Jaded Empire

Mr. Richards moved in about a year ago. I wasn't sure how I felt about Mr. Richards originally. Before he ever rented from me, Trusted met him and ultimately, Mr. Richards passed the Trusted test.

Mr. Richards has been a decent tenant. He doesn't pay on time, but he pays the late fees. It isn't that he is a deadbeat. He pays late because because his pay days do not coincide with my rent due dates.

My biggest complaint about Mr. Richards isn't that he pays late. It is that he neglects to tell me he will be paying late. Usually, I can figure this out when the rent due date comes along and his check is missing. Generally I give him a few days and then call him. Mr. Richards always calls me back, politely telling me when I can expect his check. And, without fail his check will show up as promised.

After fretting about Mr. Richards early on, I realized he does pay every month. My concerns about him fell to the bottom of my list, with my new task being to train Mr. Richards to call me instead the other way around.

Two months ago, all that training paid off. Mr. Richards called, letting me know his next several pay days, so I could plan on expecting my rent on the prescribed days. I carefully circled his paydates, so we could avoid the cat-and-mouse monthly phone calls. This month, I waited in joyful hope as Mr. Richard's rent check was to arrive as promised. It did not come.

On Saturday, I phoned Mr. Richard's home, left my patented dully annoyed message, explaining rent was due. He liked living there. I liked keeping my credit score above par. Please do us both a favor and pay before I lost my mind.

Mr. Richards called this morning before 7 a.m. to tell me he had been in the hospital and informed me of when I could expect his rent check. My response was my patented dully annoyed, "Uh huh."

As Mr. Richards continued his elaborate on his story of his poor demise, I became more and more skeptical. After all, he wasn't the first to give me this line. And, he wasn't the only one late. Mrs. 508 is getting on my nerves. Mrs. 3001 tells me (for the third month in a row) "things are a bit tough." I have heard from others about there woes. And now, Mr. Richards just happens to land himself in the hospital.

There was a time I could handle Mrs. 3001's tales of woe (though in her defense, she does not whine). There was a time when Mr. Richards would not have incurred my skepticism. Now because of the likes of Wayward and Mr. Smith, every excuse--plausible or not--is met with my patented dully annoyed, "Uh huh."

When I think about it, Mr. Richards is most likely telling the truth. In our conversation, he offered me the name of the hospital, the doctor treating him (including a doctor's note) and gave me updates on his pay periods. He offered to overnight his rent (with late fees) to me as soon as he got his worker's compensation later this week. He wanted to do right by me. Which is more than I can say for those who caused my skepticism in the first place.