"Blame not the owner for problems caused by the tenants"
--truthinpi.com--
Trent and his Tenants
Trent was finally living his dream.
All his life, Trent desired nothing more than to buy property and rent it out.
“There was something ‘magical’ about owning rental property,” Trent always reasoned to himself.
“Nothing I can think of surpasses the joy derived from owning property and using it to help ease the housing problems of those less fortunate,” Trent would often remind himself.
Trent worked extremely hard all his life to make his dream of owning a rental property a reality.
Trent was the type of man who saw things through. Once he made up his mind to accomplish something, good luck trying to stop him.
Trent was the kind of man who will not stop at anything, and continued to do it until his heart’s desire was accomplished.
He took up two jobs so he could save enough money to make his dream of owning a rental property a reality.
He worked during the day, and continued at night, for there was no stopping Trent.
He did this for seven years until he saved enough money to buy the rental property he so much desired.
The newest rental property owner in town, Trent that was, proudly listed his new acquisition on the market.
As soon as Trent’s listing went up, the applications started pouring in.
Many showed interest in the beautiful rental property Trent put on the market.
Many qualified applicants expressed interest.
Trent went through all the applications diligently.
Trent did not just want to rent to anyone.
He wanted to do a public service.
Help those who needed his business the most.
For Trent, this was more than making money.
It was a mission.
Trent wanted to do right by whoever he chose as his new tenant.
As Trent perused the endless number of applications, he came across one application which caught his attention.
The application which caught Trent’s attention was from a family of five.
The family was struggling.
They barely met Trent’s guidelines to qualify as renters of his property.
Trent immediately knew in his heart he wanted to rent to this family.
Out of all the applicants, this family was the least likely to get anywhere else, the type of deal Trent was offering.
Trent settled on this family of five.
He offered them his rental.
Trent met with the ecstatic and grateful family to go over his expectations.
Trent loves to keep everything clean, well maintained, and organized.
He expected his new tenants to do just that with his rental property.
“Keep the house clean and treat it as your own,”
Trent admonished them.
“Call me if you need anything. I will immediately come over and fix any problem you encounter. Just take good care of the house. That is all I ask. If you take good care of the house, you and I will have a long and enjoyable relationship as owner and tenants,” Trent concluded.
With that, Trent signed a two year lease with his new tenants.
Three months after Trent’s new tenants moved in, Trent received a phone call from his tenants to fix some broken fixtures in the house.
“What?”
Trent thought to himself.
“Broken fixtures already? Everything was pristine when this family moved in. How could there be the need for maintenance so soon?”
Trent imagined.
“I will find out when I get to the property,”
Trent continued to think to himself.
Trent could not believe his eyes when he got to his property.
To say things were topsy-turvy within the house was a gross understatement.
“How did you folks do this much damage to the house in such a short time?”
Trent enquired of the family.
“When you moved in, this place was immaculate. I specifically told you I by-passed more qualified applicants in order to get you into my house.
All I asked you to do was take good care of the rental. You promised me you would. Now this? Look at how much damage you have caused in three months. I shudder at the thought of what this place will look like in two years, which is the lease I had you sign.”
Trent concluded.
The family replied back to Trent;
“Mr. Landlord or whatever you think you are, do not come in here and insult us.
Who do you think you are? Just because you own this place does not make you any better than us.
How dare you talk down on us like that.
Are you going to fix what we called you for instead of lecturing us on how to live our lives?
Do we have to report you to the housing authority for being a slum lord?
You think we do not know our rights?
Please fix the problem and get out of here before we call the police for harassment by our landlord.”
The family ended their response to Trent.
Trent was gravely grieved in his heart for renting to this family.
“What an ungrateful group these people are,”
Trent thought to himself.
Trent fixed the problem the family called him for and quietly left.
Four months after this incident, Trent received a letter from the housing enforcement agency.
Trent was under investigation for not properly maintaining his property, according to the letter.
The family Trent rented to got sick from cholera,
a hygiene-related disease. The entire family ended up in the hospital for this ailment.
The family blamed Trent for their sickness.
Trent explained to the agency, the true facts of what was going on with this family.
After a long battle, the housing enforcement agency exonerated Trent.
Ten months later, Trent received another letter from the same agency.
The family got sick again and blamed Trent.
Poor Trent.
Trent had to fight again to clear his name.
This unfortunate spectacle of blaming Trent for anything which happened to the family he so kindly rented his property to, continued ad infinitum.
Problems created purely as a result of the family’s failure to follow the simple guidelines Trent gave them when they signed the two year lease were blamed solely on Trent.
Trent could not take it anymore.
He waited patiently for the two year lease the family signed to elapse.
As soon as the lease expired, Trent immediately got the family out of his house.
The ungrateful family continued to blame Trent for their misfortunes even after they left his property.
Trent was done as a rental owner.
He sold the house and invested in a funeral home.
Trent explained his reason for going into the funeral home business;
“the dead do not show ingratitude.
They accept whatever you do for them in good faith.
They do not come back to bite you like that family did to me.”
With that, Trent continued his new business for many happy years.
Good for Trent.
I don't blame him one bit for his new mindset.
