CAN YOU TOP THIS?
ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAUL LUKAS
When it comes to collecting rent payment, property managers
have often heard some strange and laughable excuses from
tenants and residents. Here are a few of those excuses that
IREM Members shared with JPM:
“i can’t pay my rent because my dog ate my teeth.” EXCusE of thE daY “I couldn’t pay because the mailbox outside my office is broken.”
one tenant actually
told me, “i couldn’t
pay the rent
because i had to
pay the stable rent
for my horse.” i
suggested she
might have to live
with her horse if it
wasn’t paid.
“i can’t pay my rent because i gave my rent
money to help the homeless on the street.”
An expectant mother came into the office to
explain she did not have her rent money because
she had to use it to bail herself out of jail.
Apparently, middle school children were harassing her child while exiting the bus and she took
it upon herself to thrash the children.
>> tHinK You
can toP tHiS
taLe? SenD
Your true
StorieS to
MarKiSan
naSo at
mnaso@irem.
org.
a tenant whose lease was expired
and owed us about $8,000 asked
me if it was ok if he went out
of town to see a friend who
would potentially let him borrow
some money to pay off his debt.
apparently, this friend also had
great tickets to a ravens game.
one of our residents said he couldn’t pay rent because
he just made a car payment. he said he only had
enough money to pay the rent or make the payment on
his car in any given month, and he chose the car!
