Tenant Story #4

About a month ago, I was taking a different route than normal near my rental properties and saw a for sale sign. It was the cutest house and I HAD to stop. I couldn't help myself and called the number on the sign. It was an estate sale that the children were trying to sell without a realtor. My dear husband relented and we signed papers on October 30. The house was actually a duplex. The owner had lived in half and rented the other half. But from the outside, it looks like a home. It was built in 1949 and has most of the original features. I fell in love. And thankfully was able to rent one side out immediately and the other side within a few weeks. When we purchased the home, most of the previous owner's contents were still in the home. So I had to have a couple of garage sales and put a ton of furniture online. Once the contents and carpet was all gone, I could begin painting and cleaning. 

During this time a gentleman (I'll call him Mr. K) came to look at the place. He liked it, despite the changes that still needed to be made. So he filled out an application and reached into his wallet to pay the application fee. But he was $20 short. No worries. He told me he was running to the atm and would be right back. But he never returned. The next day I tried to call him. I'd really liked him and hadn't ever had that situation happen before. But he never picked up his phone. I kept his application, but figured he'd had a change of heart. Two weeks later and I've rented the apartment. But now one of my other units is available. 

I get a call from Mr. K. Is the place still for rent. I explained that I had one open, but not the one he'd started to apply for. He came to the open place and took a tour. Then he told me a crazy story.

He'd left my place to run to the bank. But on the way his son called. His truck tire was flat. It was a Chevrolet 2500 and his jack wasn't large enough. Long story short - Mr. K was under the truck when the jack slipped and the truck fell on him. When I called him the next day he was in the hospital. Two weeks later he was still walking stiffly and acting in pain. He was unable to apply for the 2nd apartment because he'd had to spend all of his savings on the hospital bill. He's self-employed and didn't have insurance. So I'm keeping his application and will contact him when my next unit comes open. 

Not many people can use the excuse that they weren't able to make it because a truck fell on them.