When I rented the upstairs unit of property Chi to the Homos, I had the feeling that there would be some tension between them and the Africans that live downstairs. I figured that since African culture is against homosexuality, that the Africans would harass them or make them feel uncomfortable. Well, turned out I was wrong… and right at the same time.
Hanna and the Africans called me late on Saturday. I usually don’t answer tenant calls over the weekend, but since it was the first very cold day in Smalltown, I feared that it had something to do with the furnace. Hanna’s brother said that the Homos were complaining that someone was in their apartment and blamed the Africans. I told them that I’d speak to the Homos but, once I got off the phone, I continued watching episodes of “24”. I don’t really get involved with tenants fighting each other. About an hour later, the Homos called. They said that they know someone was in their apartment while they were gone because the dog was acting weird, their file cabinet was open, and their window blinds were open that are usually shut. They were afraid the Africans retrieved their Social Security numbers and might use their personal information to screw with their credit. I told them that I’d speak to the Africans and get back to them.
I was fully prepared to leave it alone, but I was at the shipping depot job and it gets boring on Saturday night. I was also curious to see if I can resolve this matter with common sense. I called the Homos and told them that I spoke to the Africans and both tenants have different tales. I told them that as a landlord, I don’t get in between tenant issues. If they feel that someone was in their apartment then they should file a police report. I then reminded the Homos that, since they’ll have to live with the Africans for the next 4 or 5 months, it might be better served to keep their distance from one another and have my permission to get a new lock for the door. That is the most that I can do as I landlord. The Homos agreed and that was that. I felt like Judge Judy!
The truth is that I could give a shit about the Homos. As a landlord I have to think about the bigger picture, and the picture looks like this: the Homos are filler tenants. I like them and they make great tenants, but they’re filler. They made it known when they moved in that they were only staying for six months, then leaving once the smart Homo completes his MBA. The Africans, on the other hand, plan to stay for quite a while. I believe they will sign a one year lease extension in January, and they have a sister who wants to move into the upstairs unit once the Homos leave. She’s a registered nurse with 2 kids making 38k a year. Since the Africans have been there, property Chi has never looked better. So why would I get involved and potentially alienate my Africans? I don’t really care about filler tenants like the Homos and Nicky from property Alpha. A filler tenant's only use is to pay the rent that will give me some extra time and money to make repairs for the REAL tenants that will be moving in after them.
Overall, I think I handled the situation well. I made sure both parties believed that I was neutral and that’s all that matters. In the future I never plan to get involved as much as I did in this situation. I was only curious to see if I had the common sense to handle a situation like that and I believe I did. It’s always better to stay out of tenants fighting with each other. Just remind them that they are adults, give neutral advice, and make sure they always remember that rent is due on the 1st.
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