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| Wednesday, February 08, 2006 |
| This is shaping up to be an interesting Landlord week |
Most of the time being a Landlord consists of cashing that monthly rent check and nothing more. Then there are the lease renewal months (will they or won't they renew?, do I raise the rent?, is it time to replace an aging appliance?, interviewing and screening new tenants) but generally those are events that are anticipated. It is the calls or unexpected events that make this Landlording thing interesting.
As I posted earlier, my basement tenant has replaced her departed cat with a new kitten. Well, I guess there is now concern that the kitten might be lonely home alone all day. So now she has sought and been granted permission to look into adopting an older cat companion/surrogate mother/nanny to kitty. I have only myself and my soft and squishy heart to blame for going from a no pets to potentially two cat household.
And since unexpected or interesting events never occur alone, today my other (condo) tenant sent me an email expressing distress over a recent high utility bill (tenant pays all utility bills for the rental condo). Explaining that we are all feeling the pressure of increased bills did not satisfy, so spent too much of my time on the phone to her utility companies to find out what if any options might be available to her. After spoon feeding her phone numbers, contact names, and basically a step-by-step script for her to follow to request a utility usage and income comparison review she has an appointment set-up for the end of this week to see if she will qualify for a discount or other subsidy. I have a feeling if she is denied I will be hearing back with a request to reduce rent or otherwise help her meet her expenses (because, after all, I am a big bad landlord and should help the little guy out - right?)
I so wish I could call my mortgage company and ask them to help me deal with rising costs - oh that's right, I would never even THINK to ask them! Sorry, just a bit put out by the whole thing. I am a Landlord, not Mother or Social Worker, yet I am also an empathetic and caring person who does want to help while at the same time not get taken advantage of. I already offer below market rents, provide well maintained units, and respond promptly to repairs when needed. But I guess this is all just not enough... |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 8:20 PM *
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| 3 Comments: |
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Know the feeling, check out askunclebill.typepad.com.
I'm getting out but it's been quite a ride.
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Another reason why property management companies are still thriving. Their motto should be "We take all the @#$#".
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Tell her to turn the heat down. I think IL has temperature minimums. Something to check into.
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Know the feeling, check out askunclebill.typepad.com.
I'm getting out but it's been quite a ride.