Mike’s Apartment Blog

Things finally came to a head with one of our more thorny tenants.  If you don’t remember, this tenant dug a very deep hole for herself last month.  She basically moved in and never paid rent.  She faked numerous repair and cleanliness issues, complained to the city, and caused a whirlwind of problems for us (and herself).

Our property manager, who attended the eviction hearing, bumped into her at the elevators of the courthouse where she made some very derogatory comments after her scathing loss.  I just don’t get it - in the end, she was evicted, her case was thrown out of court, and she now has a several thousand dollar judgement against her.

The unit she was staying in was nice, she had a good application with no negative marks, and should have worked out.  Now she is going to have a near impossible time getting another place to live.

Who ARE these people?

Today was Memorial Day, a U.S. holiday in which we remember those who died in service of the military.  This is commonly done through large cookouts where friends, family and neighbors get together to socialize and hang out.

Why do I bring this up and how does it fit in with apartment investing?  I love cookouts and having them at apartment buildings.  People alway appreciate free food and you would be surprised how many people show up.  Funny thing is they are a great way to get to know your residents.  Find out how long folks are staying in the area, when they plan on moving, if they will need a bigger place soon, a smaller place.  Residents also tend to bring their friends and family – an excellent way to get referrals for your vacant units.

The reality of apartment investing is you business is highly intertwined with your residents’ lives.  Today was such an illustration.

Today I recieved a notice that one of our longest lasting residents passed away.  He died of an apparent heart attack.  He was in his late 50’s and immobilized due to leg problems attributed to diabetes.  Even though I have a manager taking care of the day to day things, I had the opportunity to meet this resident.  He was a nice guy, eager to please, relatively clean, and loved to talk.  Never caused any problems.  An ideal tenant, really.

My manager was at the building when he found our resident in his bed and non-responsive, no pulse.  Due to his military experience our manager is a crisis expert, quickly dialed 911 as he began CPR.  He performed CPR until the paramedics arrived, who attempted to treat our resident.  He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.  It’s a shame to lose a good person like that.

This leaves us with lots to do.  The resident’s remaining belongings will be part of his estate.  He likely has no will, so his estate will be handled in probate.  Probate is where a deceased’s assets and liabilities are handled.  First, all the liabilities are covered.  Anything remaining will go to the heirs.  If there are no heirs, it goes to the state.  The lease our resident signed goes down as a liability, though I doubt that we will see anything from it.  Regardless, I will discuss with our manager about next steps. 

Sometimes you get so involved in the business of apartment investing, you forget how intertwined into people’s lives you really are.  Rest in peace, Charles…

Management called today to warn me about one of my tenants.  We have a project that involves rehabbing homes in tough areas, making them nice places to live and offering them to solid, hardworking individuals.  Apparently, one of our more self-concerned residents has been very much a thorn in our manager’s side.

They complained about a rash of mechanical issues with the house.  The drain was plugged.  The stacker was cracked.  The faucet dripped.  Hmmm… okay.  These are real issues and they were taken care of.  Then they complained about chipped paint on the side of the house.  They decided to call the Health Department before calling management to take care of the issue.  This is a bad call.

As a resident, the Health Deparment or the Housing Authority is a last resort, only if your manager refuses to fix something in a reasonable amount of time.  Calling them first is a bad idea for two reasons:

1. There is a path of escalation.  The Health Department is going to call the manager and ask them if they were notified of the problem.  If they haven’t been, they are given a timeline to fix the issue (timeline depends on severity of the issue).  It usually takes the Health Department a couple of days to route the request from the resident to the right person who then eventually calls the management company and lets them know about the problem.  This takes WAY longer than just calling the manager and asking them for help.
2. It pisses off your manager.  Not good.  You want your manager to like you and be flexible.  What if you need an extra day to pay?  Or need a discount on rent?  Or need screens on your windows?  If you are a an inflexible prick to your manager, you can expect the same treatment back.  If they don’t need to help you, they likely won’t.

In general it pays to stay on the good side of your manager.  Back to our self-concerned tenant, she appears to suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder, not a life threatening illness but one that can be a major pain-in-the-ass.  Worst of all for her, she is now on the bad side of our manager.  Our manager is a very nice guy and legitimately concerned with the well being of others, but when you cross him, look out.  You especially don’t want to cross him head on.  An ex-military ball buster, this guy can take everything you dish out and deal it back in spades.

Of course, everything is legal and by the book.  But you better not make a misstep or he will look for every reason to be all over you.

Got a tenant report today on our 30 unit.  Our tenant decided that she would stop paying her rent.  She signed a year long lease with us about five months ago, to which we gave her a discounted rate.  We gave this discounted rate at the time because she was a student at the nearby Art Institute and we are trying to attract the student demographic to our building there.

Anyways, she informed my property manager that she will not be paying rent anymore because she plans on moving down the street to another building offering a $99 move in special.  Of course she will have to sign another 12 month lease to get that special.

My property manager informed her she has an obligation to pay for 12 months here.  She informed him that was too bad for him.  He informed her that she would likely be evicted for non-payment and the eviction would cloud her credit.  She would forfeit the special discount we gave her, plus the remaining cost of the lease to which we would pursue a judgment on her.  The judgment would follow her and if she ever gets out of school and gets a job, her employer will deduct the amount from this judgment from her paychecks for the next three years.

Not sure where that leaves her, but it always shocks me when people try to play tough with property managers.  There is no need for that.  Being open and honest is far more likely to get you a satisfying outcome than being bitchy and rude.  I guess the world is full of people trying to take advantage of one another – still, it gives me some satisfaction to put one of these folks in their place.

The funny (and quite masochistic) thing is, I still hope things work out for her…