Had a handyman tell me 'tenant loyalty is overrated' and it made me rethink my whole eviction approach

He said I was too quick to file paperwork on a single late payment in Chicago last fall, and after three months of that tenant paying on time I started wondering if I'd been losing good people over a strict rule that wasn't really saving me anything.

3 comments

3 Comments

zaranelson7d ago

Oh totally, my friend had a guy in her building who was a solid tenant for like four years, then she actually gave him a break on one late payment during a rough month and he ended up staying for another THREE years after that. Made me think the strict rule people just end up losing the tenants that actually matter.

rowanr887d ago

Man, @zaranelson nailed it. People act like landlords can't ever bend a rule, but they forget that loyalty goes both ways. My sister rents out her old house and she let a guy slide on rent once because his car died. He's been there five years now, never late again after that one time. Strict for the sake of being strict usually just burns bridges for no reason.

fionanguyen7d ago

...and my buddy had a landlord who did that for him once. His cat needed emergency surgery, he was honest about it and she let him pay late that month. He ended up staying like six years and even painted the whole place when he moved out. Sometimes being human pays off.