Tenant Craziness

There was a six-bedroom home about a mile from me that my broker, El Jefe, asked me to list and rent out. I originally didn't set the price, as the owner (who lives in Austria) knew more about renting out his home in my neighborhood than I did. After a month on the market with no bites, I told El Jefe what the price needed to be. El Jefe lowered the price $1,000 and didn't tell the owner. However, now it was at a reasonable amount.

The next month I started getting calls. Though six-bedroom homes are not desirable by all, there are definitely those who have a need or a want for them. They all began calling. And calling. And though January isn't exactly moving season around here, there was a plethora of activity on this house.

It is fair to say if a rental home is on the market for any length of time around here it is usually for one of two reasons: 1) applicants have applied and either weren't approved or changed their minds or 2) it is a dump and/or the landlord is crazy. In the case of this house, it may have been a little bit of the first and a lot of the second.

It took several weeks but El Jefe (with me pushing it) urged the owner to paint the faux-painted green and teal room. Additionally, the owner finally agreed to get the electrical issue resolved, because I made it very clear I, nor anyone I showed this home to, would be turning on the bathroom light until it was fixed. And while we were on the subject of deferred maintenance, perhaps the owner could hire someone to take care of the pool, clean the place and pick the citrus that was turning the back yard into a rat all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. Which reminds me, the owner needed an exterminator.

Anyway, with the rent lowered, all the repairs and painting done and the critter control taken care of I went out to rent the house a second time. If I told you about the kinds of people looking to rent a six-bedroom home that raised an eyebrow or two, you would be reading this blog for the next hour. So, I will just skip to the applicants. Perhaps at a later time.

The first applicant was a single woman with one child. She worked from home and wanted an office. I have no idea why she needed the other three bedrooms, but she swore the house was just right. Unfortunately she had been evicted from several properties in the past four years. She also possibly has a credit score lower than mine--possibly. At any rate, the owner rejected her on-line application.

When El-Jefe broke the news, she screamed discrimination and said she would sue me, El Jefe and the owner. You see she is a minority. So, I guess she felt that meant she was entitled to the house no matter what. I do know that El Jefe and I follow Federal Fair Housing guidelines. I had no say in her application. El Jefe never met her and I guarantee the owner is too cheap to fly back from Austria to meet her. So our consciences are clear. Incidentally, she wrote me weeks later asking if the owner had changed his mind because she really needed to move.

The second family who applied were a blended group. The husband had a felony. His 16 year old daughter's 24 year old boyfriend would also be living at the home. Was that a problem? I believe he meant for the owner. It was a huge problem for me, but I am not the owner. There would also be a wife and two other minor children. Anyway, they made it through the approval process (even with the felony) one Friday afternoon. Then they didn't hear from El Jefe. So they called me on Saturday. I suggested they would probably hear from him on Monday, as it was the weekend. And yes, the house was theirs. I had the key and I was taking the next two days off, so nobody was seeing the place. They need not worry. Saturday night they called me again wondering where El Jefe was. This time I gave them El Jefe's phone number. Sunday they called me yet again, still complaining they hadn't heard from El Jefe about the lease. This time I called El Jefe and lit a fire under him. El Jefe called them back, explaining it was the weekend and the lease would be over Monday.  Monday they didn't even bother to call to say they were backing out. Instead, I got an e-mail saying El Jefe was unresponsive and that "bothered" them. I pointed out it was a weekend, they were approved and he did call them Monday. No matter, our company was obviously awful.

The last applicants were a family of--and I am not making this up--12 adults. All of the kids were grown and living at home. Two were married. One of the married couples even had a child. These were the nicest folks I have ever rented a home to. But I have to tell you, when you have 12 opinions it takes more than an hour to show a rental. Plus, the matriarch of the family had to see it three times. The third time I was car-less (she knew this but still "needed" to see it), and I walked over.  It took them a week to put in the application. It took 15 minutes to get them approved. It took them two days to show up at the office to pay their deposit. And it took them four hours to sign the lease--I know this because Mrs. El. Jefe was e-mailing me every ten minutes from the office saying "they are still here, why??" (and by the way, they were sent a copy of the lease ahead of time to read). Marty Sunshine comes from a big family. I have seen these dynamics it drives me bonkers. So, I knew "why" they were still there. I also knew for my own sanity, I wasn't going anywhere near the office that day.

Anyway, there was more considerable drama for me, which took place prior to 7 a.m. one day. Now the place is now rented to a very nice, yet large, family. El Jefe is very worried if they are this much of a pain when it comes to filling out an application and signing a lease, what will they be like when they are living there?

I suspect they will be silent. My experience tells me that folks who squawk loudly at first, tend to calm down once they move in and live out their lives. I am betting this will be the case.