Am I the mean landlord?

[Max T.]

First situation: Apartment was advertised at $1400 for a 2 bed/1 bath house. Prospective tenants had 2 pets and we agreed to increase rent to $1430 (15/pet). Lease was written up with the 2 pets allowed and the rent set at $1430. Fast forward a few months. Tenants are a little sloppy but no problems and they pay on time. Tenants gave one of the pets away to a friend and want to reduce the rent by $15. I decline, saying changes to the lease can be discussed at renewal time.

2nd situation: Same tenants/house. One is out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday. The other locks herself out. I come by to open up and charge the lock out fee ($25, as set in the lease).

Am I the mean landlord? My parents would probably be telling me to waive the $15/month and not to charge for opening up. They would advise this on the grounds that I'm more likely to keep the tenants long term. Many on BP who hold firm on the "run it like a business" mentality will tell me I'm doing it right.

I'm looking for the overall consensus here. What do you think? 

[Jeff Rabinowitz]

You charge a $25 lock out fee and are willing to go to the house yourself for that? I believe it specifies $100 in my lease. I am not sure because in 12 years of leasing 12 houses this has never happened to my tenants. I would not even consider going to the house to unlock it if the tenant locked themselves out. I would give them the phone number for my locksmith who has the codes for all my keys. The locksmith would charge about $100. If the tenant didn't pay him directly I would pay him bill the tenants for the service. If they locked themselves out after hours or on a holiday they can check into a motel until the locksmith can get there or their partner comes back with the key. I am a landlord not a babysitter.