The Hard-Hearted Landlord

A couple of weeks ago, Flunky sent me an e-mail saying there was water on the floor of my home in Alabaster. And, what should he do? There was no other information involved to help me make an informed decision, so I went with the obvious: "wipe it up." That netted me a glimmer more data, which was "there is water leaking on to the floor" and what should I--the landlord--do about it? The first thought that came to mind was find more competent people who could think for themselves, but I kept that to myself. When I suggested HIRING A PLUMBER, it was only then did Flunky admit the water in question was actually several days old and a result of rains from earlier in the week. When push came to shove, it turns out the back door's weather stripping had rotted.

Which bring me to yesterday's e-mail. Flunky wrote me to tell me the hardwood in that house is actually laminate. And now it is ruined by the back door. The tenant's "short term" solution was to put a small area rug down over it because the floor was coming up. The tenant is "terribly afraid" her son is going stub his toe. So Flunky wanted to know, wait for it..., what I was going to do about it?

The answer is nothing. I am going to do nothing. The tenant wasn't afraid of her son running in the water on the floor, slipping and cracking open his head. That sounds a heck of a lot scarier to me. Nor is the tenant concerned that perhaps she could have: 1) cleaned up the water immediately and prior to the floor getting into this condition or 2) letting Flunky know the weatherstripping had gone from under the door months ago.

The tenant is not loosing sleep about the fact the hardwood floors (yes, hardwood, they are not laminate any more than I am a size 2) are ruined and they extend seamlessly throughout the entire bottom floor. Granted, this happened by the dining area, so I can tile the kitchen and eating area to remedy the problem instead of putting brand new hardwood flooring in 1,500 square feet. The tenant isn't crying about that. Instead she is complaining her son may hurt his foot. And you know what, he might. She may want to watch him carefully.

I also told Flunky that this will be coming off the tenant's security deposit. She was negligent for not wiping up the water--or he was negligent for not taking care of the problem sooner. So, either the tenant or Flunky would be paying for this. I gave them a home with hardwoods in great condition. I expect to be given back a home with hardwood floors in great condition. I don't want tile. That's not what I paid for when I bought the home. So, figure it out.

There has already been behind the scenes stuff going on with this house long before I ever heard about the condition of the floor. Unaware of potential issues with the tenant's son's toes, I contacted Elsie earlier this week and told her come the beginning of May, let the tenant know I will not be renewing the lease. Instead, I will be selling the house. I have to. It belongs to the same bank as the home currently in foreclosure. So, I know the flooring will be fixed. But I am not doing it right now--just in case there is another water spill she can't be bothered to take care of.