I own a few rental houses and one house had 2 friends (Jess & Kaci) renting it together until last month when Jess got engaged and moved to be with her fiancé. I hate to say this but Jess was the “smart” one as my interaction with the two over the years proved as Kaci seemed to be a little “ditzy” at times. Jess moved out at the end of February and as a courtesy she paid for March, the deposit was figured out between the 2, the rental contact modified, and we explained to Kaci about any new roommate needs to fill out an application, be approved, etc… Ever since they moved in they paid with separate checks for each of their 1/2 of the rent.
So, as usual, Kaci shows up on the last Sunday of the month (today) to pay her rent for the next month. Just her way of doing things I guess. She gives us a check for 1/2 the rent like usual and we ask “where is the rest?” She looks confused and says “this is my half”. I say “as you are the only one living there now you need to pay all the rent”. She stood there obviously confused and I said “Jess paid half the rent, Jess moved out. You are now responsible for the whole amount as you are the only one living there”. You could almost see the lightbulb go off above her head. She said “I don’t have all the money right now”. I said “that’s fine, rent is actually due in 5 days on Friday so you are not late yet”
As a former evil landlady myself, this is what I would have thought. But I was lucky, since for over twenty years I had only three tenants that were bad. All the rest were great.
I believe that Kaci really didn’t understand that she was responsible for all of the rent. She had a reliable roommate probably did more than her share of dealing with the grown-up stuff and now poor Kaci is all alone and on her own.
The second act will be Kaci not understanding that she has to pay for utilities and internet. Third act will be Kaci running into a couple of guys who are down on their luck and need a place to stay today but will pay their half of the rent on Friday. The guys will of course come with broken down trucks, no jobs and at least three starving and lonesome pit bulls that live tied in the back of their broken down pickups.
Yes, I did watch this sort of thing happen to the owner of the place across the street. Best of luck to the OP.
I knew a person like Kaci. She’s in her 50s and still bitchin’ about adulting.
I asked how she was dealing with high gas prices because her work is kind of a commute.
She told me she was buying the same $20. worth every week.
I can predict what happens next.
This will be a new TV show next fall. The question is, will it be a sitcom or a soap (ongoing tragedy)? Are the two guys drug dealers or out of work comedians? Could go either way.
I had a friend who became an “accidental” landlord when his Uncle died.
The three-bed house had long term tenants who always paid up on time, but when they moved out, he let it to a young(ish) couple who seemed pretty good at first.
The house was several hours’ drive away so he visited rarely and was completely unaware that the original couple had split up and a new guy moved in. Then the female left and New Guy moved a couple of mates in, so my friend had “tenants” he knew nothing about.
It could have been worse. I have seen reports of people renting houses and turning them into Marihuana factories. In the event, all he had was the cost and aggravation of evicting the two Guys when they stopped paying rent. He still owns the house but pays a management company to look after it.
My management company just decided to quit one day. They sent a letter saying they were closing, and included a check that didn’t even cover the rent they collected, much less the deposits they held. Then they dropped off the face of the earth, with no way to contact them. There no breakout of what that check was supposed to be for. Had a ton of fun contacting tenants and arranging their rent payments. When I sold the properties soon after, I had to eat the deposits along with the unpaid rent for the month they quit.
Now, over a year later, the bank trust account that the property management company had is finally being disbursed. Should get everything thing owed to me. The amount was a few thousand dollars, enough to hurt but not enough to go after with a legal action.
The tenants were actually fine during all of this, though one kept calling me for repairs a few months after I had sold everything.
Had I not explained that all the rent would be due, I would be inclined to give her a month, but then I don’t depend on my tenant for a substantial amount of my income. She very well may have thought that she was responsible for half the rent and you were looking for a new tenant.
Wondering if bills the property owner OP would be paying (mortgage, property tax/insurance, etc.) would give OP a discount on the month because a grown woman failed to grasp that when she is the sole occupant of a rented property she is solely responsible for rent.
I don’t know OP’s situation that well, but a lot of smaller landlords have had horrendous financial problems because tenants didn’t pay up.
As a former landlord I can just point out ALL rental agreements should carry a clause that states, ‘Sublets subject to landlords approval.”, you’ve probably seen it in an agreement at some point. This is what it’s for.
It insures when one of the roommates moves out, the landlord gets to approve the new tenant.
Without this, the remaining pissed off tenant now owing more money, can just rent the room to any biker or skinhead they find.
