Tenants Are Dogs

A running joke between Sha and I is that all tenants are dogs and should be treated as such. I always thought it a joke but I'm beginning to see that, while it's funny to think of a tenant as a sub-human, it's not too far off from the truth.

The relationship between landlords and tenants is the same as that between boss and employee. Due to the different responsibilities each side has, they think on different levels. For example, at any of my jobs, employees are always complaining about their bosses, the same way tenants complain about landlords. It's usually the same complaint, that their boss doesn't understand how to treat people or don't take care of things fast enough. At those same jobs, bosses will come in complaining that their employees can't follow simple directions or behave in the way that they want. Landlords complain that tenants are never happy and complain too much. Both sides don't see eye to eye and they never will. I always thought that, when I became a landlord, that I would be the type that can understand both sides and be able to compromise to make both sides happy. But that's in direct contradiction with the nature of the relationship. Landlord focuses on the best way to make money, as much worry-free money as possible. The tenant focuses on worrying about rent and what needs to be fixed. That's it.

I started to think about throwing out Laurie's sister Annie and how I would do it. I was going over various scenarios and approaches when it suddenly clicked. Why bother with all the stories and drama? A 30 day notice gets sent out. It says that, due to renovations, we are terminating your month to month tenancy (among other things). When ending a month to month tenancy, you must give reason. In Laurie's case, I didn't have to give official reason because I wasn't breaking a lease but rather choosing not to renew it. That's it. If she asks I'll tell her that, due to code, there's nothing I can do. There's nothing to explain. That's it. I've been making things too difficult. When I tried to explain things to Laurie, about why she was being thrown out, it was an absolute disaster. She would get confused and start going crazy. It all could have been avoided if I would have just sent her the letter then said "it's not working out". That's it.

If I'm going to be truly successful I have to stop treating tenants as people and start treating them as employees. I have a natural ability to get people to trust me, to believe the things that I say as truth. But I haven't been using this very useful trait wisely. Up until now, I've been taking it too far by being too honest with tenants and too friendly. A tenant would call me or speak to me as if I were a friend. But that ends, and I'll use Annie as an example. Annie was a decent tenant but I'm tired of public assistance. So I'll send the notice and when she calls complaining and wanting answers, I'll treat her as an employee and give her the standard business answers. I am, after all, running a business.