Tenant made me laugh

[kathryn d]

Received this email today from one of our tenants.

"ok well i sent this email on the 28th of april .... and i now see that the rent cheque has been put through which as i stated would not go through .... anytime that we have asked you to hold the rent you did and we pay it when we said we would ..... our son broke his bed and we had to buy him a new one and now that the cheque has been put in we won't have money to 1.get diapers,2.get groceries,3. gas to get the kids to the babysitters. 4. power bill, and last but not least money to pay the babysitter.......

i hope your proud of yourself... its too bad you don't have any kids of your own so you would understand what its like .....

very unhappy tenents:"

Just had to shake my head......
She doesn't know it, but we are not renewing their lease at end of June, as we already have a new tenant in place.(we actually have 4 kids)
We will inform them after next month's cheque clears.

 

[f4j]

You let them pay by cheque and contact you directly?
Wow.

 

[sailor]

I'm just sitting here shaking my head.
Honestly....what do these people think you are? A charity?

 

[Pom]

Received this email today from one of our tenants.

"ok well i sent this email on the 28th of april .... and i now see that the rent cheque has been put through which as i stated would not go through .... anytime that we have asked you to hold the rent you did and we pay it when we said we would ..... our son broke his bed and we had to buy him a new one and now that the cheque has been put in we won't have money to 1.get diapers,2.get groceries,3. gas to get the kids to the babysitters. 4. power bill, and last but not least money to pay the babysitter.......

i hope your proud of yourself... its too bad you don't have any kids of your own so you would understand what its like .....

very unhappy tenents:"

Just had to shake my head......
She doesn't know it, but we are not renewing their lease at end of June, as we already have a new tenant in place.(we actually have 4 kids)
We will inform them after next month's cheque clears.

Wow. Thats a pretty cold attitude in my opinion. Your post doesn't indicate that they have defaulted previously (infact they haven't defaulted this time as you cashed a cheque they had asked you to hold for a short period). You also seem to take delight in having re-let the property and the fact that they will be out of a home fairly shortly. As someone with 4 kids I'd have thought you would have more empathy.

Incidentally, whilst this is anecdotal it could well be indicative of the state of finances of numerous tenants around the country - struggling to make ends meet from month to month. Doesn't that worry you particularly if the economy starts to slide and interest rates remain high?

 

[MissMuffitt]

Wow. Thats a pretty cold attitude in my opinion. Your post doesn't indicate that they have defaulted previously (infact they haven't defaulted this time as you cashed a cheque they had asked you to hold for a short period). You also seem to take delight in having re-let the property and the fact that they will be out of a home fairly shortly. As someone with 4 kids I'd have thought you would have more empathy.

Incidentally, whilst this is anecdotal it could well be indicative of the state of finances of numerous tenants around the country - struggling to make ends meet from month to month. Doesn't that worry you particularly if the economy starts to slide and interest rates remain high?

uumm, I'm thinking that you don't realise that kathryn d is actually in Canada.

Also, I'm wondering if this tenant is one of the ones that is in the block that they have purchased for their family to live in?
Might explain a few things if it is...

 

[Player]

How cruel of you Kathryn to force all these circumstances upon them.....let's hope the baby sitter is for the tenants(s) to go out and work and not for investment activities such as the pokies.

Sounds like they cannot afford to rent your house any more....... happy release and better budgeting to them in the future

 

[sailor]

Wow. Thats a pretty cold attitude in my opinion. Your post doesn't indicate that they have defaulted previously (infact they haven't defaulted this time as you cashed a cheque they had asked you to hold for a short period). You also seem to take delight in having re-let the property and the fact that they will be out of a home fairly shortly. As someone with 4 kids I'd have thought you would have more empathy.

Incidentally, whilst this is anecdotal it could well be indicative of the state of finances of numerous tenants around the country - struggling to make ends meet from month to month. Doesn't that worry you particularly if the economy starts to slide and interest rates remain high?

Pom, they had previously asked to have their rent cheques held, indicating they could not pay their rent on time, and not every time.

I don't see it as having a "cold attitude". The landlord is not a charity...the landlord is a businessman/woman. If the landlord goes broke, there is no IP to rent to a tenant. Tis as simple as that.

Numerous tenants around numerous countries are struggling to make ends meet from month to month....just like their landlords. With interest rates going over up literally overnight, it is frequently 6 or 12 months before the owner can pass on this increase to the tenant. So whom do you think has to foot the bill for this shortfall over such a lengthy period of time? Not the tenant, that's for sure!

 

[Pom]

Pom, they had previously asked to have their rent cheques held, indicating they could not pay their rent on time, and not every time.

I don't see it as having a "cold attitude". The landlord is not a charity...the landlord is a businessman/woman. If the landlord goes broke, there is no IP to rent to a tenant. Tis as simple as that.

Numerous tenants around numerous countries are struggling to make ends meet from month to month....just like their landlords. With interest rates going over up literally overnight, it is frequently 6 or 12 months before the owner can pass on this increase to the tenant. So whom do you think has to foot the bill for this shortfall over such a lengthy period of time? Not the tenant, that's for sure!

I'm sorry but entitling a thread "Tenant made me laugh" which basically states that the tenant is currently having financial difficulties and that unbeknown to them they will be moved out in the near future with 3 kids dosn't seem appropriate to me - in my opinion not very empathetic.

At least the tenant submitted a cheque and consulted with the landlord asking that it not be cashed immediately - an alternative would have been to cancel the cheque without consultation which i'm sure will have occured to many on this site in the past.

If a landlord is so close to the bone financially that they can't occasionally, under explained circumstances, delay cashing a cheque for a short period due to their own financial stresses then they are over committed in my opinion and should look to rationalise their holdings.

Alternatively, Katherine didn't give a full picture of the tenant's past in the original post and may be fully justified in her actions and attiude.

 

[sailor]

I'm sorry but entitling a thread "Tenant made me laugh" which basically states that the tenant is currently having financial difficulties and that unbeknown to them they will be moved out in the near future with 3 kids dosn't seem appropriate to me - in my opinion not very empathetic.

If a landlord is so close to the bone financially that they can't occasionally, under explained circumstances, delay cashing a cheque for a short period due to their own financial stresses then they are over committed in my opinion and should look to rationalise their holdings.

Alternatively, Katherine didn't give a full picture of the tenant's past in the original post and may be fully justified in her actions and attiude.

Pity the banks don't have the kind of empathy you would like landlords to have. Bank's attitude on empathy is to hit you with a "late payment fee", and take your property if you default over time.

In the email Katherine quoted, it mentioned having previously been granted grace by the landlord to delay banking the rent cheque.

 

[Player]

Pity the banks don't have the kind of empathy you would like landlords to have. Bank's attitude on empathy is to hit you with a "late payment fee", and take your property if you default over time.

In the email Katherine quoted, it mentioned having previously been granted grace by the landlord to delay banking the rent cheque.

I'm with Sailor. This is obviously a habit for them and as I stated in an earlier post, they are obvioulsy in a position where they cannot afford that particular property any more and make ends meet.

Give some people an inch........ and they take a mile (or should that be kilometre...I haven't been to Canada and I'm thinking they're metric). To these tenants the land lord is an interest free overdraft facility

 

[yieldmatters]

I don't know about Canada for rents but in Australia there is no excuse for being late or missing payments. Rents are cheap and should be easily affordable. Or maybe I've completely lost touch since I started making good money - that would be sad. Must go get a reality check.

 

[Pom]

Pity the banks don't have the kind of empathy you would like landlords to have. Bank's attitude on empathy is to hit you with a "late payment fee", and take your property if you default over time.

In the email Katherine quoted, it mentioned having previously been granted grace by the landlord to delay banking the rent cheque.

I'm a landlord myself - but if I couldn't afford to pay my mortgage due to an occasional late rent payment (particularly if they consulted me first as in this scenario) then I'd be worried. The tenant wouldn't be "making me laugh."

What happens if you have a genuinely poor tenant who you have to go to court to remove or have a void period of say 3 months? Financial ruin? Like I said, if you are that financially stretched you'll come a cropper at some point.]

 

[kathryn d]

f4j,
We self manage all our properties.

Pom,
I guess I should have added that we had never received her email.We always reply to tenant emails. I even came home and double checked our emails before we deposited them into our account.(as she has a history of asking us to delay)
In the 11 months they have lived in our building, they have paid their rent on time, about 3 times.At the beginning of their lease we had offered if they paid on time for 12 months they would get the 13th month free.

They have 1 child, not 3.
We allowed them to transfer from their 3 bedroom unit to a 2 bedroom unit.
In the middle of winter they have opened their windows...for fresh air.You have any idea how much it costs to heat a building with windows open?(yes, he need to provide the heat).

It wouldn't be so bad if only one tenant asked for their rent to be delayed, but at any given time, we may have about 6 tenants (out of 28)

We are good landlords. All we ask is to be paid on time and to look after your unit. We fix everything that breaks.

Honestly, if they can't afford our place, they should be somewhere else.


It wasn't a real laugh..I was stunned.

 

[ziggy2214]

we won't have money to 1.get diapers,2.get groceries,3. gas to get the kids to the babysitters. 4. power bill, and last but not least money to pay the babysitter.......

i hope your proud of yourself... its too bad you don't have any kids of your own so you would understand what its like ......

Cathryn
Life can be very tough and sometimes even a small kick can ruin someone's life.
Please try to be kind to them and maybe life or god will be more generous to you.
Cheers

 

[handyandy]

we won't have money to 1.get diapers,2.get groceries,3. gas to get the kids to the babysitters. 4. power bill, and last but not least money to pay the babysitter.......

Plus no doubt another half a dozen obligations that are a higher priority then paying the rent to keep a roof over your head.

The thing that I find incredible is that the broken bed took priority in an obvious tight budgetary situation. What's wrong with the mattress being on the floor for a time? Was good enough for my kids at various time for different reasons.

cheers

 

[Petal]

Cathryn
Life can be very tough and sometimes even a small kick can ruin someone's life.
Please try to be kind to them and maybe life or god will be more generous to you.
Cheers

Ziggy, If you read back through some of Kathryn's other posts you will realise her and hubby are excellent and empathetic landlords. As MP said give some people and inch and they will take a heap more. I am pretty sure (as is Kathryn) that these tenants feel everything else is their first priority and the "mean rich landlord" should be last in the queue!!

Kathryn did the right thing but is obviously stunned (as most of us are) that her tenants see things differently.

 

[kathryn d]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

When Pom has more tenant experience, he will realize how tired you get being the last on the list of the tenant's obligations.

 

[Pom]

f4j,
We self manage all our properties.

Pom,
I guess I should have added that we had never received her email.We always reply to tenant emails. I even came home and double checked our emails before we deposited them into our account.(as she has a history of asking us to delay)
In the 11 months they have lived in our building, they have paid their rent on time, about 3 times.At the beginning of their lease we had offered if they paid on time for 12 months they would get the 13th month free.

They have 1 child, not 3.
We allowed them to transfer from their 3 bedroom unit to a 2 bedroom unit.
In the middle of winter they have opened their windows...for fresh air.You have any idea how much it costs to heat a building with windows open?(yes, he need to provide the heat).

It wouldn't be so bad if only one tenant asked for their rent to be delayed, but at any given time, we may have about 6 tenants (out of 28)

We are good landlords. All we ask is to be paid on time and to look after your unit. We fix everything that breaks.

Honestly, if they can't afford our place, they should be somewhere else.


It wasn't a real laugh..I was stunned.

Fair enough then - sorry but that didn't come across in your original post.

Regards

 

[Pom]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

When Pom has more tenant experience, he will realize how tired you get being the last on the list of the tenant's obligations.

I have plenty of tenant experience. I stand by my original comment so far as the wording of your original post is concerned. Subsequent information makes it understandable.

 

[kathryn d]

You're right Pom. I should have added more detail.
This was my reply to her.It would have explained more.

"We never received any request.
If we had of, we would have replied.
We have 4 children, if you must know.
Your liability to us fell on the first of the month, and it is your responsibility to ensure we are notified and agree if need to make any alteration to your legal obligation.
Your quoted mail doesn't include any reply from us, as your 7 prior delay requests have.
I find your letter offensive, as we have always when notified, accommodated your requests.We are not responsibility for losses in mail, not sent thru our server."


She has not replied, nor do I expect her to.

This was the message she had attached to her email, that she supposedly sent.

"this is (tenant's name) from appt 4 on (tenant address)... i was wondering if you would be able to hold the rent untill the 15th of may ....we had to buy our youngest son a bed and i don't think we have enough to cover the rent ... thanks