Sound the trumpets and beat the drums the prodigal landlord returns to Summerport! Back from his four month getaway in Turkey the runaway landlord is back and apparently in the governments good favor. I spoke with his attorney's office who is handling all of his foreclosures and they said he is in the works to work out a deal with the bank to keep all of his homes that were previously going into foreclosure. The foreclosures have been placed on hold just a few weeks shy of the property auction dates on his homes. Now that's what I call great timing.
What does this mean for the tenants who have not been paying their rent? This could result in one of the most unethical, slimy attempts to make a recovery I have ever seen. Depending on what He works out with the bank, the landlord may be entitled to not only start collecting and raising rents again but also receive back-rent. That could add up to thousands of dollars for some of the tenants as I seriously doubt they were stashing away the free money they were saving every month.
In any event, it would be a good idea for the tenants to start regrouping and considering their options. Many of the tenants are bitter and feel abused by runaway landlord for just taking off with their security deposits and leaving them high and dry. They may want to entertain the idea of trying to purchase a home in the area or finding a more reliable landlord. Of course when you take into account the whole moving expense and inconvenience that may be enough motivation to work something out and stay.
It would be in the landlords best interest as well to try and make amends with his tenants. Trying to collect back-rents and raising rents on his current tenants may cause them to engage in a nasty legal battle that will end up costing him more in the end. I know some of the tenants are talking about a possible class action type suit against him which would be a pretty rough start to his new life here. There is always the possibility that the landlord may just pick up where he left off, keep the rents the same and renew the leases. That would be the ideal solution for everyone.
If you are trying to sell your home in Summerport with little or no luck at all this may just be your window of opportunity to reach out to many of these burned tenants who will be looking for a place to go. Some will want to buy and others rent but either way you have a flood of new prospects literally right next door. May I suggest considering renting your home if you already have another place to live? Chances are it will rent quickly right now, just try to stick around and don't flee the country anytime soon if you want to keep collecting rent.
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