Christmas Question

[Chad Svendsen]

I have a question and if it has been discussed before just let me know where. Thanks. When it comes to the holidays do you avoid merry Christmas or other specific religions? I ask as we are going to send out Christmas cards to our tenants and our PM told us to make sure they only said Happy Holidays. I was hoping to get some feedback on this. My brother is very involved in his church and not saying merry christmas is really bothering him. So i was wondering if anyone else has some thoughts on this. Thanks Chad

[Patrick Diamond]

Hi Chad,

I don't look at this as something that you need to contact an attorney about; I think it's a matter of common sense and it's also nice to be sensitive to your customer's backgrounds in any business, so you're already showing that you're taking that extra initiative, and I applaud you for it!  It's double nice that you're taking the time to send cards to your tenants!

That said, it's always a good idea to be as neutral as possible in business... the litmus test is "could a reasonable person be offended by what I am putting out there?"... Of course, you can't please everybody (that means the "unreasonable" people) :)

Just do your best, and remain neutral... Personally, I only send out "happy holidays" or "season's greetings" cards, unless I know personally that the recipient is celebrating Christmas.  It's important to be mindful that everyone is different.

So go with your gut, and keep being a nice enough landlord who sends out cards!

And Happy Holidays!