Calling yourself the "Landlord" or "Property Manager"

[Jonathan Streufert]

In a book I was reading, the author made a point to say that calling yourself the "landlord" or "owner" of a rental property in front of a tenant can lead to some rather unfortunate scenarios. Rather, letting the tenant know you are only the property manager can make your life as the landlord significantly easier. More specifically, the reasons this might be advantageous include:

1) Tenants won't expect you to be able to answer a query immediately since they won't know you're the decision maker. If a tenant is asking you to waive the late fee because a personal emergency came up, or whether they can have a small dog despite the fact that the lease states that is against the rules (because it's cute and a rescue and won't make much noise, they promise!), it can be a lot easier to just say "sorry, I'm just a property manager, but I can ask the owner and get back to you in a few days" than risk having an emotionally charged response that you'll regret later. I do understand that one of the most important tips for being a successful investor is having the ability to say "no", even if you want to be the nice guy that everybody likes.

2) It might lead to fewer bad vibes between you and the tenant afterwards since it was the big bad owner's decision to decline their request, not yours. This could put some protection between yourself and a potentially angry or vengeful tenant if they don't think they're getting treated fairly. I'm not suggesting this means you're able to decline perfectly reasonable requests, rather that having this separation between yourself and the title of "owner" or "landlord" may help avoid some of the emotion involved when having to tell a tenant "no".

3) Calling yourself the "landlord" has connotations that you have deep pockets, are evil, and try to milk as much money as possible out of your tenants. This can lead to frustrating exchanges between yourself and your tenants since they may believe that you absolutely do not have their best interests in mind when you make decisions. I know not all tenants don't feel this way, but some certainly might.

Now, I wouldn't consider outright lying to the tenant if they flat out ask if you're the owner. There are ways they can find out who the owner of the property is, and if they find out that you lied to their face about not being the owner, that may end up with you in a worse situation than if you had been honest from the start. However, introducing yourself as the property manager of a property and allowing yourself the flexibility of not needing to respond immediately as the decision maker could be a good situation to be in.

What are people's thoughts on this? Are these points worth separating yourself from the "landlord" title, or have you generally not found these to be much of a problem?

[Corey Arnemann]

Hi Jonathan,

Very good question. I have had experience in both situations where I was the owner and called myself such, and having the actual separation of calling myself a property manager and saying I will speak with the owners if situations arise.

When I was a DIY landlord, I was managing 48 rental properties, and was considered the person who called all the shots even though I had real estate partners involved and could have easily separated myself and claimed myself as just the property manager.

However, when I conversed with tenants, my title of being a landlord meant little compared to my attitude towards the business and the relationship I built with the tenants. In fact, I almost loved calling myself the landlord and owner as most tenants would invite me in to their homes, and offer a drink or a treat of some sort. They appreciate a good and professional landlord and understand you are there to help.

When I moved up to a professional property manager, and now use that as my title, I have not notice any change in respect or the need for separation. The only change is now the tenants do not invite me into their home because I am seen as a professional company, and who wants a company in their home? I know I sure wouldn't. :)

Just remember, treat people with dignity and respect, but be hard on the problem. For example, if someone says "I just want a nice quite dog", your response should take into consideration that, this may disrupt the neighbours, the damage would be extra, will the dog wreck the yard?

Give the tenant options that benefit you both. Ask for a pet fee, and perform regular inspections. Tell the tenants why you need the fee and why you are performing inspections. They will understand, and work with you instead of argue and go against you.

"I have thought about allow pets, however I would need a $25 pet fee every month to cover any additional damage the pet may cause. As well, if there are any issues with noise, I would have to ask that the pet be removed. If this is something you are willing to accept, then I will allow a pet".

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. :)

Just get better at being more professional instead of using separations to handle problems.

Hope this helps!