Keep Your Landlord Hat On

We hold many different roles and titles as people. Some of the roles and titles that you have may include a daughter, son, mother, father, sister, brother, coach, mentor, pastor, friend, cook, social worker, teacher, businessman, businesswoman, manager, landlord, etc. Imagine that each one of the roles that you have is a hat that you have the ability to put on or take off. If you are reading this blog post, it is most likely because one of your roles is a landlord. And as a landlord, it is important that you don’t confuse your hats and that you keep your landlord hat on as you interact with your tenants.    

A tenant-landlord relationship must be treated as a business relationship. As a landlord, it is your responsibility to keep your tenant relationships business professional. That can be a challenging thing to do if you build great, personal connections with your tenants. A tenant may come to you with something personal or may want you to be understanding of their side of things and offer them some grace. And because you have built a good relationship with that tenant and feel care and concern for him or her, you may feel like it would be wrong not to offer them that grace. But as a landlord, you need to be intentional about not confusing your hats and keeping your landlord hat on. It is not your responsibility to put on the “father” hat or the “social worker” hat with your tenants. The reality is that you are his or her landlord and the relationship you have with him or her is ultimately a business professional relationship. You are running a rental business and your tenants must follow through on their end of the agreement if your business is going to thrive.

The best way to go about a situation like this is to first seek to understand your tenant’s situation and to show him or her that you genuinely care about what he or she is experiencing. Then, begin to figure out how you can best resolve the situation without compromising what you require as a landlord.

If you have any questions or would like more information on how you can maintain great relationships with your tenants, feel free to call us at 530-410-6085! We are property managers in Redding who do property management in Redding and Shasta County and would love to help you with anything you may need!

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