The Good Landlord

Bebe was renting a cute little townhome. A year and a half ago, she asked her landlord if she could let Don live there while she worked out of state. It would only be for a few months, and "he's a really nice guy."

The landlord (who did not ask my opinion at the time) said, "sure, no problem."

Now then, for those of you who don't have any Earthly idea of what happens next, please feel free to sign up for my 10 Day "How to Landlord" crash course.

Let's fast forward. Last week, I finally managed to convince the landlord to do an inspection. It wasn't that I thought there was anything wrong, but this situation has been going on for more than a "few months." I tagged along.

It turns out Don is perfectly settled. All of Don's worldly possessions are nestled comfortably into the this cute little townhome. All of his furniture, clothes, and dishes are there. And just to make sure nothing is going anywhere, there is a RING doorbell and interior security cameras candidly set up throughout the home. The entire place screams "man cave!"

In fact, there is no sign of Bebe anywhere. This isn't necessarily a concern, except our dear landlord has a binding contract with Bebe and only Bebe. If Don decides to not pay the rent, run a meth lab or play out one of the countless other imaginable scenarios that is going through my head right now, Bebe is on the hook.

Or, what if Don doesn't pay? How does the landlord take action to evict? There is no lease with Don and Bebe is MIA.

Perhaps Don is a serial killer with multiple warrants and has a long history of eviction? We don't know because my landlord doesn't know anything about Don because he didn't fill out an application to begin with

Are you seeing the problem here?

Fortunately, my landlord friend does see how this can get bad. She is vulnerable. Though things have been going very well and each party has been comfortable, there is no contract in place to protect this landlord. Plus, rent has been the same for five years and market rent is about $500 more than Bebe is contracted to pay, so a rental increase needs to happen too.

Anyway, the landlord sent a note to Bebe, saying "It is obvious you have abandoned the property," and gave a 30 day termination notice. She also sent a note to Don saying, "If you want a lease, you need to fill out a rental application, and have a background screening and credit check. You will also need to provide a security deposit. And by the way, we are raising your rent $200." Though this didn't sit well, he hasn't balked yet. The owner gave him five days to figure out if he was staying and complying or leaving. I haven't heard yet which direction he is going.

But no matter what, the landlord needed to do this. She wasn't protected.