Stan's Problem

Well, it's official: Shanti and his Indians will not be taking the upstairs apartment in property Alpha. The good news is that Lex and his Indians are leaving this Monday, which is perfect. Tomorrow I'll do a walkthrough of the apartment to see what needs fixing, then buy the materials. I'll fixing everything by the weekend, then wait until Lex moves out before I paint. By Wednesday, the apartment should be ready for show.

While property Alpha will have new tenants, I think Beta may have new tenants as well. Carver is late with his rent again. While I enjoy the extra $35 he pays in late fees, I would much rather have the rent on time. I know he's got to deal with the whole cancer thing with his girlfriend, Linda. But... well... I really don't care. I'll send a late letter tomorrow and that should take care of it. The bigger problem is the upstairs tenant, Stan.

I talked about Stan in an earlier blog, Stan's Problem or Mine. In May, Stan's rent was stolen mostly due to his carelessness. I gave him a while to get the matter resolved legally while he continued to pay rent, but I'm done waiting. Now that I have his rent for the month, the time for confrontation is now. I say confrontation because I know Stan, and he's the kind of prick that likes to bitch when things don't go his way. I've put up with him for this long because he's very good with paying rent on time. I'm going to tell him that he has to either sign an agreement where he pays the lost rent with $50 every month for a year, or get out.

If he agrees, then everything is fine. I get an extra $50 a month until next year September, and I keep a reliable (although annoying) tenant in Stan, who has been there for over 2 years now. If he doesn't agree, then I'll institute my tried and tested Matt Philly System and have him out by the end of September or the beginning of October. This will give me a chance to get tenants that will pay a higher rent moved in just before the winter starts. I needed to wait this long because I needed his stable rent to come in so that I could get back on my feet after June and July's crisis. Now that things are finally going well, it's time to take care of business.

One of my favorite lines in any movie was from Goodfellas: "Fuck you, pay me." It's a mantra that is said by anyone that does business, especially those that deal with collecting money that's owed. "Oh, your girlfriend has cancer? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, your rent got stolen? Fuck you, pay me." It's the reason why landlords are hated everywhere. We don't care because we're not supposed to care. In this business, caring is careless. I did my job. I provided a nice living space and kept the place well maintained. Now he must do his job and pay me or leave.