here's a good landlord ethics question .

[fastfredracing]

I took over the wheel of the renal house biz in Feb. My partner and I are both pushovers . I said when I took the reigns, no more bs. 15 days late on rents, and eviction notices are going out . I'm done renting my houses for free .
I've been doing pretty good, threw out 2 deadbeats, almost done with rehabs and I have been collecting higher rents on time .
But life, is not always so black and white .
Whats her face, moved in with her bf 5 years ago . I went to school with both of them she is kind of miserable, but her and I have a good healthy cordial relationship.
Bf and her broke up 2 years ago, and he moved out. The lease was in his name. We moved it over to her, and lowered the rents considerably. For a single working girl, she has done pretty good keeping up . If she falls behind, she always calls , and lets us know, and she always catches up .
She delivers medical supplies at one job, and ubers on the side. She just totaled her car. Says she has back pain, head trauma, no car, and can't work either job now . Has months of re-hab ahead of her, and she knows she is going to fall behind .
her lease is up in 2 months, we were just getting ready to raise her rents, as she is rediculously under renting right now .
So how far do you let her slide before you give her the boot ? Do you give her the boot ? Any takers?
I like trying to figure this stuff out. I try to be a good dude, and as ethical as I can, but on the other side of the coin, I'm not a charity . I am depending on this money to help feed the family now .
Id like to hear your opinions .
I told her , I will do my best to work with her and I will.

[Por_sha911]

Give her a very short term renewal - 4 months. Let her know she has until then to be back on track or close to it or you will have to ask her to leave.

[Sooner or later]

You must separate business from friendship. Are you a business or a welfare agency? You have to decide. What is the probability that the next renter may be even worse?

Are you able to meet expenses and make a reasonable profit on your partnership? If not, too bad for her. If so, you might cut her some slack.

[KFC911]

Fred...you are one good dude who isn't short on good karma. That said....always keep it month-to-month imo. Only you know how much karma Fred has...

If everything goes as planned....I will no longer be a LL in a few weeks

No mas.....

Best of luck!

[Geronimo '74]

Ditto on the good dude stuff.
I have never had to wait for rent to come in. Been very lucky withe the people that rent my appartment.
I would be very reluctant to rent to family or friends because financial disputes can ruin a good friendship.
But maybe you rolled into this situation somehow, not relevant.
Hopefully she understands that you also need to pay your bills and that she needs to step up somehow.
You have been very generous already, IMO.
Cut her some slack as long as you feel good about it.
Then maybe help her finding something cheaper elsewhere?

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by Geronimo '74

Ditto on the good dude stuff.
I have never had to wait for rent to come in. Been very lucky withe the people that rent my appartment.
I would be very reluctant to rent to family or friends because financial disputes can ruin a good friendship.
But maybe you rolled into this situation somehow, not relevant.
Hopefully she understands that you also need to pay your bills and that she needs to step up somehow.
You have been very generous already, IMO.
Cut her some slack as long as you feel good about it.
Then maybe help her finding something cheaper elsewhere?

She's not finding anything cheaper anywhere..

[rwest]

Only you can decide how generous you are. Can she find a friend to move in and share rent? How about Section 8 vouchers or financial help from a church or non-profit.

I would have a hard time “bouncing” someone who is genuinely in a tough spot- if they were just taking advantage of me, they would be gone at the end of the lease.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Whats her face, moved in with her bf 5 years ago. We moved it over to her, and lowered the rents considerably. For a single working girl, she has done pretty good keeping up . If she falls behind, she always calls , and lets us know, and she always catches up.

Fred, to be frank, that is more than a little asinine: "What's her face"? What are you twelve?

If she always catches up, work with her. Only you know for sure. I no longer have rental properties because my BS meter had a hydraulic failure and I stopped caring. I hated that so I stopped being a landlord. How hard is this?

There is always a good bit of drama in your posts here, Fred, and you are the constant star in the drama(s).

Give "What's Her Face" a firm rental tether with conditions and work on your attitude.

Sorry.

[Tidybuoy]

Turn it over to a property management company. Let her know that all the rentals are too much to handle and your are getting out of the landlord business. They'll get her to pay.

Going forward, don't rent to friends or family.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Fred, to be frank, that is more than a little asinine: "What's her face"? What are you twelve?

If she always catches up, work with her. Only you know for sure. I no longer have rental properties because my BS meter had a hydraulic failure and I stopped caring. I hated that so I stopped being a landlord. How hard is this?

There is always a good bit of drama in your posts here, Fred, and you are the constant star in the drama(s).

Give "What's Her Face" a firm rental tether with conditions and work on your attitude.

Sorry.

Aw man, Paul, Im sorry to have upset you. There is no drama here. Im just asking for some friendly advice, I may , or may not take it . I thought it not cool to mention her name, so I just chose whats her face.
Im not looking for sympathy, or a pat on the back . Just asking to see if what I am thinking of is out of line .
Did I strike a nerve?

[fintstone]

I know, like most folks, you just don't want to be an ass and need reassurance from the crowd that you are not. You want to raise the rent, but don't want to be an ogre.

I suggest you separate business from charity. There are lots of reasons to rent below market. Unless they are your children or you owe them in some other way, make a business decision. I suspect that you already are and simply do not recognize it. I often rent homes for less than market...or allow tenants to run late briefly (if they make good quickly...and don't lie to me), as long as they take very good care of my home and are long term renters. Every time you have to evict someone or release a home, it costs a fortune. Just a unit going unrented for a month can eat an entire year's profits. Even worse if you have to pay to advertise, pay water, electric bills , etc.. Plus, you typically will need new paint or carpet, etc. I just had a renter move out after about seven years. I had totally redone the house before they moved in (well over $20K) and had to spend over $12K this time (carpet, paint, blinds, etc...as well as a couple mirrors, light fixtures and bathroom countertops/faucets)...plus the house was vacant a month. Although I had regularly raised the rents, I kept it well below market and they were getting a good deal (as the discount added up over time because rents increased in that area). Although the new rent is much higher ($1900 vs $1545), it will take me years to break even.

Do the math...and include the cost of putting a tenant out and getting a new one. If it behooves you that they stay, rent the property for the most you can get without them leaving. If she had an auto accident/injury, it is entirely possible that she will not suffer financially (insurance).

If you don't separate business from charity, don't expect them to do so either. Once you cut them too much slack out of pity, they will always expect the same...and more. Also, you seem to know just a bit too much about your tenant's personal life. Since she is a single woman, living alone...I would recommend that you keep things more on a business basis. If you are not tough enough, get a property manager...or blame your partner.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

My partner and I are both pushovers .

NO! Someone needs to take the lead and be ready to crack the whip when necessary.
It is all a business at the end of the day.
Else, sell the property and dissolve the partnership.

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

I said when I took the reigns, no more bs. 15 days late on rents, and eviction notices are going out . I'm done renting my houses for free .

You took over the lead with your partnership and now you have to lead.
Sorry bud.

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Whats her face, moved in with her bf 5 years ago .

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Bf and her broke up 2 years ago, and he moved out.

Five years and two years solitary as a tenant with good history?
I also would be inclined to give a bit of leeway..to a point.

I also like long term tenants.

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

her lease is up in 2 months, we were just getting ready to raise her rents, as she is rediculously under renting right now .

You need to discuss this all with your business partner first and make sure this is all good with him.
Not strangers on the internet.

She could be potentially collecting big bucks right now and looking at a billion dollar insurance settlement and have rich relatives. Whatever.
That is not in your area of concern.
Your first concern is your business partnership.
You have an obligation to him first.

You are willing to negotiate. Good man btw.
She needs to.



I think the three of you need to sit down and hash out details of her economic situation and find a possible solution.
1). Get all of her stated finances in signed-witnessed-writing.

2). Maybe offering a personal loan might work. (which could count as a tax-loss when unpaid)
Or help find her one from a bank.

3). Maybe your partner would be willing to allow a short-term lease at-cost until she gets on her economic feet again.
If your own costs are covered you at least break even.


Try to make it work. But sometimes that is not possible at the end of the day

[expatriot98]

Somebody has to ask..Is she hot?

And no - I'm not serious...LOL

[fastfredracing]

For future reference, When I ask what you guys think , I am not asking for you to hold my hand, and guide me to the answer. I am also , not some lost sheep looking for guidance. I do pretty well on my own . It is just some internet banter I like to see what the general consensus is among the diverse group of guys here , and I may or may not use it to influence my decisions. It is nice to have some re assurance, or maybe someone may see an angle that I may not
I won't do it anymore, It seems to set off a few of you at times. I would not post a question here, that I would not ask any of my friends in my real life .
This place used to be friendly .

[john70t]

Sorry if my response was too heavy.
I can't 'think light' sometimes and was only trying to help on what is a complicated topic.
It sounded important.

pls ignore.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Aw man, Paul, Im sorry to have upset you. There is no drama here.

Upset? Please. I gave you the advice I thought pertinent.

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Did I strike a nerve?

No, but apparently I did.

This is a friendly place. Because you don’t like the advice doesn’t change that.

Best.

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Turn it over to a property management company. Let her know that all the rentals are too much to handle and your are getting out of the landlord business. They'll get her to pay.

Going forward, don't rent to friends or family.

Tidybuoy makes a lot of sense. Take the emotion out of it and let the property management co look after it. Fred you asked for opinions so you got them whether you like them or not. You are still a great guy Fred. I just think that you are too busy and too diversified. Let the professionals handle it.

Cheers, Guy

[Sooner or later]

It looks like there was one response that was semi critical. That is to be expected on any internet question.. You do seem to have more than your fair share of drama in your life.

That said, there does seem to be a genersl concensus on what ahould be done.

[expatriot98]

Fred - Sounds like you have a good/honest relationship with tenant. I'd prolly have a sit down with her and explain where you are and the rent deficit and that this is a business for you. See if she has a plan to get out of her problems and decide if it's viable. If she doesn't, then she needs to make other arrangements. Just my 2 cents.

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Turn it over to a property management company. Let her know that all the rentals are too much to handle and your are getting out of the landlord business. They'll get her to pay.

Going forward, don't rent to friends or family.

This. I’ll never understand why thinking people choose to deal with this crap themselves. The cost of a PM isn’t very much. Certainly not enough to justify being a landlord.