Most Creative reasons tenants didn’t pay their rent….

It’s the first of the month, and geez, that pesky rent bill just snuck up on you again!  This is the 6^th time you were completely blindsided by it.  You know it’s coming, that courtesy email reminder letting you now that it’s due, that phone call from your landlord asking if everything is OK, since they haven’t received your rent, and then that embarrassing past due notice posted on your door (the NERVE of your landlord!). This month…this month, though you are a step ahead of the game.  This month you’re going to call them first.  You’re going to take a proactive stance; beat them to the punch!

After years of being a landlord, I will have to commend some of the most creative tenants for their crafty excuses on why they couldn’t quite pay their rent on time, or at all.  Here are a few of the most memorable:

·         “It’s Christmas, I have a huge family that I have to buy presents for.”

·         And subsequently, “I just spent too much this past Christmas.”

·         “My dog ate my money orders.  I can’t pay you until the company replaces them.”

·         “No one told me that rent was due!  If you called before the first, I wouldn’t have spent the money!”

·         “My father just passed away, I’m footing the bill for the funeral all by myself.”

·         And then two months later, “My father just got diagnosed with cancer, so I have had to pay for all his medical treatment.”

·         “My dog had an ingrown nail that I had to take care of.”

·         “I got arrested.  My lease is void.”

·         “No one would buy my sofa on Craigslist.  If I don’t sell my sofa, I can’t pay rent.”

·         “I can’t pay this month’s rent until next month.  We’re going to Aspen for a few weeks.”