Difficult renter situation, sometimes treasure is involved. Long, opinions?

[E59]

Okay, so several years ago we bought a property which included a storage shed and it had a renter that owns a donations only store in which you can find almost anything. The renter is a strong crazy headed lady and I'll just say I'm a decently headed strong willed woman also. Due to some unforseen events they couldn't pay their rent-200 a month. I worked out a deal with her which was 50 in cash, 150 in store credit. I buy interesting things and resell them to make up for the difference they can't pay. I do have a weakness for gold jewelry and they get some real doozies in. I usually hang on to it but I did sell one piece which was a coral necklace for about 120 on ebay. Anyway, yesterday I went in and she had lots of fantastic loose gems ( I think a jeweler passed and the fam donated the gems) and she said she would no longer let me buy jewelry with credit. I was up to 550 dollars! I have never tried to buy everything she had, usually one piece, maybe two. Sometimes she doesn't even show it to me and acts all weird. So she gets out a fabulous opal that she knew I would fall for and said she would trade it for the cash part and I said okay. But here I am this morning, angry because I have hundreds of dollars to spend (she told me yesterday, don't tell my husband! He can't know it's up that high!) and I feel it's wrong of her to do that to me when I was nice enough to let them pay me with credit. The rash person in me wants to terminate even if I can't find another renter because it's 50 bucks, I own the building and a huge parking lot I can block them from using and all of their customers. What to do? I love going in there scouring for junk but I feel like she wants the upper had.
What would you do

 

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[mlayers]

If you made this deal and it is in writing there is nothing he can do about it. If it is not in writing then deman that she pays you the amount that she owes you. If her husband knows about the deal shop only when he is in there. Even if both are there go to the counter when he is back thee and doyour shopping what will she do say no you have to pay cash in from of him. At least this is what I would do....Matt

 

[E59]

It's not that I want the monetary value of the store credit, I am just miffed that there are things she's not allowing me to buy with it. Aside from the jewelry there was a really nice child's drum set that I showed no interest in but she still commented that I couldn't use store credit for it either.

 

[mlayers]

If she won't let you use the credit then make them pay you the full amount $200 for the rent. Then you can buy what you want. Do you have a written agreement....Matt

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Matt is right. And if they don't pay up pronto, evict them and get responsible renters.

 

[UncleVinnys]

Tough call!

These are difficult times economically for EVERYBODY!
I'd say try to work it out and let her stay.
Just imagine all the frustration of finding another tenant,
and you can never tell if the new one is any better than
the old one. ("The devil you know is better than
the devil you don't know.")

You just might find a little gem every once in a while
if you let her stay. Imagine it was you renting the space.
How would you feel about being evicted over a few bucks?

I would, however, let her know that this arrangement
about paying in trade is up for re-negotiation!

 

[mlayers]

I don't know how big the place is. But for $200 bucks a month it should not be hard to get a renter. I don't know where you are at but have you ever thought about having a inside flea market place. I know here where I was at we had one and it was great. You could get a space inside that was 10 X 10 so you could set up and sell stuff and it cost you $20 for you space. Plus we signed a contact for a year saying that we would be there for that time. If your place is big enough you could get vendors to set up. But this is your place and these people is taking ad vanage of you and you re letting them get away with it. So you need to put your foot down and let them know if they do not follow your contact they are out and someone else would be coming in. I know time are hard but when you let people walk all over you they will continue to do it. And from the sound of it you said you had $550 in credit builded up so that is like 4 months of being walked on and I say it is time for it to stop...Matt

 

[SomeGuy]

I think I would tell her that her new conditions are not the deal you agreed to. If she wants to renege on the deal, you will gladly accept cash, which you can spend on anything you want, including jewelery, in any store you want.

 

[blurr]

I think I would tell her that her new conditions are not the deal you agreed to. If she wants to renege on the deal, you will gladly accept cash, which you can spend on anything you want, including jewelery, in any store you want.

Yep, times are tough all over. Renter and landlord alike. You can't change the rules during the game. If she said "store credit", that means anything she is selling in the store.

John

 

[Yarrum]

So is this place a charity?? From what I understand, she gets given free stuff and then turns it over for
a profit. What a business, wish I had nearly no overhead costs like that!! I know times are tough but I
can't see any reason for not paying her rent. Problem with store credit is that she can keep the good stuff
out of your sight and she never paid a cent for it anyway.
Good Luck

 

[truckinbutch]

Store credit is Store credit with no reservations . Make it real to her ; blanket credit or cash up front and no further questions .
Trade , pay up in cash , or get your crap out of my place ....

 

[handy]

hhhhhhhhuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm just ask her in front of her hubby6 when she says i told you not to do that say Iam sorry i forgot about that

 

[Curious The George]

As a landlord I have some advice.

Never, ever mix rent with anything. They owe you $200 a month rent, you get that on time as agreed or you evict them. If they sell stuff in a store and that's where you want to spend your $200 a month then take the money and go there and make your purchases.

If you ever end up in court trying to collect what they owe you you are going to loose big time with the arrangement you currently have. A judge or magistrate will have no sympathy for you.

What if they don't have anything in the store worth what the rent is. You have agreed to take their junk to compensate for rent? What if they loose their source of merchandise? You have agreed to take what they have in place of rent money.

You better get your rental agreement, it is in writing, correct, in order and in force or you are going to loose it all. Right now you are running their charity for them.

 

[Minstrel]

As a landlord I have some advice.

Never, ever mix rent with anything. They owe you $200 a month rent, you get that on time as agreed or you evict them. If they sell stuff in a store and that's where you want to spend your $200 a month then take the money and go there and make your purchases.

If you ever end up in court trying to collect what they owe you you are going to loose big time with the arrangement you currently have. A judge or magistrate will have no sympathy for you.

What if they don't have anything in the store worth what the rent is. You have agreed to take their junk to compensate for rent? What if they loose their source of merchandise? You have agreed to take what they have in place of rent money.

You better get your rental agreement, it is in writing, correct, in order and in force or you are going to loose it all. Right now you are running their charity for them.

The above is absolutely correct---I took the time and small amount of money it cost to have an attorney write up my rental agreements--never lost a dime when I evicted them, courts backed me up 100%---remember being the good person in these arrangements and you will finish last and poor.
Minstrel

 

[BuckleBoy]

If she won't let you use the credit then make them pay you the full amount $200 for the rent. Then you can buy what you want. Do you have a written agreement....Matt

Exactly.

 

[Shortstack]

Quote from Sara77: Okay, so several years ago we bought a property which included a storage shed and it had a renter that owns a donations only store in which you can find almost anything.

I read this as, the storage shed is being rented and not the store space. Put a different padlock on the shed; notify her in by registered letter that the contents of said shed are impounded for back rent and will be auctioned off in 30 days. To get some good guidance on this, talk to someone who owns a Storage Locker facility and ask them what procedures they use in this situation.
Busines is business ( I hate cliches ) so her hardheadedness can only bring her more problems. Maybe her husband is unaware of her little arrangement with you. Anyway, as has already been pointed out, you don't know what goodies she has hidden from you when you've gone in to "shop". Just make up a written rent agreement and get the cash each month.

 

[E59]

To that last comment, I do have a job, been a business owner for 12 years now. I never wanted to be a landlord, I just can't get out of it at the moment.
Thank you everyone for all your advice!! My temper has cooled and I'm leaving her alone but if she says another word about it I will be telling her credit is credit and she can let me have access to whatever everyone else does or she can find a new storage unit and parking lot!

 

[Seamuss]

The renter should pay rent before talking about credit. Does the county give you credit points when paying property taxs.

Whoa, I should get into comic relief. That could be funny if I rewrite it a thousand time.

 

[lucky1777]

To that last comment, I do have a job, been a business owner for 12 years now. I never wanted to be a landlord, I just can't get out of it at the moment.
Thank you everyone for all your advice!! My temper has cooled and I'm leaving her alone but if she says another word about it I will be telling her credit is credit and she can let me have access to whatever everyone else does or she can find a new storage unit and parking lot!

Hey, we have something in common!

We must have the same job. I also get paid in credit.

Sometimes I mop a floor for an old sweater, or I can prune some bushes for a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Once I let a guy borrow one of my blankets and a paperback down at the viaduct, and he gave me an oven mitt and a 5 dollar voucher to IHOP that he got at the Mission. It was almost Christmas, and I had been needing some gloves, and 50% is better than nothing, right?

My job also pays me in internet privileges- I can stop by the library any time I want and pick all the gum off of the bottoms of the desks, and then they let me type on an imaginary computer they keep out back.

So I think I understand your problem.

Dude you have problems....

 

[E59]

This is getting a little confusing dude. I don't consider being a landlord a business. I have been the owner of a Pet Salon for 12 years.
I try to be a fair person, to help a renter out when they got hurt I said we could do credit until they got on their feet.
I have no imaginary job. This post was about solving a problem and I got some good advice. Got some stange comments too but this is the web, huh?