The Quiet Tenant: Dream or Nightmare?
It Pays to be Proactive
Tenants fall all along the noise continuum—from the calm and quiet ones to the loud complainers. The loud ones tend to let their landlords know every time a problem comes up: when the faucet is dripping, the AC is not working, or the toilet is plugged up. They’ll be the first to ring a landlord’s telephone if the neighbor’s dog is barking or the kids upstairs are throwing a party.
This can be a good thing, even if it comes wrapped in a package of bothersome calls! Loud tenants give landlords plenty of chances to check in on the unit, make inspections, and see what exactly is going on.
Quiet tenants, on the other hand, pay rent on time, don’t complain, and don’t call the landlord for anything. This can be a problem! We’ve heard about tenants who did not call because they didn’t want to bother their landlord with problems—or who thought they would be held responsible for damages.
Then there are the tenants who just don’t seem to notice issues. For example, one landlord discovered that her “perfectly quiet, no-problem tenant” had inflicted major damages on her property: from water leaks that ruined cabinets under the kitchen sink, to broken shower doors that allowed water to build up under the bathroom floor, to overloaded electrical circuits that had melted the wiring. It was only when the tenant moved out that the landlord discovered these damages.
Another landlord’s “quiet” tenant seemed like a dream, until she gave notice that she was moving. Apparently, while the landlord was busy taking care of other tenants’ problems, he was ignoring the quiet one. Her small issues could have been easily addressed if the landlord had simply inquired about her level of satisfaction. The tenant just didn’t complain, so the landlord let the status quo reign—and lost a great tenant.
The lesson here is to check in on your quiet tenants. Make a phone call every couple of months, and perform property inspections every six months. Check in on the quiet one while you’re fixing the loud one’s latest problem—and always, keep the lines of communication open with all of your tenants!