The Tenants Not Taken

Last week, Kirby informed me he had potential tenants for the house in Leeds. Two unmarried couples (one with a small child), wanted to share the home. The folks in question were in their early 20s and didn't have rental history. However, all of them worked retail jobs and could manage their end of the rent.

"How well will they fit into the neighborhood?" I asked Kirby after searching for a nice way to ask what I really wanted to know.

"Perfectly," Kirby answered and my heart sank.

There were so many things wrong with this scenario. But it boiled down to my stomach lining was seizing and I was really, really unhappy with this.

I don't like to rent to people who aren't used to renting. They don't know how to handle the basics of home management and are cutting their teeth on my asset. Newly mandated household chores, like taking out the garbage without a parent telling one to do so, doesn't always come naturally. People who haven't really done much renting don't always have the basics: lawn mowers, brooms and vacuums.

I really hate to rent to unmarried couples. I have done so before and have had mixed results. But, essentially, you can have the happiest couple in the world, and one of them decides to go to Helsinki for a semester of school. What then? If the one who remains behind can't make their end of the rent, they might leave. Or, they might take it upon themselves to find another roommate. Someone I didn't want in the first place. (As a disclaimer: there are circumstances when I would be ok with this--but they would be along the lines of me having known the person since they were four and trusting them with my child-type circumstances.).

But, more to the point in this case: There would be two (that would be more than one for those of you paying attention), young twenty-something females sharing a home. Marty Sunshine tells me the Chinese symbol for war is two women under one roof.

Then, I was thinking about the circumstances of the lease. Four people responsible for only a couple hundred dollars each still brings issues. Say Tenant number 1 couldn't pay one month. Would the other Tenants pitch in to cover Tenant 1? Or, would they send in what they had with a note saying, "Go after Tenant 1 if you want the rest?"

And, if Tenant 2 helped pay Tenant 1's remaining rent, would Tenant 2 be short on their portion of the electric?

All these thoughts, and plenty more were going through my head as I sorta agreed to this. Except, because they had no rental history, I asked Kirby to increase the deposit amount.

The tenants balked at that. And, in two short days, managed to find another chump landlord who is willing to rent to them.

Yes, I have a vacant home. Yes, I feel like I let poor Kirby down (I can't imagine he enjoys showing this house given how long it has been vacant). But, I don't believe Mr. Partner would have chosen them either. I had such a bad feeling about approving them to begin with, that I am thinking my gut was telling me I was bringing in trouble.

I feel bad for Kirby. Part of me feels like I undermined Kirby's judgement. I don't want to hurt that relationship. My bank balance isn't going to be happy either. My stomach lining however is feeling better than it has in the past week.