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Tenants "Fighting" with each other

26K views 100 replies 34 participants last post by  kcowan 
#1 ·
So, one tenant gets up at 6am for work. (We'll call him Jack)

The other tenant usually doesn't get home from work until 12am. (We'll call him Bob)

The problem is that the tenant who gets home at 12am (Bob) has been watching tv or having people over until the morning hours, 2am, 4am, etc.

The other tenant (Jack) cannot sleep due to the tv/conversation noise.

Jack and Bob have talked about this, but Jack is still not happy because Bob is making too much noise. Jack suggested to Bob that maybe he could use headphones at night when watching tv. It seems like Bob doesn't care all that much. Now, I must sit down with both of them and discuss this situation like I'm a glorified baby sitter.

Jack is the better tenant, so I want to ensure that he is happy.

What are my solutions?

I am thinking the best approach would be to tell them both off (politely, and professionally, of course) and tell them that everyone must be considerate of one another and that if Bob wants to watch tv at 4am, he should get headphones, and that if Jack can't sleep due to noise, he should get earplugs.

Remember.... I want to keep Jack happy. Suggestions?
 
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#83 ·
readers could turn this latest episode from the neverending soap around & view it from the tenant's perspective.

would-be tenant visits premises, meets hostile neophyte landlord who offers no receipt or written documentation or even traceable financial transaction, instead demands a fistful of cash while treating him like 95% scum.

alarmed, tenant makes an excuse in order to gain overnight distance. He has enough brains on the spot to refuse the cash holdup. He might have still been stringing kae along this am, but it seems unlikely that he'll ever return.

can anyone imagine these 2 sharing bathroom & kitchen.

btw is that a legal rooming house ? doesn't seem to have the mandatory fittings like upstairs fire escapes w fireproof doors equipped with crash bar handles & battery-operated red exit lights that most municipalities' fire codes require ...
 
#84 ·
^lol... humble, that would be a horrible soap... too close to home for some I would guess.

I stand by my thought that most tenants and landlords are good (at least the ones I know)... and them there is the 5% of bad tenants, or landlords, I believe it's karma that the 'scum' find the scumlords, or it's reap what you sow.

I thought that if a house was in a room mate situation, then it doesn't have the same regulations
 
#85 ·
I'd say that bad tenants and landlords are in the same ratio. The rest are on a spectrum...

Good tenants would not deal with KaejS. Asking for cash is a big red flag. Too lazy to go to the bank... Really?

I was at one of the properties I manage today and collected a year's worth of post dated checks. It's the way to go. I have 3 tenants in that place it's really nice and all the tenants get along.

Tenants are the landlord's customer, and it's not hard to envision why people would do anything to "pay their own mortgage".
 
#86 · (Edited)
I'm a renter and I have to say a landlord would be darn lucky to have my gf and me. Never a bounced cheque, so never a late payment either. We tell our landlords (who are very approachable/ borderline friends) about any issues we have, or any issues they need to know about. We treat our place like it's our house. But we rent because I don't want to be cash poor, as we would be in the current local market.

I would walk if someone asked for cash. It screams sketchy. I want a paper trail to protect myself. A receipt for my damage deposit and receipts or cashed cheques for all our monthly payments. The only thing I don't like about post dated cheques is getting any extras back when you move out. While we were waiting on one cheque they cashed it and it was a pain to get our money back.

Kae, I think you are too smart to be doing things the way you are currently doing them. If anyone else was doing these things you'd be ripping them to shreds. I'm not judging your opinions towards renters because I don't really care about them, but I think you should step back and re-evaluate your gig. :encouragement:
 
#88 ·
My landlord once deposited a stack of post-dated cheques (by 'mistake'). Thankfully I had the cash in my account, but now I only give a couple of months at a time.

You cannot reasonably insist on getting postdated cheques in advance. Banks will clear them before the date, so anyone writing a post dated cheque should assume they will all be immediately deposited.
 
#90 ·
You cannot reasonably insist on getting postdated cheques in advance.
Certainly you can. This is a relationship built on trust. How much is the unit you are renting worth? and how much potential damage can be done. I make this type of relationship known and clear with any potential tenants, and never have thought about breaking any aspect of the agreement (which would include cashing the whole stack of cheques).
 
#92 ·
Yes cheques are very antiquated. Anyone could scribble a signature on one and cash it, same with credit card purchases really. It shouldn't be hard to prove it's not your signature though, so it's the bank's problem really. The problem is people can write cheques when they don't have the money and how can you know or do much about it... my rent has to be paid electronically on the first every month

At least for KaeJS this guy is open to moving. From my understanding it's next to impossible to evict someone in Ontario if they want to be difficult. Guess you just have to have a keen sense of character. My father is a landlord and he always asks for references. He also spends most of his time on the rare nightmare tenant even after trying to screen them out
 
#93 ·
I got to insisting on post dated checks once I managed too many properties to feasibly pick up the rent. I manage properties from Oshawa to Mississauga. If you consider that people are mostly home from 6pm onwards, that only gives you about 3-4 hours of collecting rents per day. I suspect it would take me 6-7 days to physically go to each site if I made appointments to collect. Driving time is considerable.

You can write on your lease that the tenants need to pay the rent to you. I offer them many different options. They can give me post dated checks, they can pay by email money transfer, they can mail a check or money order. What I can not do is pick up the rent from the site. I have banking to do on those days as well.

I figure for every single bill out there it is the person's responsibility to pay it, cable, phone, hydro etc. Why should the landlord be any different? Furthermore lots of tenants live paycheck to paycheck to paycheck, so they duck you until they get the dough together. Meanwhile you're the idiot spending gas chasing them around. No thanks.
 
#94 ·
I way rather get cash up front and provide receipts than deal with cheques. I don't think that makes me a "sketchy" or a bad landlord. It means that I am making life easier for myself.

Obviously with cheques, they can bounce. I don't want to find out a couple days later that my deposit isn't going to go through after I've already banked on that money being there. It's a huge headache and hassle that can be avoided, especially since I work 40 minutes away from the house. Usually, I spend 50% of my time in another city. If a cheque were to bounce, I may not be able to get my money for another week or so. That means I'm paying more interest on my mortgage. It's just a hassle.

As for post dated cheques, the bank is not on the hook for anything. It's a myth. I work for a bank. If you give out a post dated cheque - that's your problem. They can be cashed at any time (since a cheque is supposed to be the same as cash). The bank is not liable for anything, and this includes NSF's. Some banks may credit fees back to you, some may not. Some may do it only once. Who knows.

In any case, my other two tenants have no problem paying cash - they actually prefer it - and they are both good tenants.

Just because I have said that most renters are "scum" does not mean I treat my tenants or potential roomies like garbage. I am a very nice and understanding landlord. These are just feelings I have on the inside. Everyone gets the same chance and the same first impression. In fact, I am probably more leniant than most landlords. I actually bought my one room mate his own vacuum the day he moved in. Why? Just as a gift and because he asked if I had one he could use.

I am in no way a demanding or unfair landlord. I say renters are scum with the same tone and meaning as people always say "People can't drive".

It's true. Most people can't drive. And most renters are a pain.

As T.Gal mentioned, you do get tenants who just need to save, need a place temporarily, or rent for other reasons and they are fantastic people (I know, I've got two of them). But more often than not when I do my screening process, I find I go through 10-15 bad ones before I find a decent one.

jcgd, I'm sure you and your girlfriend are wonderful tenants. I am sure Homerhomer is, too. But we have to take into consideration that we are on a Money Forum. Everyone here is financially in check, and thus, probably more stable than most people. We aren't the people who have 163% Debt to Income ratio's, so it is biased and unfair for us to judge within this forum. Why? Because 95% of renters are not on this forum. ;)

With that being said, I hope I don't offend anyone else, but statistics are statistics. If you take a second to think about it, deep down you know that most renters are not as financially secure, and some renters simply rent because they have made bad choices and have nowhere to go. Some make good choices. Some make bad ones. But, when you have nothing to lose, you tend to care less. That is the mentality (either consciously or subconsciously) of some renters.
 
#95 ·
@ mode, you are in Europe though correct? e-banking has been prevalent and fully accepted for so much longer there.

Thanks for the tip though, I think I will insist on e-transfers in the future, although keeping my own accounts anonymous may be troublesome. Perhaps a single account only for transferring the rent into, then immediately out of.
 
#96 ·
When I was a tennant I used to give them 12 cheques each year, when I was a landlord I insisted on 12 postdated cheques each year, never had a problem.

Sampson, if you insist on etranfers you may still be dealing with a hassle of dealing with tennants who may want to delay the payment, if you have postaded cheques that hassle is gone, also I don't there is anymore issue with keeping the account anonymous, you just give them your email address, and there isn;t anymore trace than it shows on the back of cashed cheque.

Banks are responsible for screening the cheques they cash, regardless if they are postdated, staledated, unsigned and so on, despite the fact that at times it may seem like their only responsibility is to collect fees and interest.

There is also a huge difference between being finacially less secure and being a scumbag.
 
#98 ·
Banks are responsible for screening the cheques they cash, regardless if they are postdated, staledated, unsigned and so on, despite the fact that at times it may seem like their only responsibility is to collect fees and interest.
No, they are not. They are treated the same as cash. Banks are not responsible for someone depositing a cheque early, or unsigned. It's a widely thought misconception. They may do something as a gesture of good will, but basically you are SOL if they take a stand. Cheques were never meant to be post dated, it just occured and the practice took off. Banks do not screen the cheques the vast majority of the time. I discovered this about 8 years ago after getting into a huge dispute with my bank when my landlord cashed two $11k cheques for rent for one of my stores at the same time. As a "test" to see how often cheques were looked at I started signing all my cheques, Daffy Duck & Micky Mouse in different colour pen to see how closely they screened cheques. I signed about 18 of them that way and they never came back before I stopped
 
#97 ·
We have multiple rentals and we get post dated cheques for a year with every signed lease.Never had any issues yet and my daughter rents but she goes into office to pay via debit or credit card once a month.She finds it a pain to have to do that but her building don't accept cheques at all.Kaejs has boarders so probably don't have to claim the income as he is sharing the house with them.The renters I know are good people usually saving to buy their own homes or rather rent and save the extra $500-$600 a month owning would cost them.
 
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