I have about 3 posts half-written on this last week's adventures, but they will have to wait. Most are tied into today anyway.
Quick back story: El Jefe was leasing out a 5 bedroom, 2,400 square foot home for $945. We had more than 130 inquiries. When I saw this, I suggested the rent was low. He responded he had raised the rent, because the same tenant had been in this house, paying $800 for a couple of years. I said I thought he could go still go about $300 higher. We agreed to disagree, but neither of us actually said what we thought the newly advertised rent amount was. The end.
Anyway, we had 13 applications on the house. The person who was approved realized she was the winner out of 13 people. In her application she stated she was willing to pay more rent to get the property. This was really useful because El Jefe suddenly realized the rent was supposed to be significantly higher and he had only raised it in his head and not where it counted. In order to make his accounting books work properly when he wrote the lease, he put in the new and corrected rent amount. The program he uses, rented or not, automatically sends this information to all the real estate Web sites, showing an increase in rent. However, he did this only after the applicant was approved.
Fast forward to today. One of the applicants, who had been told by me, that I have nothing to do with the application process whatsoever, saw on social media the rent amount had been raised. She was one of the 13 applicants, but her application was ranked (optimistically) somewhere around 8th in line for desirability. The owner wasn't interested in her. She has been contacting me for days about the property, with me repeatedly saying, call the office. Here's the number. Call El Jefe. I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS.
So this applicant (who, mind you, was rejected by the owner) called me, furious. She had seen the increase on one of those real estate Web sites. As far as she was concerned, we had falsely advertised. I (yep, me) had stolen her information (which she willingly provided when she filled out the application) from her--even though I have not been in the office in more than a week and have no access to the computer system which has the applications. I was a bad person. She was suing me. Her lawyer would be calling me immediately (for the $90 in application fees she paid). She told me she reported me to somebody (probably social media) and a lot of other ugly stuff. She was nasty and downright abusive. I told her to call the office. Call El Jefe. And, for the 437th time, I said I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS. Because, I don't.
If this wasn't enough, she then texted me, saying all of the above and continued her ugliness. And this is where my Karma caught up with me. Now, to be fair, I find this situation completely amusing. Abuse or not, it is blog fodder. So, we all win, right? However, I read her text, put my phone down, and said, something that included the phrase, "Bring it bitch." And then I went on my merry way. I didn't realize that my phone's microphone picked up the entire thing. Nor did I realize some gremlin actually pushed send and she got this message.
I feel terrible. Even though she yelled at me. Even though she is (apparently) paying a lawyer to sue me personally for $90, I am the one who made the unprofessional mistake. Actually, I made several, including not fully understanding how my phone works and why it hates me so. (That reminds me, when I go to my Great Reward, and sit down with Saint Pete for my exit interview, when he says, "What can we improve down there?" I am going to say cell phones and traffic circles.) But I know the real issue is she is about to be homeless. Her frustration became my baggage. Where compassion and logic could have prevailed, I didn't show the least amount to this woman.
The truth is, she wasn't approved when the rent was $945. And even if she were the only applicant, she wouldn't have been approved at $945. She wasn't a viable candidate for the home. Even if the approved tenant backs out, she still doesn't stand a chance. Even if she had been second on the list, she blew any good will she had today too. But it doesn't change my reality. I know better. The microphone is always on.
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