Tenant Mayhem: The Heist

Typically, rents from my tenants are collected on the 1st of the month or very shortly thereafter.  This month has been no different for my tenants...except for one.

I rented one of my units to three college kids who wanted to roommate together.  I am not fond of roommate arrangements and after this story, you will know why.

When these tenants applied one of the applicants had good credit and the others had shoddy credit.  I told the tenant with good credit that I would lease to them but that he would be carrying the water for the other two by putting his good credit on the line but that they still would all be responsible for late rent or damages to the property.  They understood the responsibility and we executed a lease.

First, before I share this story, let me introduce the characters and change their names so we can keep the story straight:

Dudley Do-Right - Dudley had the good credit and was the most rent worthy.  He put his good credit on the line if something went wrong with the lease or property.


Snidely Whiplash - Snidely had poor credit but a clean criminal background.  He helped pay the deposit.


Grieving Gus - Gus was the a roommate that showed up later after the lease started and helped pay the rent.

Rents have been timely for the last seven months.  Typically I get a call from Snidely and he would find me to bring rent.  I never had a problem with these guys meeting their obligations.  Then, this month the 1st came and went.  No call.  Then on the 2nd I got a call from Snidely and he says "Uh, hey, just so you know, I mailed rent yesterday because I have been so busy."  I said that was fine because if he mailed it I should see it in that day's mail.  When the mail arrived that day, there was no rent.

The next morning I get a call from Dudley saying that their home had been broken into.  I instructed him to contact the police.  About three hours later I got a call back.  What was initially thought to be a home invasion showed no signs of forced entry from the exterior.  Instead, Gus's bedroom door had been kicked in and thousands in cash kindly removed his and Dudley's rooms.  Snidely's bedroom door was untouched however and upon opening it was discovered that all his things were gone.  Hmmmm.... 

Then, the next door neighbor disclosed that earlier that morning Snidely claimed an emergency and got a ride to a hotel near the Salt Lake Airport from her.  When the hotel was called they said that Snidely had checked out 15 minutes previous. Snidely purchased a plane ticket with Dudley's and Gus's cash and skipped town.

Fortunately, Dudley and Gus still had enough reserves to pay rent and they are paying to have the damage repaired.  However, I wonder why these guys would be so unwise as to stash their cash at home instead of the bank. 

Anyway, Snidely just became a less marketable tenant.  I wonder if I will get a call from a future landlord looking for a reference.