I thought it might be fun to start a thread with a list of the most creative excuses tenants have given managers as to why they can't pay their rent. Anyone? Our most creative tenants are always people who are constantly delinquent.

I'll start: We had one guy come in screaming and swearing at us because "he had mailed in a money order, and we stole it!" He threatened to prosecute us for theft, yada, yada, all while carrying on something terrible. I interrupted his little tirade to politely inquire what was the number of the money order so I could verify that it hadn't accidentally been posted to another tenant's account. He still insisted that he was going to prosecute us while loudly cursing us. I just kept asking for the number on the money order. He eventually left, saying he had already turned us into his bank, etc.

Never heard anything about said money order again after that day.

is a tried and true excuse for most, but at the last place I worked, there was a woman who insisted every single month for over a year that I was there that she mailed the check to us and the mailman simply did not deliver it. She would come in month after month and claim that she couldn't understand why our mailman would single her out to not deliver the payment. We even gave her self addressed envelopes to use, she claimed that she used them and he still wasn't delivering her piece of mail. A new twist on an old line...

StorGal

I had a tenant get very angry with me because the woman that was making the payments for him while he was out of town, wrote the check to another company and dropped the check with them. She had been making the payments to us for several months before this happened.

He was angry about the late fee. She thought that the other property should take the check to their bank and then bring the money to us.

I believe in customer service, but.....

Bob (Astro)

the ones i love the best are when they are just out right honest with you - when they look you in the eye and say - well, it was a choice between paying the lights or paying my storage - they were threatening to turn the lights off - you were just going to charge me $10 - paying a little extra might be hard right now, but you are nicer to deal with - that's when i like to smile and say - the late fee is on me! -sometimes i do pick it up, and sometimes i just charge it off - it doesn't happen often, but i like it when it does -

one time i did actually have a client who said - my dog ate my invoice - seriously - i laughed at first, then realized he wasn't joking and then i said well, it's the same amount it was last month and the month before and it is due the same day it has been due for 3 months now - yeah - was all he said - he was a butt, so he got to pay the late fee.

if they are a butt, do you charge them for the fee or write it off?

troy

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The most common excuse we used to get is, ( you all are never here for me to pay) That's when we politely explain to them there is a drop box in front of the office, a P.O. box to mail too and we take credit cards over the phone.
We don't get that excuse much anymore.
Another one we used to get alot is ( I forget to pay because I don't get a statement) With that one we explain rent is always due on the 1st. and we would be happy to give them a curtisey call to remind them each month if we need to. And they do get a statement after the 5th each month with a late fee added, plus we give them a magnet to hang on the frig with the due date, unit number (yes sometimes they forget there unit number) and amount due on it.

Years ago I used to have an elderly lady that would call once every couple of months insisting she couldn't possibly pay this month because she had to have her poodle groomed!! Had one lady that had a death in the family every month, so I played along and started asking all kinds of questions (full of concern of course), oh my -- your great uncle--- how old was he, oh what happened, where did he live, were you close-- on & on!! Over the several years she rented from us-- I am sure her whole family passed on, and all her neighbors and anything else she could think of!!

If you keep a close watch and count, you may find that the same person dies more than once. I promise. I had a tenant pull that on me, once, er, twice? anyway, when reminded, they paid.

Bob (Astro)

I have a man, month after month I call him, he has every excuse in the world. Here is the best part - two month ago he got creative. He stated someone stole his identy and stole 30K out of his bank account - WOW!!

This month he is late again - he is having dental inplants put in - WOW!

Every month I am more and more amazed!

I sure had a phobia about this woman-- seems everyone she came in contact with died!!!

I inherited a guy that was 2 YEARS!!! behind from the old owners and his excuse for those 2 YEARS that he was in a court case for a disability settlement after 3 months on my own that " I should be getting X thousand dollars ina few weeks if they don't appeal" and "oops they appealed" I lettered him and stayed rock solid and wow he paid up.

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ChefMichael
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Anthony and Sons Self-Storage