IBZ Group Blog

I have the unenviable title of {{{LANDLORD}}} – and this is my story! Rest assured, I am not part of a large property ownership conglomerate or management corporation. My wife and I invested in a few rental properties as our “retirement fund.”  We repair, clean and invest a good deal of time and money into each property . We always try to apply the Golden Rule with our tenants…Do unto…and in many cases, our tenants become like extended family.

Of late, however, we’ve started to wonder if our venture into rental property is worth the headache!

With the challenges presented by the U.S. economy, and the financial and employment hardships so many people are experiencing, many hands-on landlords like me are trying to be understanding and accommodating. Lower rents, no rent increases, rental deposits spread over multiple months, rather than paid upfront, waving or lowering of pet fees – these are all things I and other landlords are offering as “doing our part” for folks in need of a break.

Unfortunately we have recently found that for every heart-wrenching story of people losing their homes and in need help, the number of “TIDN” (Tenants I Don’t Need) has also grown to monumental proportions. The demands and unrealistic expectations they make of landlords has become so ridiculous that just from the calls I have received in the past 3 months I believe I already have enough material to write a book –or perhaps a sitcom!(A best seller, I hope). 

Here’s one recent story to get us started.

Allow me to introduce you to Mr. J, a gentleman who referred to himself as the highest quality of tenant. Mr. J was quick to tell me he wanted to do me a favor by renting a house my wife and I own. OK, maybe Mr. J is just full of himself –most people get that way on occasion and that in and of itself alone can be easily overlooked. But, when you consider what else he told us – and maybe even more telling, what he refused to disclose, you will see his offer to become our tenant was most definitely no favor!

Mr. J began by telling me he filed bankruptcy 2 years ago and has a very low credit score—appreciably upfront and honest. Obviously many good and honest people have been forced into bankruptcy due to unfortunate circumstances. But, then he told me I could not check his rental record and that he would not allow me to check with his present landlord (hmmm- a little suspicious…maybe bad payment history?).  He next revealed he is unemployed, has not been employed for 2 years, and has no verifiable source of income. Ah, but his wife is employed – maybe there is still a way to qualify him. Nope!  Told me he would not divulge her employment and salary information until AFTER we rent to him (heckuva lot of good it would do me then!)  Then- to top it off, he absolutely refused to pay the $35.00 application fee which we use to run credit and criminal background checks. Obviously this potential renter  was working with serious misconceptions…could  he really think these qualifications made him a desirable tenant?

Oh yes, prior to this conversation, Mr. J had come to see the rental property in question. He spent more than an hour inspecting every nook and cranny—he was more thorough than a home inspector prior to the purchase of a house. He proceeded to produce a detailed list of items he would insist upon before gracing us with his agreement to become our tenant. We’re not talking repair the broken front steps here (the front steps are just fine). Rather, it was more than a filled letter sized page, typed single-spaced – font size 10 to boot—of inconsequential  items he and he alone noticed. This list included among other things, dust on top of the ceiling fan blades [in an empty house], and a requirement for “professional cleaning of the closets” – whatever that means. Suffice it to say that we showed this property to more than 7 couples that same weekend, not one of whom mentioned anything about any lack of cleanliness.

Now, you may wonder why anyone in his right mind would bother with Mr. J.  And I definitely wonder where he got that ego to think that a property owner should welcome him and his attitude with open arms!

Oh yes – almost forgot – Mr. J wanted us to confirm our acceptance to his offer to honor us with his presence quickly. He was planning to speak with his current landlord about reducing his rent . He figured he needed a backup – a place to go – just in case he couldn’t bully his way to a rent reduction – or the landlord showed his/her backbone and simply said “Get out!”  If that happened, Mr. J was ready to bite the bullet and lower his standards enough to rent  our dirty unmaintained property!

Needless to say I did not bother responding to him. I had already wasted a good amount of time on him  over the course of an entire week.

Well Mr. J, newsflash! – You are NOT God’s  gift to landlords, but you do qualify for our “Tenant from Hell award” this month, with a new twist. You managed to earn this honor without ever becoming  a tenant!

This is our latest landlording horror story. No doubt there are many more stories out there. If you care to share some of them please feel free to post them on our blog. ( here is the link)

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