Updated over 7 years ago on . Most recent reply
Too Nice Of A Landlord
The topic came up between my fiancé and I and got me questioning myself if I'm doing more than I should be as a landlord. I rent a small 1 bed/1 bath unit to a young lady who moved from out of state. She has no family here. She's been a great tenant and always pays on time. Her job has her gone from home a lot of times either off shore or just out of town and when she is gone she will ask me if I can stop by the unit to check up on it or grab her packages or adjust her thermostat so the a/c is running like crazy. The property is only about 5 minutes from my home so I really don't have any issue in doing it but my fiancé has asked why am I'm doing these things if they are not on our lease agreement. I look at it as providing good customer service considering she has paid on time without any issues. Her lease is coming up in a few months and I'm hoping that she will stick around on a month to month basis. She keeps the unit really clean and straight. So my thinking is that if I can help her out then maybe that will help to keep her in my unit. But if this is something I shouldn't be doing then I'd like to know and fix it.
Also, since the lease is between my tenant and I would it be an issue if I had allowed my fiancé to go check on the unit if I am not available? Not sure if I could get in trouble by a legal standpoint considering she is not part of the lease agreement.
Most Popular Reply
I think you're both right. Likely your fiancee is jealous. A lot of women seem to think their partner has something going on with a female tenant if they see them as too friendly. But she is right - it's not in your lease agreement and you absolutely don't have to do it.
From your perspective, I wouldn't have any problem doing what you're doing either. It lets you see that the unit is being maintained. You don't have to say you want to come over and check the air filter or the smoke detector batteries or whatever to keep an eye on the place. And if she's gone for long stretches, a pipe could legitimately burst or something, and you'd be happy you checked.
That being said, if she's such a great tenant, maybe install a wifi thermostat for her, so she can do that herself remotely. That way you can at least make fewer trips over there. Also, you can write into the lease a $10 package retrieval fee (or whatever other fee you'd want), so that you're getting a small compensation for your time, which should also discourage a little more of it and keep your fiancee happy :)