***Do You Have A Really Nice Landlord?***
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
United States
December 29, 2009 6:15pm CST
I happened to just luck out with this one. Although I can't say any of them were really bad, but this one is an exception to the rule.
I have always paid my rent on time from when I lived here, which is a year ago last October. I took over my youngest daughter's apartment when she moved out. They like her so much that they gave me a nicely reduced rate. She explained to them that I was desperately looking for something I could afford that was half-way decent. It worked out perfectly. I have my heat included too which I just plain love! It's an old building, built in the 40s, so it's not quite very modern, but I love it! It's very bright and cheery for these long winter months I go through.
Anyway, back in November I was short on my rent and didn't know what to do, and was completely embarrassed by this. I felt horrible. Around the 18th of the month, there was a knock at my door. Guess who. It was Ken, one of the 3 Managers, and the one who rented me the apartment. He thought he had lost my check somehow and came to tell me. Ohhhhhhhhh, that was even worse yet. So, I ended up telling him how I was out of work and trying to collect the full amount before I sent it, and I apologized all over the place for not calling him. I could have just flat out sat down and cried on the floor right there. I was also waiting for a small check from the writing site I've been doing and should have it shortly. What a mess, what a mess. The reason I was so short was because I was behind on my telephone, electric and gas too, so I used my rent to kind of catch up, never thinking I wouldn't find work by this time.
You know what he told me? Don't worry about it, send it to me when you get your check. He even suggested a couple of places for me to apply at. Do you believe that? I was completely floored that he was so understanding, even though I knew he was a very nice guy, but Wow. Within a few days I had my full rent for the month, and my tiny Social Security check came in so I had the next months rent too. I sent both out immediately as it was the end November now.
That same day I sent the check out, he stopped in to fix something at the building and knocked on my door to see how things were going. I told him I still hadn't found a job yet but just sent out a check for both months and he looked totally surprised! That made me feel good. He then told me he has two friends with college degree's, one went to Case Western Reserve, and neither could find jobs. He also told me something I'll never forget. He said don't worry about January if you don't have it on time. Shocked AGAIN!!
Trust me, I have it and it's going out on time.
These are one of the things that make me feel so lucky, even though my luck is down right now. So, do you have a pretty cool landlord? Do you even know your landlord or is it with a company and you've never met them?
6 people like this
14 responses
@jb78000 (15139)
•
30 Dec 09
i haven't had a really bad one (some tricky ones) but have had two really good ones. the first was renting out rooms in his own flat and we became friends, the second has several flats and is an extremely nice woman. although there was a war going on between her and one of her tenants that i shared a house with. whenever i saw him i'd get a list of complaints about her and whenever i saw her vice versa. it was actually very funny. as for the current one - well i don;t know the landlord as he is using a letting agency.
1 person likes this
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
HaHa, that's a funny story. It reminds me of someone who has two phones with one on each ear listening to complaints. I've read so many bad stories here on lousy landlords that it makes me feel really, really lucky to live here! Takes a bit of the pressure off for the meantime but I don't intend to be late again. I like my apartment way too much to lose it. Then again, there is this guy upstairs who I'd like to, oops, that might be another story, lol!
1 person likes this
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
HaHaHa! Um, yes, I need to lose the guy upstairs and this place would be sooooooo much more pleasant! But for the moment, I'm still happy here only because I love my little 40s apartment..
@apgh09 (514)
• United States
30 Dec 09
hi, that is really good news about your landlord, it goes to show not all are bad, where I am at I have no problems either, there was one time when I paid my rent in advance and I got a notice boy was I startled but my payment was found and now i have a small overpayment on my rent. I like where I at so far management is nice and respectful and maintenance always comes to fix stuff when you need them to.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
No, not all are bad, but not all are this good either. I wish I had an overpayment on my rent, haha. Maintenance is very important part of living in an apartment, and I've read some stories about how things are never fixed and it's horrible for these people. Some repairs not fixed have caused fires too, so bad! I hope I never have a landlord like that.
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
6 Jan 10
Hi there Kash
Yes I am lucky with my Landlord to and a bit upset that I will be moving
I have to though my Flat is so cold the only room that is warm is my Living room and that is because I have the Electric Fire on which means it will be a high Electric Bill which I am dreading
So I am looking for somewhere new now, also I can not afford to pay the rent the amount it is now so I will be moving hopefully in the next 3-4 months
I am glad that your Landlord is so understanding you certainly are very lucky
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
7 Jan 10
Oh I'm sorry you have to move, but maybe you'll find a really cute little cozy place, AND a nice landlord. Those electric bills can be killers when you use it for heat especially. Hope all goes well for you and you find what you're looking for. Good Luck hon!
@AmbiePam (92824)
• United States
30 Dec 09
I've definitely not had a landlord that cool! Of course it is always the apartment managers I deal with, who oversee everything for the owners of the complex. The two apartment managers I have right now are awesome. They've been trying to make up for mistakes previous apartment managers have made with me (overcharging me for a pet deposit, not fixing overflowing sinks, broken pipes...). The horror stories from past managers are pretty numerous.
I'm so glad everything worked out like that for you. What a blessing! 
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Awwww, I'm happy to hear your Managers are trying hard at least to correct past mistakes. That's a good sign!
I'm glad it worked out for me too, haha, and yes, I do consider it quite a blessing, especially now. It's really strange how some things work for the good, and other things work for the bad. I feel caught right in the middle, but do realize my blessings in disguise when they happen. It seems I'm reminded of them every so often though and I think it's the Angels who every once in a while give me a good swift kick, lol!
1 person likes this
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
30 Dec 09
we didnt have one. we were renting a house and it was supposed to be rent to own, then the husband passed away and the wife renegged on the deal not only that she sent us an eviction notice when i was pregnant with our second daughter! and she was supposed to be a christian!!
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
31 Dec 09
Was she legally allowed to do that? Didn't you have to sign a contract between the two of you? That's so cold to do to someone, just nasty!
@edu4625 (188)
• United States
30 Dec 09
WOw, that is an amazing landlord/manager. If there were more understanding people like that there wouldn't be so many landlord/tenant court cases.
I think when people are so empathetic it makes you want to try harder to keep your promise. When the landlord is demanding or immediately starts to decrease your service due to backrent it makes the tenant angry and decreases the trust between the owner and tenant and causes resentment.
I have found that many landlords want the rent on time while denying the tenants timely services.Plus in today's society(especially in New York where I live) the rent is so expensive that most people are having severe problems keeping up with the cost and may easily find themselves falling behind.
In this case the manager's positive thinking helped you to come up with solutions.
It would be wonderful if this was the kind of reaction we got in most situations.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
You are so right! Alot of them just want to collect rent but never fix anything in a timely manner and leave the buildings in a rotten state for the next person coming in. One hand washes the other is my motto. I feel my landlord is worth his weight in gold right now and I'm happy to be living here. Happy New Year!
@GardenGerty (160696)
• United States
30 Dec 09
We own our house, along with the bank. When we have had trouble, we have had a good understanding with the loan officer. For the last year or so we have not had a bad time or any trouble. This is a small town, and a local bank, so I feel we have been pretty fortunate to have these dealings.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Ahhhh, nothing like owning your own house with your own little backyard! I would love to even rent a house but there's no way I could ever afford that one. But I do love my little apartment cause it's so cheery. Yes, you are lucky to live in a small town, much more personable I think and people are more like family. That's pretty nice GG!
@metrobelle (398)
• India
30 Dec 09
Thankfully my landlord is quite okay this time. At this place the landlords are quite typical, you may think its quite jerk types but its true, they are so concern about who all will come to stay overnight, no specific food to be cooked and so many other list of things they don't want in their tenants. In the beginning I find it very irritating. My present landlord does not bother about our private lives that is why I find okay.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Glad to hear you have a good landlord right now. Some can be very nasty and no matter what you do, it's not to their liking.
@weasel81 (2496)
• Australia
30 Dec 09
my land lord is my boss, they are really good. very easy going, my rent is taken out my pay along with my power each fortnght till i've paid the bill. i've been lucky we've always had good land lords.
it makes renting a good experience when you have landlords like that.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
I wish my landlord was my boss, then I'd have a job, haha! Good for you, and yes, it does make for a good experience.
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
26 Apr 10
Hi, Kashmeresmycat. My landlord is nice but not that nice If we are 6 days late on our rent, she will send us a late notice stating that she will file an eviction on us on the 11th of that same month. We get no breaks. I think that her boss is the one that is hard on her on collecting rent money from us. At this stressful time, it seems like she is not that understanding. I wished that I could live where you are living. My husband works hard to pay the rent, and he always pays, whether he is late or not. I think that the landlord/boss should really consider this. You are very lucky to have a nice landlord like this. I had a landlord one time that allowed us to miss February's rent. We moved in at the end of January. And she told me on the phone to not worry about February's rent. That was so nice of her. My husband did not have $410.00 within a couple of days or so. When we moved out here, we had November rent free. That gave us time to get caught up and a big break too. I wished that all landlords would be more understanding. They really have tenants that are having a hard time paying the rent, that are honest.
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
30 Dec 09
It's really nice when you have an understanding landlord or in my case a landlady! I can honestly say of my own landlady that I have never met any landlord as good and respectable as her! I have been living in my flat since 2002 and every year she comes to the flat and we renew the contract on a yearly basis. I always pay my rent on time and I would even go so far as to saying that we are like family now. I look after the flat and I'm so pleased with the way things are going. What you don't need is a landlord that is always on your case and making life difficult for you. I guess I got lucky when I moved into my present flat. I'm actually the first tenant ever! My landlady bought this flat in 2002 so when I moved in everything was brand new and smelled fresh and it was lovely. I guess I'm a private tenant as opposed to a council tenant. I guess every landlord has the fear that a tenant may start to cause problems and create a mess and then when it comes to having the tenant evicted, this is almost impossible. Anyway, I guess I'm a prize tenant in terms of the way my landlady sees me. One of the most important things is that you are happy in your home and thankfully I am. Andrew
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Wow, moving into a brand new apartment must have been ideal for you! I would imagine it's not easy being a landlord in some places, but sometimes I think they bring it on themselves too. Sounds like you really are a Prize Tenant!
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Dec 09
I have had different kinds of landlords in the past. I had a lot of arguments with one of them, he claimed that I hadn't cleaned the apartment properly when I left, it was not true, but I still had to pay for it. Another landlord was even worse. He refused to return my desposit and even asked me to pay more than $1000 when I moved out. I did not break the things that he claimed, and I was very angry when I received his letter. My landlord didn't know that my father is a lawyer, and he must have been pretty surpriced when my father sent him a letter. In the letter my father told him that he would send him to court if he didn't return my deposit. One day later I received a cheque in the mail!
The house where my husband and I live at the moment belongs to a company, and we have never had any problems with them. Before we moved here we lived in an apartment in another city. Our landlord was great and extremely honest. When we moved out we received a cheque. We had painted the apartment ourselves, and there was a problem with one of floors, so we didn't expect to him to return the entire deposit. We agreed that we would be happy to receive $1000 or something like that. We almost couldn't believe our eyes when we got the cheque. He had sent us $2800! We were so happy. He told us that we would keep some of money and return it when he had received the last bills from the apartment. A few days ago another cheque arrived ($200) that was a very nice surprice.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
HaHa, I bet he was sure surprised to get a letter from your father! Some landlords are just downright nasty people! And your other landlord sounded great too and very fair which is the way it should be. Glad he was honest and I bet you were sooooo happy to get that other check! Just great to hear.
@celebratelifeh (1142)
• China
30 Dec 09
i have not have that good luck and all the landlord i ever meet were all not as kind as we expected.some of them even want to rob all our money up though we signed the contract and pay them timely.but they still want to receive more and rob our money.if someday i can become one landlord i may be the best one of this landlord i guess.i will lease my house under reasonable price and give them who rent my house with warm welcome and provide the service.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Oh my, that sounds terrible. Why do they want more money? I'm sure you'll be a great landlord if you ever have the chance. I'd be understanding too if I owned an apartment or house.
@SharonJohnson (459)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Your story is great to read for the season we are in. I did not pay this month's rent. It would be the first month I miss rent in a year. I did not get a call or a visit. Next month I plan to pay $100 extra till I catch up. I think my landlord is great as well. I could have received a notice in the mail by now. I have not and don't think I will. Thanks for the nice story.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
30 Dec 09
Yes, it was almost like a little Christmas miracle for me. I felt so relieved when he left and so lucky in that sense. It's so hard when you are the only one paying all the bills and the rent, etc. I think I'm gonna look for a sugar daddy, hahaha!! I'm glad to hear other people have super nice landlords too, sure makes life a bit easier. Take care.
