Crazy Tenant Requests Only Landlords Can Believe

If there is one thing I love about my job the most, it might be listening to the team of landlords I work with swap crazy tenant stories. From ridiculous things tenants have said to the worst tenant nightmares, landlords band together around these tenant tales.

One of the recent tenant topics that came up for discussion around the office was the craziest tenant requests we've ever encountered. Check out these crazy tenant requests, and share yours in the comments below.

May I teach my martial arts classes here?

This story involves a landlord who was managing a small apartment complex at the time. One of his residents approached him to request the use of space for a martial arts class. The apartments did not have any community space, so the landlord had to decline the request. 

Fast forward a few days when the landlord enters the apartments and finds a martial arts class being held in the entryway of the apartments. Residents had to dodge nunchucks, punches, and kicks as they tried to reach their apartments. Needless to say, the landlord had to inform the tenant that holding martial arts classes in an entry way was not going to work out.

Can you get rid of the snake in my microwave?

Nothing beats being woken up early in the morning as a landlord to hear your tenant's voice on the phone. In this case, the landlord woke up to the frantic voice of his tenant asking if he could come over to the property right away. The problem? The tenant couldn't get to her coffee in the microwave due to the presence of a snake in the microwave.

Sure that the tenant was losing her marbles or lying, the landlord made the quick trip up the street to her home. Upon arrival, he was ushered into the kitchen where the microwave in question was. The microwave was tucked into a perfectly fitted shelf and sure enough, there was a snake peeking its head out from under the microwave. Because only the snakes head was accessible, the landlord's only option was to remove the entire microwave by grabbing hold of the door and pulling it out of the shelf.

The snake fell out onto the floor and was scooped up by the landlord. A non-venomous, but an unnerving experience for all.

Will you ditch Christmas Eve for me?

It isn't terribly uncommon for landlords to be asked by tenants to be let back into their home. After all, we have all forgotten our keys. However, this can quickly become an ongoing issue when a tenant realizes they can be bailed out again and again. In this case, the tenant locked themselves out on none other than Christmas Eve.

The tenant had a flight to catch and called up his landlord to ask the landlord to swing by and unlock the home. The problem? The landlord was out of town for Christmas Eve. He let the tenant know he'd need to call a locksmith to be let in. After trying one locksmith who didn't work on Christmas Eve, the tenant called the landlord again insisting his landlord drive back to his house so he didn't miss his flight.

The landlord held his ground and let the tenant know he wasn't going to drive five hours on a holiday because the tenant couldn't remember his keys. The tenant wound up finding a locksmith that would work on a holiday and paid a hefty price for his forgetfulness. Hopefully, he also learned a valuable lesson about asking a landlord to give up their holiday for his own mistake.

What about you?

Tenant requests can quickly spiral out of hand. What are the craziest requests you have gotten from tenants? I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

As always, when dealing with tenant requests that are far beyond the scope of normalcy, it's best to remain professional, stick to firm boundaries, help out when you can, and learn to laugh at the craziness of landlording.