Landlords do and say the dumbest things....

[Jack B.]

We have a thread on tenant/applicants doing and saying the dumbest things, but almost every other day I read stories of landlords who do and say the dumbest things and it boggles my mind. While no one is perfect, I really think some of these people should just NOT be landlords...

A guy in my state who recently became a new landlord, then his tenant stopped paying and he felt he couldn't evict due to the moratorium....except he had never even actually READ the moratorium. I pointed out to him the two loopholes (moving into the unit or selling it...yeah, I actually went and read the Governors order, imagine that) and he thanks me for the information then tells me that he thinks you have to move into it for a specific amount of time. I ask him for a link to the source. Turns out he went and read some generic legal article that has nothing to do with the topic at all from some national egal services site, just some generic legal site with generic information for no state in particular asking you to "buy their services to help you solve whatever problem you are facing" throughout the entire article as laws vary from city to city.

Or the guy who did a lease option with tenant, except he didn't get any money up front, didn't charge higher rent with a portion of it going toward a down payment, then his tenant thinks he owns the house after paying below market rent for 2 years....but to top that one off, a wannabe attorney claimed to me I had no idea what I was talking about, you can't collect a down payment, you can't charge higher rent in lease options, etc. Except I posted links to article after article about how that is all legal and how those deals are typically structured. 

Some people really should NOT be landlords....just basic critical thinking and research skills are a struggle for quite a few. While some people make mistakes because nobody is perfect, some of this stuff is just soooo basic I really think they should NOT be landlords at all. I remember a tenant showed up to a lease signing with no money and expected keys. I was like, great, lease is in effect for 2 weeks from now, but until I receive payment for the money owed you get no keys, etc. The look on his face, he soooo thought I was some gimp just going to give him keys to a half a million dollar house in exchange for a signed lease but no money...but Imagine there are many out there who have/would.