Being a landlord is by nature an adversarial job. You deal with people’s homes, and therefore their comfort and security. Defending one’s home is a natural, powerful tendency that can make people passionate.
Landlords must learn to separate their personal feelings from their business goals. Although most tenants are reasonable people, some tenants can become irate if they don’t get what they want, and even threatening. It’s important as a landlord to be able to set your rules and then enforce them without becoming overly emotional, or your job can become unpleasant.
Here are some ideas about how a landlord can say "no" with confidence.
1. Set Clear Boundaries Ahead of Time
This is the most important thing a landlord can do for tenant relations. With clear rules understood by all parties, saying no becomes more the quoting of an agreement than making a judgement call, greatly reducing that need to say no. Certain things may even need to be discussed upon a prospect viewing the property so that they don't waste their money and your time applying to rent if it's not going to work out in the long run.
2. Write a Strong Lease
Having a strong and very detailed lease, drawn up by a knowledgeable real estate attorney, will cover most situations that might come up with your tenant. Then when you have to say no, you can back up your decision by referring to the contractual agreement. This should be easily understood by the tenant, leaving no wiggle room.
3. Provide Detailed Tenant Education
Sometimes having a strong lease is not enough to avoid misunderstandings. The tenants must thoroughly understand the lease for it to be effective.
Also, provide explanations of change policies on your website and in your printed materials. How do you add a roommate, or a pet? Make sure everything is laid out in detail, and you can just refer your tenant to this information when they want you to make exceptions. This reminds them that they agreed to the policy before the issue even came up.
4. Hire a Great Team, and Keep Them Motivated to Learn More
No one wants to hear that someone on their team told a tenant they could adopt a Great Dane when only small dogs are allowed in the home. It’s easier to say no than to take a yes back. A team can only function well if they are knowledgeable—if they are all current on both tenant law and company policy. If you have a team, keep them working toward further education and designations. Have frequent meetings where everyone can share their work to keep the team up on all tenant news. A team that communicates well will all have the same answer for tenants.
5. Great Communication
Communication between team members is key, but good communication all around will keep things running smoothly.
The first step is making sure that tenants know the rules, procedures, and their responsibilities before signing the lease, not afterward. When problems do arise, make sure the tenant knows you are listening. When problems are handled quickly, the issues don’t escalate. Leases can be updated at renewal time when issues are communicated. Make sure everyone is talking, and you won’t have to say no as often.
All Seasons sets the standard!
All Seasons LLC, CRMC has been in the landlord business since 1986. Since then, we’ve been fine-tuning our lease to make sure it covers every issue we’ve encountered in that 40 years.
Our website has detailed video and FAQs that can be viewed by tenants any time they need the information, 24/7.
Our team is dedicated to our profession, take pride in what we do, and we work together well. Not only do our employees strive to always stay on top of latest laws, regulations, and technology - many also consistently work toward their Property Management Designations. Our company was the first Certified Residential Management Company (CRMC) in Southern Colorado, earning this prestigious designation 10 years before any of the competition.
All Seasons sets the standard in Southern Colorado for satisfied Residents and Owners. We know that the best way to have happy Residents is to make sure they come into the lease with a clear understanding. We know the best way to say no is before the problem occurs, not after.
Call us today to manage your Colorado Springs rental home! (719) 632-3368
