Why Tenants Love or Hate their Landlords

By E-Renter Tenant Screening
Posted on May 7, 2009 under Landlord Tips | icon: commentBe the First to Comment

I Heart My Landlord

The good news is that at least as far as Google is concerned, far more people express love than hate for their landlords. A Google search for “love my landlord” yields 432,000 results, while “hate my landlord” yields a mere 163,000 results. There’s absolutely nothing scientific about this statistic, but if you’re a landlord, maybe it will make you feel better about yourself!

Combing through hundreds of websites, we compiled our list of popular rants and raves. Maybe it will give you ideas about what to do, and maybe more importantly, what not to do when dealing with your tenants!

The Raves, or Why I Love my Landlord:

  1. My landlord fixes/replaces things when they need it
  2. My landlord leaves me alone
  3. He gives me what I need when I need it
  4. She hasn’t raised the rent when she could have
  5. My landlord lets me have my dog/cat/bird/iguana
  6. She treats me fairly
  7. He is kind
  8. He keeps the property clean
  9. She doesn’t put up with noisy/bad tenants
  10. My landlord gives me plenty of notice for inspections and repairs

The raves seem pretty simple, don’t they?. Tenants want good communication and to feel respected. They also like to be able to keep pets and to keep renting without rent increases! Of course, going a little beyond the expected is always appreciated. Now for the rants. . .

The Rants, or Why I Hate my Landlord:

  1. My landlord turns off the water with no notice
  2. My landlord won’t call for emergency repairs after normal business hours because it’s too expensive
  3. My emergencies are not my landlord’s emergencies: over 24 hours without water is too much
  4. Our building/property is a mess
  5. Things don’t work properly: electrical outlets, stove burners, a/c units, heat
  6. The electrical system is not safe
  7. My landlord hires creepy repair/maintenance workers
  8. My landlord says “absolutely no pets”
  9. They won’t give me even one day’s grace period on the rent
  10. My landlord favors some tenants over others
  11. My property management company came to my apartment four times over the last two weeks without an appointment
  12. My landlord lets himself into my apartment without my permission
  13. My landlord makes me feel like I’m being watched
  14. I have ants/roaches/mice/creepy crawlies in my apartment
  15. They’re showing my apartment to potential new tenants at all hours

We did find a few more rants than raves. In fact, much of what is out there is not suitable for this blog! Landlords who have good relationships with their tenants would probably never dream of some of these behaviors.

Overall, the landlord lovers seem genuinely happy with their relationships. One said, “I love my landlord. I wish I could find a man like her.”

What type of landlord are you? Are your tenants raving or ranting to the world? Knowing what your tenants like—and what they don’t—can help inspire love, loyalty, and great tenant behavior. And maybe your tenants will soon be sharing all the reasons why “I love my landlord.”

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