Quiet Enjoyment

Tammy called me. She introduced herself as a real estate agent. Then she started doing that thing people do when they have something unpleasant to say. You do know what I mean. They pause between sentences and always enunciate the last word, putting the other person on notice. In Tammy's case it went like this, "How are you..." long pause "The reason I am calling..." longer pause. "You see... I have listed a house... and I wanted to make you aware..." super long pause.

So, here's the gist, a few months ago, I was the responsible agent involved in renting out a six bedroom house. You Three may remember the story, if not, you can read about it here. Take your time I am not going anywhere.

For those of you allergic to hyper links, the Twitter version goes like this: I rented out a 6 bedroom house to a family of 12 adults. The owner approved the lease. They moved in with marginal drama but calmed down. The end.

Well, it was the end. That is, until Tammy called. You see, Tammy is the listing agent for the house next door to this six bedroom property (it is now a seven bedroom property, as they turned the rumpus room in the basement into another bedroom). Tammy called to tell me that her clients (the next door neighbors to the house I rented) have observed that there are many cars out front and "people coming in and out at all hours of the day."

I asked, "is the place unkempt?" No. "Are there loud parties after 10 p.m. every night?" No, in fact, these people are quiet and keep to themselves. "Are they parking in front of your clients' house?" No. They park in the driveway and in front of their own rental home. "Is there a strong 'herbal' smell wafting from the back yard?" No. "So your client has noticed no illegal activity?" Correct.

But me checking to see if there was no illegal activity didn't mollify Tammy. As soon as I went through my checklist, Tammy abruptly informed me her clients know how to reach the owner of this house and it is just a formality that they called me first. And by the way, sweet and professional Tammy was now a cross rabid zombie. When I explained there are 12 adults legally living at the house--and the owner has approved this--so there was nothing anyone could do, I could tell through the phone her eyeballs were popping out of her head.

And then, I asked this innocent question: Did Tammy's client--the next door neighbor to these folks--walk on over, ring the door bell and ask them not to park in front of their home? At that point, you would have think I called this woman's (hypothetical) child an ugly raging brat. But the answer was obviously no.

I did remind Tammy that the tenants, who are doing nothing illegal, have the right to quiet enjoyment. That is, they can live there as long as they pay the rent and behave themselves and there is nothing anyone can do. They are allowed to live in the home. They are allowed to park their cars on the street--and the street belongs to the City of Mesa, not to her client. And, unless Tammy could point out some illegal activity or any lease violation, I was out of reasonable options. I did tell her, these these folks are the nicest people anyone could meet, and perhaps her client could just go over, introduce themselves (optionally bring a banana bread of a plate of cookies) and explain that somehow coming home at 1 a.m. was keeping buyers away. And while her clients were at it, maybe they could explain to these nice renters they want to sell their home and please don't park the cars legally on the street.

Hopefully Tammy's clients' house sells soon for these tenants' sake. I sure wouldn't want neighbors as ugly as Tammy's clients.