What Does the Lease Say?

So many times, tenants have told me I’m heartless or inconsiderate because I won’t listen to their excuses for having an illegal occupant, not paying rent, or having an unauthorized dog. Whatever the situation may be, my answer is always the same: What does the lease say about an unauthorized occupant? When is the rent due? What does it say about an unauthorized pet?

I’m very black and white. There is no gray area for me. I follow the lease. That isn’t heartless; it’s a legally binding contract. I’m not going to stray from it because someone has a sad story. Everyone has a story. I’ve probably heard the one you’re getting ready to tell me from another tenant last week—and I’ve been hearing stories for the last 20 years. There’s nothing new you can come up with that will make me deviate from the lease.

If that makes me heartless, then so be it. Following the lease also helps keep me within the guidelines of fair housing.

I once had a property manager ask me how to handle a broken mini blind in a property where one of my family members lived. The neighbor had a broken mini blind, too. The manager wanted to know what I wanted to do about my family member’s blind.

I said, “Handle it exactly the same way you’re handling the neighbor’s.”

Give them 24 hours’ notice that the blind needs to be replaced. They can buy the blind themselves. If they don’t have the tools needed to hang it, we’ll install it for them. If they don’t buy it, we’ll replace it and charge the same amount we charge any other resident who doesn’t buy their own.



I don’t care if we share Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t care if we have the same DNA running through us. I don’t care if you’re a single mom or a single dad. We’ve all been there, and we all have stories. But at the end of the day, the question is still the same:

What does the lease say?