Tenant gets "Attitude Adjustment"

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Tenant gets "Attitude Adjustment"

James R.
Investor · Member since 2015 · 222 posts · 173 votes

I sometimes have to give tenants, what I call an "attitude adjustment".

Below is an email that I sent to a tenant.  In her email, she talked about invoicing me for when she had to talk to the utility company.  I sent them there to answer her questions and inspect the furnace for a potential gas leak.  That night I put her in a hotel and ended up replacing the furnace.  

Fellow BPers, let me know your thoughts.  Am I being too harsh on her, with my response? 

Stephanie,

Please refer to your Rental Agreement Part II, Line #7.

There is clearly nothing wrong with any of the appliances. I am not paying for trips to the property, for unwarranted complaints where damages caused are due to tenant negligence or in this case, no damages or repairs were found by the service repairmen, yet a service call was billed to me.

Yes, my time is valuable and no where in the lease does it say that I am responsible for removing your hair from a clogged bathroom drain (one example). I cleared the drain for you as a courtesy and did not even get a thank you!

I do not take kindly to your "entitlement attitude". I have maintained the property and appliances, per my responsibility.

I did not have to put you in a hotel. I only have to provide 1/30th the amount of rent towards a place for you to stay the night. I also could have gotten the space heaters that night, but thought you would appreciate a hotel stay near to your workplace. Did you appreciate it? I guess not!

Sending me an invoice for your "inconvenience" is another "entitlement attitude" response, which I do not appreciate.

I could charge you for ALL of the service calls to come to the apartment, but I decided to charge you for only half, accepting the other half myself. Instead, I get your less than appreciative email response.

Submit the requested payment for $99.88 in a separate check along with your March rent. Please see to it that it is deposited by my bank on or before the 1st. You have been late twice, since you moved in. The bank deposits checks the very day that they are received, however I gave you the benefit of doubt. I will not be doing that again.

On another note, I have decided to let you out of your lease effective immediately. You will have the month of March to find a new place to live.

Market rent is $875 for the apartment and I would like to pursue finding a new tenant for an April move-in date.  

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Anthony R.
Property Manager · Lakewood, OH · Member since 2015 · 250 posts · 258 votes
10y

Ehh this is borderline childish. You're a business owner, not someone commenting on facebook.  Act like it. Be the bigger person and side step the drama. If this tenant has an entitled attitude then don't react to it. You state the facts. You acknowledge your obligations and you side step the drama. That's what grown ups do. If this tenant has a problem with something that you've done they can move or sue you. 

If in fact they do sue you and they take this letter to court how is that going to make you look to a judge? It's going to make you look like a joke. That's how. Never,ever, would you get a letter like this from AT&T or the IRS so why would you expect to send this to one of your customers?

One final parting note, canceling their lease like this? What the hell is that? Where is the proper notice? I find it hard to believe that someone with 10 years of experience in rentals would send a letter like this. This is probably the most unprofessional communication I have ever seen from a landlord and my entire business revolves around finding properties in distress from people that don't know what they're doing.

Be the bigger person

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  • Sean Tracey
    Queens, NY · Member since 2015 · 130 posts · 34 votes
    10y

    Speaking from my own personal experience, I think tenants like this one may be under the mindset that a landlord is making huge profits. When in reality, margins are typically thinner than we'd expect. I don't think there's much one can do to change that mindset, but allowing emotions to cloud judgement and engaging in less than professional correspondences will only perpetuate the myth of the "greedy, evil, rich landlord". I can't say I would handle a situation like this any better because I've never been in one, and I'd imagine I would easily fly off the handle. The more I learn about business in general, though, is to play by the rules and never let them see you sweat. Simply refer to the rules, which as a landlord you have the power to significantly influence, and never let them see you react emotionally. At least not in negative situations. If you have the opportunity to give back to a good tenant, you can maybe afford to relax the rules a bit. Good luck with what appears to be a difficult tenant, James. 

    2Reply
  • Jeff B.
    Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    As a Post Script to the lease signature I state:

    1. The drain and sewer lines are all operational and that is my responsibility to you.
    2. However, if a fixture becomes blocked, that is your responsibility, not mine and you need to seek profession service to clear it.  I recommend abc company.
    0Reply
  • James R.
    OP
    Investor · Member since 2015 · 222 posts · 173 votes
    10y

    Just wanted to update everyone who responded to my original post. 

    I contacted the tenant via email this morning, asking her if she would have about 30 minutes to meet with me.  She agreed.  

    We discussed the issue at hand and some others that I did not know about.  Long story short, she was not perturbed at all about the email that I originally sent.  She had planned on staying anyway and was glad that we had a face-to-face meeting. 

    With text messaging and emails (especially the younger generation) we often lose so much of the communication.  I should have met with her face-to-face earlier.  

    This is another reason why I like to self-manage.  I got to the bottom of this issue once and for all and now everything is good and we have put the whole thing behind us.

    While I was in the building, I also knocked on the doors of other tenants to say hello.  One tenant who's lease is coming up for renewal invited me in and we chatted for about 10 minutes.  

    Thanks again to everyone for your feedback!  I learned some things!  BP is great!  

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 374 posts · 189 votes
    10y

    Yeah.  I see a destroyed unit indoor future.  You are making this personal when it needs to be professional.

    0Reply
  • Corey Arnemann
    Investor · Edmonton, Alberta · Member since 2015 · 24 posts · 24 votes
    10y

    Attitude adjustment? lol

    That sounds like fun. I agree with Chris M. 

    *Grabs Popcorn* 

    Good luck! :D

    0Reply
  • Brandon Ingegneri
    Rental Property Investor · Providence, RI · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 594 votes
    10y

    We have all had the urge to do it.  Without being long and drawn out, I'd say keep it strictly to the facts and say as little as possible when its in writing, because that documentation will surely end up in court with a difficult tenant.  

    However, we have all had that one tenant that gets under our skin so much that you have to zing them.  These are usually the ones that go insane if you do nothing, or if you lay the law down face to face. They tend to be at a loss for words if you deliver it calmly but firmly face to face and you get the gratification.  Just my experience. 

    1Reply
  • James DeRoest
    Investor · Century, FL · Member since 2015 · 950 posts · 603 votes
    10y

    >>Am I being too harsh on her, with my response?

     Think your response is far too wordy. Cut to the chase:

    "I am giving you 30 days notice to quit the property as per the lease." ;)

    It's nothing to do with being childish or unprofessional, or any of that, but that you're adding extra wear on your keyboard for no reason at all. You want your relationship with the tenant to end, so end it without wearing out your computer.

    1Reply
  • Mike F.
    Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 570 posts · 521 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @James R.:

     that the tenant called me 5 different times over about 5 months saying that the clothes washer wasn't working.  Within 48 hours each time, I had a repairman there. Two different repairmen were at the property during this timeframe of 5 months and each time said that it was working perfectly.  I tried communicating with this tenant to try to find out what she was doing to make her think it wasn't working.  I finally asked her to put a bunch of towels on top of the washer and I would wash them through a cycle.  The clothes washer worked perfectly. 

    I'm baffled how any landlord would continue to send repairmen to a tenant's unit to service a washing machine after the first time a professional serviceman gives it a clean bill of health. After the 2nd time you send a repairman and he tells you it's working correctly? After the 3rd time, the 4th time? 5 times???????

    I totally don't get that at all. 

    I'd think 99% of us after paying for a service call and being told that the washing machine is working properly would either be sending a bill for the 1st service charge based on the washer is working just fine, or telling the tenant on the 2nd time that you would send another repairman but if he finds it working fine yet again that the tenant is responsible for the cost of the service call. To do it another 3 more times? I don't get it.

    0Reply
  • Adam Christopher Zaleski
    Investor · Pueblo West, CO · Member since 2014 · 310 posts · 213 votes
    10y

    This was not an attitude adjustment. This was you playing the same game as your tenant. An attitude adjustment comes when you calmly hand them an eviction notice.  

    0Reply
  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    10y

    Glad you spoke with the tenant. Sometimes they just want to be heard.  I have had tenants who communicate poorly especially by email.  At one point I just had to tell him this is the way it is, you can use the happy clause now or live with it. Since it sounds like the tenancy will continue make sure you reiterate any important policies in your discussion in writing.

    1Reply
  • James R.
    OP
    Investor · Member since 2015 · 222 posts · 173 votes
    10y

    @Mike F.

    Yes.  I totally agree with you!  However, I believed there was still a problem with the washer and that we did not know yet what the problem was.  After replacing the timer dial on one of the trips, the washer was still acting up. The repairmen (2) told me that it was the tenant, which I found hard to believe.  After the 5th time of trying to solve this matter, I believed it was just the tenant trying to jerk me around, thus my email to her.  

    Yesterday, I hired a different repair company and he diagnosed the problem as not the washer broken, but a loose wire in the wall outlet. Problem solved!

    The original repairmen that I hired were both lazy and did not properly diagnose the problem in the first place.  They probably just wanted to run up some bills for the rich landlord. 

    And for the haters following this thread with their *popcorn*, I have never had a trashed apartment in 16 years.  This won't be the case either.  

    Granted I made some mistakes, but the tenancy was salvaged and everything is good. 

    Thank you to all of the BPers with constructive criticism, advice and feedback!

    0Reply
  • James R.
    OP
    Investor · Member since 2015 · 222 posts · 173 votes
    10y

    As a final follow-up, please see my subsequent email correspondence with my tenant.  I posted my original email to be a landlord learning experience for me and for fellow BPers! 

    Thanks again for everyone's feedback and advice! 

    Stephanie,

    I hired a different company altogether to look at the washer and here's what he diagnosed. He said that the washer is working, which we knew. I told him what you were experiencing (thank you for all of the information and for your patience, by the way). He decided to plug the washer into an outlet by the vanity. The washer started up and spun your clothes through the cycle.

    He examined the wall outlet and discovered that it was a loose connection. He rewired it and tightened the fixture. We spun the clothes through the rinse cycle again and everything seems to be a go now.

    If for some reason, you experience another problem, I am going to swap out the wall outlet with a new one.

    Please accept my apology for the email that I sent to you last night. It was late and I should have waited, before I responded. I value your tenancy and hope that we can put this behind us now.

    Thank you again for your patience.

    Regards,

    Thank you for taking care of the washer. I was pleasantly surprised when I got home to find out that my clothes had gone through the cycle and the washer appeared to be in working order.

    My biggest issue in this matter was you not believing me when I first reported the issue, and then sending me the invoice for the work to take care of the issue that wasn't really settled. But I do appreciate the apology and absolving me of paying for the service call.

    I would like to continue to live here, as this is a good space, in my budget, well taken care of and an ideal location for work. So I also am in favor of putting this behind us and moving forward. And, again, thank you for apologizing. I appreciate it.

    Sincerely,

    Stephanie

    0Reply
  • Robert Andrade
    Construction Trucking Owner / Operator · New Bedford, MA · Member since 2015 · 133 posts · 37 votes
    10y
    In Massachusetts it takes more than an email stating you've been released from a lease. Don't know bout your state. There are legal obligations and proper paperwork that need to be filed. You should be careful what you put in writing via email or otherwise as it could come back to bite you. In any case the professional approach is always the best. Agreed the tenant seems like more trouble that they're worth but stay calm and do things right.
    0Reply
  • Jim Adrian
    Architect · Papillion, NE · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 840 votes
    10y

    This is a train wreck waiting to happen! 

    I think I would have a face to face talk with her with meeting minutes provided afterwards for documentation. This will come off more professional and less chance of in person bickering will take place.  People tend to watch what they say in person than in a letter.   Always state facts with no childish commentary after it.

    0Reply
  • James R.
    OP
    Investor · Member since 2015 · 222 posts · 173 votes
    10y

    @Jim Adrian 

    Please read my final post!  

    0Reply
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