It drives me crazy when residents come into my office and think they deserve special privileges

Ok here’s my rant, and it’s actually more entertaining to me at this point. It drives me crazy when residents come into my office and think they deserve special privileges i.e. free carports or reduced renewal rates because they “pay their rent on time“. While we do appreciate the residents that pay their rent on time and we do not have to chase after every month, I absolutely refuse to applaud you for being an adult and doing what your lease contract says, protecting YOUR credit AND on top of that not getting evicted.  So no, you get no special consideration outside of a pat on the back because while I will give credit where credit is due I will not applaud a fish for swimming! Just me?

Sometimes my snarky thought is, "oh, does Johnny want a gold star?" I paid MY rent on time too, why are you special???
But out loud - "oh, no, sir/ma'am, that isn't something that we do"

It’s their contractual obligation
No bonus points

oh my yes............ i hear it all the time!!! I think to myself well sir/ma'am you are suppose to pay on time.

Well resident, if you don’t pay your rent on time you get a different letter from us with a non renewal notice ???? so actually we are rewarding you with a renewal

Preach

What about the ones that pay late...but they have been under unbelievable stress so they shouldn't have to pay late fees...my reply.. Aww we I so sorry but your rent including late fee is $$$$ so if you want to stay when will you be paying the full amount????

The other one that gets to me is “ can you lower my rent because I have been here a long time”

Carolyn Lamb Steele "I've lived here 5 years, I deserve special treatment" well sir I have residents that have been here over 20, what should I give them!.

I always try and do something for my residents who do pay their rent on time since it makes my job so much easier and keeps my turnover down which in turn keeps my expenses down which in turn keeps my bonuses up and my owners VERY happy

That's exhausting. Just thank them and tell them as a reward, I will not charge you a late fee.

This is my fav!"
I am an excellent tenant. My rent is always paid in full by the end of the month. Why don't you get that?"

I follow Trendwatching.com and they have this whole blog on expectations. Today people get points, credit, Southwest free drink tickets, discounts and more for loyalty. It's become an expectation. I think there are some resident loyalty programs out there. Maybe it's time to take their expectations and give them something so they don't make it up!!!???? Just saying! trendwatching.com/trends/expectationeconomy.htm

Honestly, for the carport, give them a month free for adding it to their lease for a year. More income than if they decide to not add it bc we get in our own ways. Just be consistent. Offer it for 2 weeks if you need to lease carports.
If they are always 100% leased, thats another story.

Their "bonus" is having good credit and rental referrals and not having late fees

Donna LaBelle that’s no bonus! There’s a reason I used to have waiting lists, it’s called resident retention!

We had a property struggling with on time payments. Those who paid on or before the first were entered into a raffle for a monetary prize. On time payments increased drastically. Now they no longer have to run that raffle

Devin Campbell , I have seen people do leases for what would be the monthly rental amount ( let’s say $900) plus a premium equal to a late fee ( let’s say $50) so lease amount is $950 month and if they pay by a certain date ( let’s say day 1-5 of the month ) they get to deduct $50 ( so the $900 you’d want to begin with. Instead of penalizing with a late fee , you reward on time payments.

"The last manager let me pay late" or "I've lived here a long time" are not reasons to waive late fees.

Absolutely blows my mind!!! It's funny how the generations have gone from feeling it is their responsibility to follow the rules and follow through with agreements they make to the now generations who say "youre lucky I pay on time and actually do what I agreed to do" ITS DISGUSTING!!!

No ma’am I hear it on the daily and it grinds my nerves...those are the ones who’s parents bribed them to behave. Don’t even get me going

That makes as much sense as us saying "Well, we DID open the office every day, AND answered the phone so I'm raising your rent."

Girl, rant away! ???????? We had a resident (long term) come in and ask if we’d start waiving his late fees because he’s been a resident for several years. No, sir we will not. You choose to pay your rent late every month. ????

Late fees are pure profit for me...so I actually love when you don’t pay on time!

This is like when my kid says he should get an allowance for cleaning his room and making his bed... um, no son. You're SUPPOSED to do that. You get allowance for doing more than you're supposed to. Some people... geez.

I don’t get a discount or anything special when i pay my mortgage on time!

I had one long-time resident who kept badgering me for a lower rate because of her length of tenancy. I finally asked her, "Does Walmart give you a discount for continuing to be their customer?"