12 Landlord Nightmares
Yes, Halloween is over, but the reality is that some nightmares are still continuing for landlords who've elected to go it alone when it comes to property management. Picture it: mold which mirrors cottage cheese, roaches desperately escaping an opened refrigerator and unreported rotting floorboards... It isn't pretty and the stories only get worse.
Here are 12 nightmares that have actually occurred & could have been avoided had the startled landlord(s) hired an experienced property management company:
- The "porn party" tenant who advertised "B.Y.O.V." (bring your own video).
- The door-slamming, boyfriend-hollering tenant who made sure each and every door came off the hinges.
- The overly enthusiastic fitness guru who installed a stripper pole... into the home's original 1810 hardwood floor...
- The Great Flood tenant of 2010 who left the shower running. While she was out of town. For two weeks.
- The nuclear explosion tenant who left the front right stove burner in the "on" position while backpacking through Europe for a month.
- The pyro tenant who burned down an entire apartment complex due to throwing a cigarette into a trash can. He swore he'd snuffed it out...
- The used car salesman who was parking & selling his "inventory" in the front yard of his landlord's rental home.
- The hoarder who scurried away in the middle of the night, never to be seen nor heard from again. It took four rented dumpsters to empty the home of the tenant's "collections".
- The window breaker who busted every piece of glass to be found, desperately in need of anger management. He promptly went to prison.
- The water heater tenant who elected to heat water on the stove rather than notifying his landlord because that seemed a "more efficient use of time."
- The PTSD tenant who had legit night terrors. Kept all the neighbors fearing for their lives for weeks at approximately 2 a.m. each morning.
- The Bonnie & Clyde tenant who enjoyed firing a pistol from the kitchen window at night to "pass the time".
Are you still breathing? We hope you're okay. Here's the thing: landlording doesn't have to be a nightmare. It can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. While none of the aforementioned nightmares were the fault of any landlord, there is a lot to be said for property managers who specialize in foreseeing such outrageous circumstances. They excel at preventing them and are pros at dealing with them should these rare instances arise. In addition, these are great examples of the importance of contract law as it pertains to lease agreements - all things which property management companies understand.
If you find that you are experiencing sweaty palms after reading this, perhaps it's time to pick up the phone and give us a call.
