The Rajun Cajun

Rajun was my first agent in Birmingham. She got that honor because she answered the phone at the right place and time.

She has that highly accessorized real estate agent look with a pit bull of an attitude. If central casting wanted someone to play the part of a real estate agent, Rajun would be a shoe-in. Of course, I am also a real estate agent and don't look or act the part. Central casting would just glance at me, politely titter and move on.

Rajun wasn't an investor-type agent. However, she believed in what I was doing and it got me a good start. For that, I am grateful.

I started seeing problems with Rajun when she proudly regaled a story about how she yelled at a tenant of mine. Why? Because this woman moved in and couldn't get the heater working. So, she called Rajun. Rajun knew this home very well and perhaps she could tell my tenant what needed to be done.

I find this very reasonable. I don't find Rajun telling me she told off this poor, freezing tenant acceptable. I told her so. Immediately Rajun backed down from her story, toning down her sensational self-righteouness and suggesting she exaggerated just a little. Too late. The damage was permanently done.

My next major encounter with Rajun came in the summer of 2006. It was during this time Trusted Tenant came along looking for a home. He found one he liked better than the one he had previously chosen. He did what any reasonable person would do: he called me, telling me he found a home he loved and not to bother with the first house he found.

On the particular day he called, I was up to my armpits in family tragedy. My sister-in-law was on her last breath. My mother was close to death as well. I didn't have the mental stamina for much. Rajun, who knew what was going on with my family, had told me if I needed anything to just ask. So, I asked Trusted--whom I had only two conversation in the prior week--to please call Rajun, let him know what he decided and that it was ok with me.

It was not ok with Rajun, who let Trusted know--under no uncertain terms--he was not to look for a home without her. I heard from both of them that afternoon, with Rajun gloating at her victory of putting Trusted in his place. Trusted just said something along the line of, "I don't know either of you, but what the heck was that about?" So, with everything else I had going on, I had to straighten out the misunderstanding and explain to Rajun, it was not acceptable to bite the heads off of potential tenants. One would think, being from the South, this would have been a given.

From that day on, Rajun didn't like Trusted. Trusted wasn't crazy about her either. He, like all my tenants, politely didn't mention her. She growled about him--though she hadn't had any encounters since that episode.

Because Rajun was a real estate agent, she could collect rents for me. And, for a small fee, she did this. One month Trusted's rent went missing. I called Trusted and he assured me it was sent out. He gave me the check number, the date it was mailed and all sorts of other relevant information. His check miraculously appeared--with the date he swore the check was written--about two weeks after it was due.

The next month, Trusted proactively e-mailed me the check number and told me it was going in the mail that day. Again, the check didn't show up for two weeks, though Rajun had a lot to say about the missing check and Trusted being a deadbeat. The third month, I asked him to mail the check directly to me. I got the check without incident. Rajun had a lot to say about that too. It was mostly related to Trusted. She bypassed the odd coincidence of me getting rent on time when it was sent to Arizona, but her not getting it on time when it was sent about 20 miles.

There were other things too. I called her once, asking her to look up properties for me to purchase. She groused at me for not calling often enough (there was no reason for me to do so. The cashier at the local grocery store doesn't get snippy with she when he doesn't hear from me for a week or two). While Rajun and I were talking, she said she had to go because a potential client was calling in. After buying a gazillion homes, all of the sudden, I wasn't a client!

Also, during this time, two other tenants came forward as well with stories of verbal assaults. There is no reason why Rajun had contact with these people, much less why she felt the need to belittle them. They sent in their checks. That should be the end of it. She may have been my agent, but I assure you, she wasn't speaking for me. Looking back, I realize I spent more time than I should have smoothing over the relationship between me and my tenants because of Rajun. I shouldn't have had to spend ANY time doing it.

In March 2007, Marty, the kids and I took a road trip to Birmingham. We were there for two weeks. I was there to drum up interest in our company. One afternoon, I walked into one mortgage company on the other side of town from Rajun's office. This was a cold call. I had never done business with this company. I knew nobody who worked at this company. That afternoon, I had just been driving by and on a lark, stopped in to pass out my card and say hello. I had done this with several mortgage companies in the area. On this occasion, the mortgage broker took one look at my brochure and handed it back. He said, "I know who you are. I don't do business with people who do business with Rajun Cajun." (No time in our conversation did I tell him I knew her.) He didn't elaborate, instead quickly escorting me out the door.

Also during that trip, I spoke with a property management company. While sitting in the conference room I told the broker of this company I wanted to make sure my tenants would be treated with the utmost dignity. I informed him this was a major requirement and one I felt my current agent was falling short on. I never mentioned her by name. The man said to me, "Are you currently working with Rajun Cajun?" When I refused to answer, he told me Rajun has a reputation similar to what I described.

I fired Rajun the next day. She told me I would fail without her. She told me she was the reason my company was so successful. She gave me a lot of opinions she held about me letting her go. If my tenants got half of the tongue lashing I got, then I made the right decision. The very next day I met Jack.

But, Rajun's words have rung in my ears many times since. Last summer, when I was at my lowest, I started believing some of what she said. Maybe she was the reason things ran smoothly? Maybe I did need her for success? Maybe? This past summer, when things were at their worst, I blamed myself for everything going wrong. I was even blaming myself for the most current Middle East crisis. Rajun's words were spiraling around along with all the other negative self-talk I was feeding on.

Part of my personal mission is to treat people the way I want to be treated. There is no shame in renting. I fear this is something Rajun just didn't understand. People do it all the time for a variety of reasons. Homeowners aren't better than renters because they own a home.

Truly helping others doesn't give us a reason to be pious or forget about the dignity in others. Dignity is really all we have when we are stripped of everything else. Preserving a person's dignity will go far to grow a relationship. It is humbling to respect another's dignity. That is a lesson I hope Rajun learns.