Forming alliances is an important thing to do when you are evicting tenants. In How to Evict a Tenant Part Five, I spoke of the importance of forming an alliance with your tenant. By doing this, you are demonstrating to the ruling body overseeing the hearing that you are willing to work cooperatively.
During my recent court hearing, I made an attempt at forming 3 alliances in total. One of the alliances I attempted to form was with my tenant. The second alliance was an attempted alliance with a mediator and the third alliance was with a fellow landlord.
The Mediator
As I patiently waited in the court room for my hearing to begin, I would glance back on occasion and peer through the frosted windows. You can read about the frosted windows in How to Evict a Tenant Part Three.
As I looked through the windows, I saw a group of tenants waiting outside. Standing with the tenants was a lady holding a clip board. I deducted that she was a representative of the government body overseeing the hearings.
A few minutes later, this official entered into the court room with clip board in hand and made a few announcements to those of us sitting in the room.
This confirmed my initial thought. She was indeed a representative of the ruling body.
I had been keeping an eye out for my tenant, and up until this point I had noticed that they had not arrived yet.
While I waited in my chair in the court room, I realized that in the event that my tenant showed up, I would have to form an alliance with the mediator.
I knew that this was an important thing to do because, being cooperative with others as well as being respectful, is the easiest way to influence someone. Being confrontation and condescending is the fastest way to get their back up, thus putting them on the defensive.
I wanted to align myself with the mediator, not against them.
At this point, time had elapsed and my tenants had still not arrived. It became clear at this point that they were probably not showing up. As a result, I did not get an opportunity to solidify any type of alliance with the mediator, however, I was prepared and more than willing to.
The Landlord
The other landlord that I spoke of was the only other person in the courtroom with me, other than a property manager. The alliance that I formed with this landlord was out of necessity. It was out of necessity because I was nervous.
Since I had no entourage with me, I felt that it was necessary to form an entourage, right there and then to help me get over my nerves. By forming this mini-entourage, I felt much more confident, as I felt that I had an ally with me.
I sat down next to this landlord and we started to share stories. Here are some of the interesting things I took away from our conversation:
- He had been investing for 40 years
- He was originally from Cyprus
- He was now in his mid 60s.
- During the first 5 years of his investing career, he bought 2 houses, valued at approximately $40,000 each. In these 5 years, he paid off both of the mortgages.
- He was a very unhappy real estate investor.
- He owned 4 houses, that were all free and clear
- He was a very unhappy real estate investor.
- He had attended court hearings many times in the past
- He often argued with his tenants over non-payment of rent
- Did I mention that he was a very unhappy real estate investor???
- His tenants did not like him. One of them out of spite, left all of the taps running in the house for one week straight, so that he would have en enormous utility bill.
- He did have an enormous bill. He described to me that when he got the bill, he did a calculation of how much water was used. It was enough to fill up a small house he told me, from top to bottom!
- When he found out about his tenant leaving the taps on for one week straight, he called the Police.
- He and his tenant are now in court fighting over who is going to pay the massive utility bill.
In my next installment of How to Evict a Tenant, I am going to talk about the most important thing you need to do when you are evicting a tenant. Stay tuned. The next post is going to be a good one!
Best Regards,
Neil Uttamsingh
ps: Are you scared out of your mind about buying your first rental property? Don’t be! Shatter all of your fears by following my blog. Gain knowledge and confidence so you can buy your first rental property. Subscribe today!
pps: Here is “The Landlord with Will Ferrell”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pedpJ6PdkCE[/youtube]
