. He also thinks its partly his fault, because the guy offered such a good deal on the woodwork. It was one of those "too good to be true" things in retrospect. Lesson learned. Sigh.

[hickman]

10. Your heart and your head are fine.

Your heart told you to give him a chance. Your head said "enough" when he tried to play you against your husband. Next time get it in writing. Work for rent, and everything written down. If the paint you bought wasn't enough to cover then he should have finished the job, then alerted you. Sometimes you get took, and sometimes you help someone in need. Don't change.

[LeftyMom]

7. You have to be a hardass for a while.

Get everybody used to the idea that you're a stickler for the rules. Then and only then can you start making exceptions and being nice. Otherwise people will think you're soft and make your life a living hell.

PS A good eviction attorney is worth his weight in gold. Doubly so if he's got great staff who can answer most questions for you and save you time and money.

[IdaBriggs]

11. I totally agree! In fact, we have discussed things like that --

but its a lot harder to do in practice! For example, we rent "rooms" in one of the properties (they are nice and large!) with free cable in each one and use of "common areas" (bathroom, kitchen, dining area). Anyway, in addition to the "standard" appliances (stove, refrigerator, microwave, washer and dryer -- did I mention laundry is free?), we also keep a television w/cable and VCR/DVD unit in the common area. The lease agreement clearly states that these items stay in the common area.

Imagine the shock when my husband was over last week, and the television was missing. One of our tenants had decided to "borrow it" from the common room without asking us because his was at the repair shop! (Did I mention this guy CARRIED IT UP THE STAIRS despite the fact he's on disability recovering from BACK SURGERY?)

My husband should have come down on him like a ton of bricks, but (supposedly) the other tenants in the unit don't mind because they all have their own televisions in their rooms which they prefer, so, after being promised its only for a week or two, my husband decided to let it slide. Intellectually, we know better, but its still not always easy to be "mean" about something so ridiculously small and petty -- except now we're trying to fill a vacancy in that building, and one of the amenities is missing!

Its small stuff we're learning. And, on a good note, my mom REALLY knows her stuff. The eviction stuff isn't going to be a problem thanks to her extensive knowledge of Michigan Landlord/Tenant law, and her excellent training on obeying the law like crazy. (Michigan is a Tenant Friendly State.) We've got inventory checklists, receipts, and an extremely good lease that protects everyone's interests! (Did you know the lease actually has to stay stuff like "don't block doorways or stairwells" otherwise we could get sued if someone can't get out in case of an emergency? Wouldn't common fricking sense say to most people "don't make it so you can't exit the building"? Apparently not, because there was a case in Michigan a while back when someone decided to use the stairwell as a storage area, and then tripped over their own crap while leaving during a fire situation, and then GOT THEIR HOUSEHOLD ITEMS PAID FOR IN ADDITION TO THAT because the fire they had created destroyed stuff when the firemen had trouble getting their equipment up the stairs! Did I mention Michigan is a Tenant Friendly State?)

I'm very proud of my mother's expertise, and of the fact she's helped provide nice housing for so many people over the years. Her secret is screening; she isn't always perfect, but she has a history of getting people in who end up staying for darn near forever! Of course, she treats them extremely well in my opinion both as a daughter, and as a former "other Landlord's" apartment dweller. We're hiccuping through some "transition challenges" but its more our fault than the Tenant's -- of course they are going to "test us" to see what they can get away with! And, if we are doing our jobs correctly, then we are seen as "hard assess" for a while. We can "be nice" later, when everyone has learned we aren't stupid suckers (even if we are still going through that transition where we are occasionally being stupid suckers right now -- doh!).

[BlueIris]

8. I'm with the "evict him" crowd.

And don't feel the slightest bit guilty about it.

[lildreamer316]

12. Hey; Ida...

How are you feeling? Haven't heard. Hope you are well.
Was just curious.
Sorry this is happening.:hug:

[NC_Nurse]

13. I have been taken advantage of by loser tenants.

I sympathize completely. I have had to get a LOT pickier about who I rent to. I have one house empty at the moment, but I refuse to rent it to
anyone I don't have a good feeling about. I can't afford to be screwed again.

[bleedingheart]

14. I am with the evict him crowd.

[SharonRB]

15. Hey, Ida

I was just thinking about you the other day -- haven't seen you in ages! How are you feeling? Hope everything is going well.

I say evict him!

[bearfan454]

16. Have him served today

That way he'll know you aren't fucking around.