Customer Service as a Standard

[John Sanderson]

All too often I get the feeling that most here on Bigger Pockets operate under the terms "It's my way, or the highway". What most, in my opinion, fail to realize is that as a property owner, you are providing a service to a customer, and as such, must be in a customer service oriented mindset. It seems that it's standard, that if a tenant doesn't pay by the 5th(or whatever grace period is required by your state or country, if any) that tenant needs to get out. In my experience, my tenants are human, they pay late sometimes and are short on money sometimes.

As a property owner, it's your responsibility to send them notices that they need to pay, not only does this protect you, but it protects your customer, your tenant. When I send a notice to Pay or Quit, I tell my tenants it's similar to a late notice from the cable company. It's not a threat, it's just a means of getting them to pay before I take more serious action. I don't like evicting tenants, nor do I go out of my way to do it, which I imagine most here would agree with. I have multiple tenants that pay Bi-monthly(it's written into the lease) and I have to send the occasional Pay or Quit notice, but as of right now, I collect 100% rent owed to me, and I haven't had to turnover a property due to lack of payment since one of my first inherited tenants failed to pay.

There will always be bad tenants, and there will always be fantastic tenants, but most of us will find, OK tenants, and it's my belief that it's your duty as a property owner to try and work with OK tenants. We're all human, and in my experience, most people make an effort to pay their debts, it's just sometimes they need to be given a nudge, which is fine in my book. Any thoughts and insights are appreciated.