The daisy lady got me thinking about difficult tenants. Be a landlord long enough and you are sure to get one of those. You know the
one. She takes up 90% of your time and energy making the others look like a day at the beach. She rings you at 10pm because the carpet has peeled off
from the floor and leaves five voicemails in the space of an hour because everything is urgent and priority-one. The sight of her name coming up on
your caller ID gives you that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach (no, it is not gas, it is her). How do you manage these energy-sappers efficiently
without losing your work-life balance, your income, and more importantly, your mind?
Here are some tips to help you manage difficult tenants:
Tip 1: Put everything down in writing
Get into the habit of hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. Demanding tenants tend to be more empowered than those who are not. You never know
if that sense of empowerment will see to it that the tenancy ends up in front of the Tenancy Tribunal. If the tenancy ends up acrimoniously then you
want to have, at your disposal, as much evidence speaking to your professionalism and compliance as possible. If your tenant phones you about a repair
request, then follow that call up with an email confirming your conversation, the issue at hand and a description of how the issue will be resolved.
Once you have completed the repair, follow that up with another email to confirm and close the matter. When emailing the tenant, stick to the facts
and leave the emotions out of it....
