Picture this...you're sitting around after dinner with the significant other when he says,
"Hey, honey! I have a decorating idea! Every time we eat a piece of fruit, let's put the little sticker that says 'Dole' or whatever on the the side of the fridge!"
And you answer, "Okay! That'll look so cool!"
Nobody that ridiculous exists, you say? Apparently they do. I spent part of last Saturday peeling, soaking, and scraping off fruit stickers that covered the entire top half of one side of a fridge in one of our rent houses. Did I mention we own rental property? We do, and in the more than 20 years we've been renting houses to tenants I've seen just about everything, but I had never seen this. Wonder what they were smoking to think that was a good idea?
"Landlords" get a bad rap. Notice how they're always portrayed as bad guy in movies, plays and books? And remember this old skit?
Sinister landlord with curly-cue mustache: "You MUST pay the rent." (Booming voice)
Poor pretty damsel: "But I CAN'T pay the rent." (Wrings hands)
Sinister LL: "But you MUST pay the rent!!!" (Towers over Damsel in threatening way)
Damsel: "But I CAN'T pay the rent!!!!!" (Trembling, throws hand up to forehead)
Sinister LL: "BUT YOU MUST PAY THE RENT!!!)" (Grabs damsel's arm)
Damsel: "But I CAN'T PAY THE RENT!!!!!!!" (Tries to squirm free of Sinister LL)
Handsome Stranger: (appears out of nowhere) "I'LL pay the rent!"
Damsel: (Batting eyelashes) "My hero!"
I know there are some bad landlords. But my husband and I are fair and do right by
our tenants. Others I know in the business are the same. I think a lot of people don't think of it as stealing when they don't pay their rent, but it's no different than filling up your tank with gas and driving away without paying. You're taking something for free that isn't yours to take. And I think most people would be shocked to see the condition a lot of renters leave a house in when they move out. I spent two full days cleaning filth AFTER a woman we hired tried to tackle it and gave up. And my husband spent 3 days throwing away all the junk they left behind--in the garage, in the cabinets, on the floors, in the refrigerator--you name it. We're talking nasty, gross, trash and caked on crud. Oh, and the den carpet had holes all over it where cigarettes had been put out. Sheesh. I'm sorry to say that houses left in this condition are not unusual.
Okay... I feel better after that little whine session. Just please don't think all Landlords are money-grubbing slum lords. And even some of the dumps are actually the tenants' fault because of bad habits such as using the carpet as an ashtray and never scrubbing a sink.
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20 comments:
Wow you made me see things in a whole new light! at first I thought ok the dole sticker thing is cute-- se how much fruit we eat-- but then that thought was erased from my head when I SAW how stupid it really was--LOL!!
Jenny, my husband and I had a lot of "Landlord" stories to tell. Our tenants used to call us in the middle of the night because they were fighting with their neighbors...and what were we going to do about it? DUH! My husband told them to call the cops! But, I totally understand how you and your hubby felt seeing the rental so trashed! WD 40 removes EVERYTHING, even those Dole stickers! So, good luck...it looks like it could be a nice place.
That's just terrible! Do you think they would treat the house the same of they owned it? How sad!
Wow, Jenny! I feel your pain. What slobs.
Mary
We were landlords for a short while. Of our two tenants, both trashed the place and destroyed fixtures, but one was a squatter that took nearly a year of court appearances to remove, and the other skipped out on 3 months rent but left HUNDREDS of pizza boxes. Apparently they preferred to pay Dominoes than pay us. And these were people with references and deposits!
After going two-for-two, we got out of the rental business.
The next time someone gives you a hard time about being a landlord, send them over to me! Of course, there are good and bad in every walk of life but usually when it's just regular people trying to build some equity and makea few bucks who own rental property they are great. But the way SOME people live, in their whole homes and especially rentals, is beyond belief sometimes!
LOL, that was OWN homes.....
oh, I bet it is tough! My brother and his friends moved out recently, and they've been having trouble with their landlord, he treats them without to much respect, assuming they are just a bunch of young college kids who dont know better, but their first week in their fridge broke down, the dryer isnt working, and a fuze went out (he actually told them that he shouldnt have to come to change a light bulb! Im pretty sure they could handle that themselves, but the fuze was actually busted!) Im pretty sure you guys do a better job though! Thanks for visiting my blog!
Ew, who burns out cigarettes on the carpet? That's just awful.
I don't think all landlords are bad. If you aren't paying you're rent, someone has to be strict with you.
Thanks for all the comments and for letting me vent!
Christina Lee, we wouldn't have minded the sticker thing if they had cleaned it off when they moved out. Instead they left their mess for us.
Christine, We've also had those fighting with the neighbors calls!
Jenny
It's All Good--we have in our contract that we don't rent appliances. The ones in our houses are there for them to use as a favor if they need one, but repairs are up to them. If they don't need/want to use it, we'll remove it. We rent houses. Something goes wrong with the house, then it's our responsibility, but not appliances.
And people wonder why their landlords want references and won't rent to those they know skipped out on rent at their former places or were evicted.
My brother in law owns some apartment complexes. He is a fair man and does right by his tenants. He does credit checks, and asks for references and CALLS the out of town ones as well as those in town. Just because you show up with a deposit and the first and last month's rent doesn't make you a good rentee prospect. My husband worked for him when he was a young man (there are nine years difference in their ages). He did the repairs, kept the lawns and repainted every apartment after a move out. The stories he has to tell are nightmarish! But he also came into possession of a lot of antiques that people left behind. And his brother would hold auctions and garage sales to get rid of left behind furniture and so on from rent skippers. It's a hassle but that was the only way to recover even a part of the lost rent.
Goo Gone works very well to remove all kinds of stuff with relative ease. I used it on used paperbacks in my store.
Good luck on keeping your rent property up.
By the way, he rents some of his places as non-smoking because he found that he had to replace carpets and curtains more often in the apartments who had smokers.
I know this has to be a constant source of frustration to you. But as far as the fruit and veggie stickers on the fridge go, I can only say one thing - Hil.ar.i.ous! Have a great day SITSta!
I actually know how you feel about the cleaning part. We rented our house out once, told them no smoking, no pets in the house, take care of the lawn, pay the rent. They smoked in the house, brought pets inside, ran up the A/C bill REAL bad, let the lawn die, and didn't pay the rent.
After they moved out, my family got stuck scraping smoke residue off the doors, repainting the ceilings, and cleaning out all the garbage they left behind. I, personally, will never bother renting out to others.
Wow! That's pretty astounding, and it makes me very sad, indeed, that human beings can behave this way.
I have a friend who is also a landlord, and you're absolutely right, these scenes are not unusual. So sorry you have to deal with this.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Alena
http://ovarianpain.net
Really ridiculous what you have to put up with! My fiance's mom has many rental properties. She goes through similar things. I don't think they realize when they don't pay THEIR rent. You can't pay YOUR bills. It's really a hard spot. I never realized that until she pointed it out. :-)
I'm open to suggestions -- what do the rest of you do with those little stickers on the fruits?
a/b
Um...throw them away?
Stickers on the fridge? So weird! Sorry you're having to clean up everyone else's mess and dirt and filth. That's so inconsiderate of people to leave their rentals in such condition.
Thanks Jenny, for the prompt http://ashleighburroughs.blogspot.com/2010/02/those-annyoing-little-stickers.html
a/b
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