Inevitably, there will come a time when you have to let a tenant go for one reason or another. For me, it’s tough. You want to see the best in people, but you also have to realize you’re running a business. I do my best to work with tenants as much as possible, especially if they are going through a tough situation. I get it. Sometimes you get laid off, or go through a divorce, among other personal problems- so I want to be emphatic to the situation. There is a difference between going through a tough time and taking advantage of a situation. We have seen those tenants too. The ones that seem to have another grandma die the first of every month, or the ones who broke their phone and can’t be reached, or the paycheck that never shows up in the mail- the list can go on. So there is a difference between the two scenarios.

The tenant that we had to let go was with us for about six years. She lived in the very first property I purchased prior to meeting Vince. I had acquired her as a tenant when I purchased the property. We had a rough start. I was young, it was my first property and I had no idea what to expect. The tenants obviously knew I was young and a woman, so they tend to sense you’ll be easier on them and to a degree I was. If she told me she was going to be late and she would have it at such and such a date- I believed her. So when I would show up to pick up rent, she wouldn’t be home, wouldn’t answer her phone and wouldn’t get back to me. This happened a couple more times, until I decided to write up an eviction notice. I wasn’t making money either way so it didn’t make sense to continue to allow her to reside there. It was right around Christmas and she came up with all the back rent. She apologized, gave me a hug and we moved on.

Over the years we had done work to the property and I had gotten to know her. I liked her. I felt bad for some of her past and what she had been through, but she seemed to be coming out the other side. She turned into a reliable tenant. She worked two jobs to support her and her son. Her older daughter and her boyfriend were often over at the house during the day to babysit. I wasn’t a huge fan of her daughter. The house was always a mess when she stayed there and there was always multiple guys in and out of the house. It didn’t paint a good picture. One day a city worker had to go over to the property during the day to inspect the home for a grant program I was applying to and he informed me he smelled weed. He said if he smelled it again the home would not be approved. So I spoke to my tenant and explained her daughter and friends can’t be at the home smoking and if it happens again I will evict her. I had her sign a form stating we had a conversation about this and the outcome if it were to happen again.

Flash forward a year and its mid-August. I get a phone call at 6 AM from the tenant next door stating they are going to knock the door down next door. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said the cops were there in masks and they were knocking her door down. So once I got home from work I stopped over to take a look. Sure enough, the door was busted in and unable to close. Immediately the daughter saw me and came over and started talking about how she didn’t know what happened or what the cops were looking for but she knows she is causing her mom trouble and she was going to leave. And she did. Her boyfriend and her left. Again, I had my tenant sign a form that if her daughter is found residing at the property she will be asked to move. I thought this was the end of it. Until an article was published in the paper and the daughter was found back in Williamsport.

Her daughter’s boyfriend claimed my property as his residence and he was pinned as the ringleader for  heroin dealing among other drugs in the area. Great. That’s just what any landlord wants to know about their property. So at this point I could no longer give my tenant the benefit of the doubt, I had to terminate her lease. She understood. She was not involved in the dealings that were going on, but it was going on in her apartment.

The whole situation was unfortunate. The tenant had told me many of family members were involved in drugs in some way or another. She said when she was younger she was involved with a guy very much like her daughter’s boyfriend. He ended up getting caught for dealing and went to jail. Now the same thing was happening to her daughter. All while her young son is witnessing everything that goes on. My tenant went to college and is working two jobs to support her and her son, but is unable to rid herself of the toxic family situation. She was doing the right thing for herself, but she is surrounded by an environment of crime. Obviously she wants to help her daughter, but at what expense? I feel for her. I understand everyone has decisions and is responsible for the outcome, but I don’t know if it’s as easy as it sounds when your idea of normal is not normal. When the environment in which you were raised involves dealing, drugs and jail time, what kind of standard does that set? Not to mention the violence and death that often comes with that as well.  When your kids witness a drug raid at 6 AM in the morning, what are they to think? It’s not normal, but to many people it is and it makes me sad.

So this is the story of my first lease termination I’ve had to do. Probably not the norm, but what is? It was an eye opening experience. My hope is that someday, through our business we can figure out how to help break the cycle. Help mothers or fathers or kids get out of a bad situation. Help good people get on the right path and create a better future. Break the cycle and help people realize there are other options. But until then we’ll keep providing quality homes at a reasonable rate.