Tenant Clash Part II

 So I got a call from Hanna and the Africans on Tuesday. She said the garage lock was broken and blamed it on the upstairs tenants, so I went to take a look at the problem yesterday after work. The lock is easily replaceable and the door still worked, so I didn’t really understand what they were so worked up about. As I read between the lines of what the Africans were saying, I realized that it wasn’t the lock they had a problem with. They still don’t get along with the upstairs tenants, the Homos, and they want them out.

Last year, I knew that moving the Homos into the upstairs apartment would be risky. They've been butting heads since the Homos moved in, I even did a post about their first clash last year in a December post called Tenant Clash. Africans in general are fiercely against homosexuality, and having them upstairs doing their “business” concerned me a bit. I moved the Homos in anyway because they looked like a good investment and they’ve been great so far. The Homos are relatively clean, pay their rent on time, and they both work. I have absolutely no problem with them. The Africans, however, have a problem with them and unfortunately I’ll have to take action.

I make it a policy to never get involved with tenants’ issues with each other. We’re all adults after all. The problem here is that I need the Africans in property Chi more than the Homos. See, they rent out the 3 bedroom unit downstairs and, because property Chi isn’t in the best neighborhood, it is HELL trying to get good people into that apartment. The upstairs apartment is extremely easy to rent out because it’s a cute little one bedroom apartment. It only took me 48 hours to rent it out to the Homos last year, while renting the downstairs apartment took over a month before I finally found the Africans. And, should the Homos leave, the Africans want the apartment to give to their sister who has been looking to move in. They’ve even been asking if I have any whole houses for rent. So what should I do? Throw out the Homos for no reason just to appease the Africans? Get involved in their petty squabbling in order to keep the peace?

I thought about it for a while, and I came up with the best solution I can possibly think of.  The Africans are on the lease until June or July of next year, while the Homos’ are living on a month to month lease. So I tell the Africans that the Homos will be moving out after the upcoming winter is over. That should appease them throughout the winter. By the time the winter is over, I should have my new property Charlie, and I’ll tell the Homos that they have to move out, but that they can move into property Charlie for a reduced rent until I get the new building fully renovated. When they move out, the Africans move their sister into the upstairs unit. I get good tenants to start out property Charlie with. Everybody’s happy! Now look, I know a lot of things have to fall into place to make this plan work perfectly but this is the best I can think of. I refuse to throw out good tenants like the Homos without a good reason, much less a plan—it’s just bad business. This is the best plan I can think of but, as with all things, nothing is set in stone.