No 5-Star Reviews? You Took an Oath

“You took an oath, if you recall, when you first came to work for me. And I don't mean to the National Security Advisor of the United States, I mean to his boss... and I don't mean the President. You gave your word to his boss: you gave your word to the people of the United States.”

(Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones) in Clear And Present Danger)

 

“But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.  He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.”

(John 2:24-25)

 

Property management is a funny business.  Sometimes you are the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) and some days you are a goat.  Some days you’re told you belong in the penthouse and other days, the outhouse.  It’s like I tell my son we’re going to the pool (yeah!) or to work on his reading (Boo!  Bad Dad!).  Reactions vary based on the popularity of the decisions made.

 

We had a tenant who was very happy with a repair we made for her on behalf of the owner.  She was so happy, that she went on to Google and wrote us a nice 5-star review.  “You guys are really great.  So responsive,  Unequivocally good-looking.  Manly, yet gentle.  Sensitive, caring & responsive.  No one better.  Wowzers!” (that’s not a direct quote, but it was something like that, I think…)  It was a very nice, unsolicited gesture.  “Just doin’ our jobs, ma’am.” (with the accompanying hat tip and suppressed smile).

 

But fast forward 3 months later… the tenant has another repair request, but it can’t be approved.  It’s something the lease says the tenant needs to take care of.   When told of the bad news, there was no effusive praise for our wisdom in enforcing the lease properly.  There was mostly silence with a touch of resentment.  It didn’t taste nearly as good as the 5-Star Google punch she had served us last time.  This tasted more like 1-Star lukewarm water served in a dirty ashtray.

 

And speaking of the 5-Star review, it was gone.  Remanded to the deep recesses of cyberspace, it never graced our profile again.  Its warmth was only with us for a brief season and then- poof- it vanished, nary a goodbye.

 

 “Just doin’ our jobs, ma’am?”

 

Hey, I get it.  You like us when we do stuff you want done.  And dislike us when we don’t.  People can be fickle.

 

At the end of the day, we’d love to be “5-Star” reviewed every time and do every repair asked for.  And we’d love to approve every tenant that applies.  But, alas, we took an oath (aka a signed a property management agreement) saying we would represent the client’s (the homeowner’s) interests.  No, this doesn’t mean we don’t take care of the contractual repairs and impartially view applications, but it does mean that we need to keep in mind who we work for and how they want things done.  Owners don’t tend to want to pay for unneeded or unwarranted repairs or have tenants with unfavorable past records placed in their rental homes. 

 

At the end of the day, we really do want to please everyone, but we took an oath.  “Just doin’ our jobs, ma’am.”

 

Happy Landlording!