22. New Tenants

Your MIF will be considerably enhanced or depleted, depending on your methods of processing new ten­ants. There are three major effects that result from your meth­ods in this area.

First, your freedom from bother and smoothness of opera­tion. Almost every time you have a petulant tenant, you can trace it to an error in your routine when you accepted him as tenant. Of course, where you inherited him with the building this is not the case, but every effort should be made to straighten him out as detailed in the previous chapter.

If you have unheated Aunt Tobys, it will be the common thing, not the exception, to have tenants who do not speak to you more than once every two or three years. Yes, that is liter­ally true, providing you have made the right start. You receive the rent regularly and reliably on time each month. The lease renews itself automatically without any message or contact. It is the nearest thing to getting an annuity that I have ever en­countered. In almost every new tenancy you can establish this delightful situation if you follow a few simple rules. Again it seems necessary for me to exemplify many points by horrible examples, so please do not permit them to scare you into think­ing that any material percentage are bad. These stand out in my experience for the very reason that they were rare.

When you learn that you are going to have a vacancy, you will advertise and show the flat. If a party sees the flat and wants to apply for it, you will sit down with him for the vital interview. These five minutes are the key to whether you are going to get along without friction. It will be thoroughly dis­cussed when we set out the steps you take with new tenants. It is mentioned here because of its particular relevancy to a smooth relationship.

One day a Mr. R. answered an ad for an apartment in the Uni group. The flat had been occupied previously by one ten­ant for 34 years. It had never been redecorated in that time. When this tenant died, I decided to clean it up and spent some $300. After Mr. and Mrs. R. had looked it over, they came to my office and sat down to talk. Mr. R. was definite. He felt it was a good flat in a fine location, and he urged Mrs. R. to agree. She wavered. Did Mr. R. think the refrigerator would do? It seemed very old. And the gas range. Was that going to be usable? She baked so much. The low windows, would the kids be likely to fall out?

Mr. R. assured her it would be OK and they filed an applica­tion and deposited the first month's rent. When I sent in for the credit report, I hoped it would come back unsatisfactory and thus take a decision out of my hands. Darn it, he proved to have a fine background. Being an accountant, he had paid all bills promptly, worked steadily and had lived in his present quarters for ten years. But I had perceived what you have spotted in the interview and called him and asked him to accept the return of the deposit and withdraw his application, with no reflection on his credit or desirability as a tenant. He urged me not to reject him. I told him then that I felt that although he was satisfied with the flat, Mrs. R. was not. I hazarded the guess that she wanted him to buy her a new sin­gle house. "Yes," he conceded, "I'll admit we've looked at them. But I know my income and limitations and want to pay my bills and keep my head above water. We simply cannot afford a single. I hope you will give us this flat."

I saw the little red flag that we all see waving in our mind's eye, when we do something against our experience and better judgment. Moved by his sincere assurances, which I still feel he meant, I agreed to lease the flat to him. I explained that he would be taking over a freshly decorated apartment. It did not make sense to spread the cost of decoration over one year. Three years was minimal. He agreed. Then I spoke firmly and told him that if he took the flat he would be required to live up to the lease, and he still agreed.

As you have doubtless guessed, he no sooner moved in than Mrs. R. descended on me for a new refrigerator, badgering me incessantly until I gave her one. Then (a la Mrs. H. of the pre­vious chapter) she got to work on the gas range. Months later I agreed to swap it for one I knew was good, and no sooner did I assent to this, when, in the same conversation, she started on the sink. Then I knew where we were going (or not going) in this matter and I clamped down.

A few months later, Mr. R. phoned me. Sheepishly he hemmed and hawed. "Guess you know why I'm calling." I did. "Guess you can easily find a new tenant anyway." I coldly re­plied that he was going to pay the rent for the three years. If there was to be any new tenant in that flat before his lease expired, he would have to find him and I would have to ap­prove of him first. I had erred in ignoring the things that the vital interview had shown me.

The second benefit you will receive from using and being guided by the rental technique you will learn here will be the lowering of your losses through bad debts. I had to learn most of these things the hard way, by making the mistakes. But by 1935 or so, I had been an owner for six years and had perfected rules that governed later lettings and reduced my losses through non-payment of rent to less than one tenth the average that prevailed in this industry at the time. There is practically no need to lose money through bad debts in this business if you follow the rules.

By getting some credit information and withholding accept­ance of the applicant as tenant until you have received a satis­factory credit report, you will, as far as it is possible, avoid those tenants who will give you non-payment trouble. It is rarely that I have seen a case where the credit check said OK and later experience was at variance. If a man has so governed his spending that the record shows him a prompt payer of auto installments, appliance payments, et cetera, as well as his rent in the past, you can well rely on getting his rent promptly too. Neither the depression, illness, being out of work, nor for that matter the size of his income seems to affect this rule. A prompt payer is just that, with very rare exceptions. Many who have little income have learned a stewardship of money that is highly commendable, and their bills are always paid promptly. Per­haps this is because they are in the habit of undertaking obli­gations only when they are sure they can meet them, and they forego extravagances providently rather than buy them opti­mistically.

Conversely, many, with what we would classify as large incomes, are constantly a jump ahead of the sheriff.

The third area in which you will enhance your profit by use of tested renting methods, is by cutting vacancy periods to a negligible minimum. After all, your expense and costs continue unbrokenly whether the flat is vacant or productive. With good practices your tenants will rarely stay less than five or ten years. Your idle periods between tenants will usually be nil.

There is no reason why you cannot match or better the per­centage to which I reduced losses by vacancy and bad debts, even in the depression. The further you get from a basic Aunt Toby, the greater the tendency toward turnover in tenants, with consequent incidental small losses. My overall percentage of loss for both vacancy and bad debts between 1936 and 1955 was less than 3% in the heated buildings and less than 1% in the unheated Aunt Tobys.

STEPS IN PROCESSING NEW TENANTS

Since the effect on your MIF, your enjoyment of your invest­ment, and other benefits will be largely governed by your handling of new tenants, the steps will be set out in detail. The process is practically the same for every type of vacancy, be it store, office or apartment. As owners, we want to get along hap­pily with tenants who are satisfied, and make a profit.

Step 1: We learn of an impending vacancy and we advertise it. If it is vacant, we leave it open and send prospects to see it at their leisure. If you have time to waste, you may accompany them, for a purpose. You will listen to their comments and learn as much or more than you would learn in the Vital Inter­view.

Step 2: When the tenant indicates he wishes to apply for the apartment and you have the approval of both husband and wife, ask him if he is prepared to deposit one month's rent with his application. Be very alert at this point. What he answers, and how he answers, will be the key to much that happens later.

If he hesitates, and seems reluctant, saying something like, "Er, well, is it really necessary? We've always paid a $10 de­posit," or if he has a whispered or private chat with his wife at this point, you may depend on it that either he hasn't got the money or he hasn't quite made up his mind and simply wants to hold this one until he makes his choice between your apart­ment and another.

Those who readily pay the month's rent are ready for the next step in your process, but the ones who cannot or won't, deserve careful discussion here. First let us dispose of the ten­ant who wants you to "hold it until tomorrow and we'll let you know." The polite, but firm, answer is, "Sorry, but that is against our policy. We cannot tell another party who definitely wants the apartment that we cannot give it to him because another party might want it. When you have decided defi­nitely that you want it, come back and if it is available, we will make the arrangements."

Then there is the chap who wants you to take a small deposit of $5 or $10. Again, "Sorry, our policy requires one full month's rent with the application." In this one you must remain un-shakeable.

Before I learned never to break this rule, I had a vacant flat and a Mrs. N. came to see me. She was very well-dressed and well spoken and assured me that everything was OK. She gave me $5 as a deposit, got a receipt, and promised to pay the bal­ance of the first month's rent on the first of the month and move in. From then on I refused all applicants. The first of the month came and went but no Mrs. N. I tried to phone her several times without success and finally went to the apartment house where she lived.

She was out but I talked with the janitor. "Mrs. N. moving out?" he said, puzzled. I explained about her making a deposit. "Oh, I see," he replied, "she was threatening to move from here and wanted her living room done over. She got your receipt so that she could show it to the owner here and convince him she was actually moving, so he agreed to do the room. Now she's staying." By the way, Mrs. N. demanded the return of the $5.1 sued her and collected two months' rent, and court costs. But it was I who had erred in accepting a small deposit.

The lasting benefits of the rule of one month's rent with application will be enjoyed by you in many ways.

You brush off all those who would tie you up and cause you to refuse good tenants to hold on to a bad one, as in the case of Mrs. N. The rule serves to stop your dealings with those who are wavering between your place and another. It is not unusual for an applicant who has made a small deposit on one flat to peruse the ads thereafter to see what he missed. Sometimes he sees an ad offering an apartment that is "just what he wanted" and he goes to see it. That's when you begin to have bother that could well have been avoided.

Then there is the prospective tenant who is always in finan­cial difficulty. This condition seems to be unaffected by the size of the income. It is caused by the lack of stewardship of money which usually accompanies over-optimism. This unrealistic fel­low will be a headache as a tenant, particularly if there is ill­ness or other unexpected financial drain.

Almost without exception when you encounter a reluctance to deposit the full month's rent with an application, the fellow will never admit he simply hasn't got it. He will argue against the policy that you follow. But when this happens, you have slipped into the Vital Interview stage and the matter is settled in your mind, although he doesn't know it. He is not going to be your tenant.

Perhaps the strongest reason for insistence on our rule is the establishment of the answer to this question: "Who is boss?" In this regard, there are two types of people; those who follow the rules and those who protest them. If you own the building you make the rules. If a man wants to rent from you, he's going to abide by your rules or go elsewhere. This is the right time to find out whether he is going to tell you what to do, or if you are going to decide how the building is run.

I have had many experiences with people who wanted the flat and who seemed friendly and amenable, until they heard this rule. Then they became bitter or difficult, practically order­ing me to take the small deposit. They thus showed me, before it was too late, that these were not the people for me. Perhaps the outstanding one was Mr. P. Here I made the mistake of renting the apartment to him without seeing him. His wife made all the negotiations, since he was about to be discharged from service. I never learned whether he was a sergeant in the army, but he certainly was the traditional one with his land­lord. I finally got rid of him and he moved into Mr. McG's building. More about this later.

Step 3: The Vital Interview. You will invariably find the applicant ready to chat a few minutes if he has passed the early test of willingness to deposit the full month's rent. Ask him about his present apartment and landord. If he mentions that his present landlord is a mean impossible miser, you may depend on it that you are next to bear this title. Note carefully his reason for moving. If it's because the other tenant is unfit to live with, his neighbor in the new building will soon be no better. Talk about the apartment he is taking. Ask whether he will be able to fit his family and furniture comfortably into it. If he broaches a list of the things he will expect you to do, you have seen the red flag.

Somewhat apologetically, I usually answer this with, "I guess you are right. The place does need all those things, but unfortunately my policy is to go along as is. You should find a place where they keep things up. Frankly my policy is to give you the keys to the door and almost nothing else. We will repair plumbing leaks (but not stoppages) or roof leaks. But that's about all. Beyond that, you're on your own."

Occasionally you will chat with a prospective tenant who makes a point of the fact that in taking this flat he is coming down in the world, since he is used to better accommodations. You will do well to pass this one up too. Likewise the one who moves every six months.

You will have no difficulty in most interviews, seeing that this person is agreeable, willing to follow your rules, and defi­nitely wants your flat in the condition you are offering it. He is ready for Step 4.

Step 4; Hand him the credit form to fill out. Here is the form I have used successfully, but your credit reporting company may suggest certain locally desirable additional information that you should obtain for them in order for them to give you a full report.

APPLICATION FOR APARTMENT

Name __________ Phone:__________ Days __________ Eves ________
Address  ____________________________________________________
Employed by ________________________ Phone __________________
Position _________________________  How long? _________________
Present landlord ______________________________________________
His address _______________________  Phone ____________________
How long at present residence? ______________  Rent $ _____________
Business references ___________________________________________
Banking account with ________________  Checking ________________
______________________ Savings ______________________________
Does applicant own real estate? ____________ Where? ______________
Premises applied for _______________ To occupy______________ 19__
Number to occupy  ___ adults _____ children _______ Pets? __________
Ages of children  _____________________________________________
Rent per month  ______________________________________________
Do you have a car? ______  Do you require parking? ________________

Order these forms direct from:
(c) REALFORMS Box 1, Brookline, Mass. 02146 Form #AFA

Give him a copy of the lease he will be expected to sign, to take home and study at his leisure. While he peruses it, make out a very special receipt for his deposit. This is the form.

Receipt for deposit with application for Apartment

Date ________ 19 __  Received from ____________________________,
$ ________ deposit with application for apartment pending investigation. No tenancy is hereby created. Applicant will be notified upon completion of investigation. No parking included.
No dogs allowed._____________________________________________
                                                                                                (Owner) (Agent)
                        ___________________________________________________________
Receipt for deposit with application for Store (Office) (Ind'l. space)

Date ________ 19 __  Received from ____________________________,
$ ________ deposit with application for store (office) (industrial space) pending investigation.
No tenancy is hereby created. Applicant will be notified upon completion of investigation. No parking included.
No dogs allowed._____________________________________________
                                                                                                (Owner) (Agent)
Order these forms direct from:
(c) REALFORMS Box 1, Brookline, Mass. 02146 Form #DR

When he leaves, you are ready to check his credit back­ground. In my efforts to set up the most trouble-free type of tenancy, I have learned by experience that the standard family unit is far more trouble-free and self-reliant than the others. I have long established a policy of rejecting the widow, divorcee, or "separated" people. For one thing these women have no man around the house to make minor home repairs. Hence they will bother the landlord for such things as a balky window shade, or a door that sticks. For another, they are much more restless and inclined to move more frequently. Often this is because they have started a feud with a neighbor, or hope to find hap­pier contacts elsewhere. Most of all, I fear, they lack attention. Then they seem to want to keep dogs, which we shall discuss shortly. Finally the need to heckle somebody seems to be stand­ard equipment, and too often the absence of a man around the house makes them turn to the landlord. So I turn them down, explaining that my experience has shown that they are best off taking an apartment in a janitor-serviced building. I remain firm even though they insist they are self-reliant and promise to look after themselves. When human nature is in conflict with spoken promises, one knows which must emerge on top.

In the yellow pages of your local phone book there are listed under Credit Reports, companies who will investigate prospec­tive tenants for you at $2 to $5 per report. You simply phone one and tell him you are a landlord and want a tenant's report on the subject. He will take the information on the phone and within a few days give you a phoned or written report. These reports have always been a clear indication to me of yes or no. Those who have lived lengthy periods in one place, paid their bills to installment sellers or department stores, will usually pay my rent promptly, too. Assuming there is no negative item, such as impending divorce, more drinking than you consider moderate, "had loud jam sessions" or "hi-fi player," these are clear yeses. We phone these and give them an incentive, by the wording of our acceptance, to show us how good a risk they are. "Good morning Mr. (Tenant). This is Mr. (Owner). I just got a credit report on you. Fine record! Be glad to have you. Drop in and sign the lease.

The doubtful ones, and they will be few, are classified with the definite no's. They are rejected thus: A short letter, with check enclosed, regretting the application was not accepted. That's all.

Step 5. Sign up the lease. This lease is the result of much more than legal experience with leases, both in drawing them and in fighting them in court. It was written to promote good relations, not lawsuits. We do not want to win lawsuits. We do not even want to sue anyone. Our objective is simple: a happy trouble-free profitable landlord-and-tenant relationship.
For one thing, experience has shown that suing a tenant, as in many other lawsuits, is profitless and bad public relations.

In effect, the lease forms a simple list of rules, such as you would see on the door of a hotel room. In its printed form, the tenant sees that the rules are standard for all tenants for the benefit of all and he is much more likely to obey them cheer­fully as a result.

More important, the printed rules incorporated in the lease will cut down your losses and vacancy periods. They will even save you a little on advertising and repairs. As much as it is possible to do, the rules will insure the trouble-free business­like relationship that we seek.

Note that the form is in clear non-legalistic language. I have seen court cases wherein the judge scanned a finely printed lengthy verbose document and declared, "I wouldn't force a tenant to live up to all this stuff. I don't believe the average layman would understand it, even though it may be legal and technically binding."

Thus it is from the most practical viewpoint that I have gradually evolved a lease form which tries to establish stand­ard rules, is clear and easy to understand and follow, treats the parties fairly, and cuts down losses. I have paid little if any attention to making it legally binding, for the simple reason that as a practical matter, the only negative objective I seek is the right to evict a tenant who is not living up to the rules. There is some further deterrent against vacating at odd times of the year , when it is difficult to rent, but this is only a hoped for result.

When you fill out this lease, which is still is, you will find it a one-minute job. The form will serve as a good record of your deal with the tenant, showing date of talking occupancy, etc. Note that the entire contract of letting is contained in the first paragraphs. The rules follow. Here is the form. The parts you fill in are in italics.

LEASE AND AGREEMENT

Date  March 16, 1960    19__
The undersigned Landlord hereby leases to the undersigned Tenant the Premises       Apartment 3              at #      38 Oak                                  St.,
      Brookline, Mass.,                   For                   17       Months beginning
April 1,     1960       at   $   75.00 per month. This lease shall automatically
renew and continue thereafter from year to year until either party shall give written notice on or before the first day of    July   (mo.) in any year, terminating this lease as of the last day of  the following August.
Other to occupy                     Mrs. Tenant and 2 minor children
The parties hereby covenant and agree:

No PART of the premises shall be sublet, nor underlet.
No ARTICLE or SUBSTANCE shall be kept on the premises, nor any occupation conducted which is illegal, noisy, or dangerous or which might increase the insurance premiums of the building.
ALL RUBBISH is to be properly separated by the tenant and placed in the proper receptacles. No paper, cans, nor bottles to be placed in garbage containers.
No DOGS, CATS or other pets to be kept on the premises.
ALL DRAINS and WASTE PIPES on plumbing are accepted as clear by the tenant and any partial or complete stoppage occurring during the tenancy shall be repaired by the tenant.
No RADIO, TELEVISION or PHONOGRAPH  is to be played after 11 p.m.
No Baby Carriages, Toys, or other articles are to be left in halls.
No Locks are to be installed nor changed. The landlord is to have a key and may, without liability, enter at any reasonable times and inspect, repair, show the apartment, or post To-let signs.
No Parking on the premises without written permission.
Heat and/or Hot Water to be supplied by the landlord only in those premises where he regularly supplies them, but he shall not be responsible for damage resulting from any interruption of same.
Leaks in Pipes, unless caused by negligence of tenant, are to be repaired by the landlord, within a reasonable time after notice, but the landlord shall not be liable nor responsible for any damages resulting from any such leaks or overflows.
The Landlord shall not be under any obligation to make repairs or decoration in the premises, and shall not be responsible for any damages suffered by the tenant, or those claiming under him by his failure to make such repairs.
The Waiver of any term of this contract at any time shall not be deemed a waiver on any other occasion nor of any other term.
Notices from either party shall be deemed properly delivered if mailed by ordinary mail to the premises or address of the landlord.
Should the Rent Become Overdue, and the landlord sue for same, or sue for possession for non-payment of rent, the tenant shall pay all Court costs and all attorney's fees.
                                                Landlord:     (signed)   John Owner
                                                  Tenant:      (signed)   Bill Tenant

Copyright, 1955
Order these forms direct from:
(c) REALFORMS Box 1, Brookline, Mass. 02146 Form #LA

The benefits to your operation form the first paragraph are many. First, you should always lease the apartment for a number of months which will end on August 31. you may choose the coming August 31, or fill in the number of months that make the first period of renting end a year (or two) from the coming August 31. (In Florida and similar areas, this would be January 31.)

This one measure will substantially cut vacancy Josses. You have thus obligated each tenant to vacate, if at all, by giving you two months' notice on July 1 that he will be out on August 31. All your tenants, irrespective of when they move in, are signed to this obligation. The right to give such notice does not exist while the original rental period runs. Note that the auto­matic renewal clause says that such a notice may be given only after the original period expires. The net result is that any and all tenants who intend to vacate will give you their notices at one time of the year, on July 1. You now have two months in which to find new tenants for these, and get them set for another year. You will be advertising and showing apartments, but only during one period in the year. One advertising ex­penditure does for several vacancies. Besides, you are able to show one prospect several choices, sizes and locations to choose from. There will be only the one short period each year when you will be bothered with this, and then you can forget about it for another year. You can head south for the winter, secure in the feeling that the income is flowing in steadily and reli­ably. You get the full enjoyment of this as you talk to others, who are not as fortunate.

One January, as I turned over to brown the other side awhile under the Florida sun, my companion, Dr. Bob Goldfarb, emi­nent dermatologist, occupied the next lounge. We discussed staying another week. After the usual references to the likeli­hood that the gin rummy games would probably pay for it, he remarked, seriously, "You know, Bob, your income goes on and on as you loaf here. Your secretary deposited some $9,000 in rents in your account yesterday. As for me, the moment I leave the office, my income stops cold. Wish I had some real estate."

Choosing August 31 as a standard termination date on all leases will (except in the special areas where January 31 or other dates are obviously to be used) be to your benefit in other ways too. Our type of tenant often has school age chil­dren. The undesirability of breaking up a child's school year by moving during the winter sends these tenants, if they are plan­ning to move at all, searching during July. They want to be all moved in and settled before the school year starts. This coincides with being settled before winter too. Your choice of ten­ant, and likelihood of finding true Aunt Toby-ites, is far better at this time of year. A portion of these folks have gone to a summer place and now seek a permanent place to settle in before school starts. You will find the difference in desirability between midwinter prospects and those in July, striking. If you are unfortunate enough to be filling a vacancy in an off-season for your area, it will become apparent why we emphasize ar­ranging the timing of lease termination.

The provision requiring two months' notice is also for the purpose of cutting down vacancy periods. It must be borne in mind that most of our prospective tenants are living in a flat where they must give the present landlord notice on or before the first day of any month, that they are vacating at the end of that month. It follows that the type of fairdealing, conforming tenant you want will abide by this. If you have been notified on July 1 that the flat will be vacant August 31, you now have all of the month of July in which to locate a new tenant.

When your prospective tenant sees the flat, and decides on taking it, neither he nor you want to take a loss of one month's rent. If, for instance, he had to take occupancy and pay rent from August 1, he would say, "I can't do that. I have to give my present landlord notice on August first that I will be out August 31. And I don't want to be paying rent in two places for the same month." Hence when you show and sign up in July, the tenant can give his old landlord notice on (or before) Au­gust 1 and be square with everyone.

The proper disposal of rubbish is our concern and I have found that the rule helps. The tenant must conform to health rules and must respect the requirements of the city disposal services. Besides, in those cases where you have a janitor, an inconsiderate tenant may make it difficult for you to keep the janitor. Even more important, the careless handling of rubbish often forces the janitor to handle cans, broken glass, et cetera, and cut himself. Then we have the problem of absenteeism and increased compensation insurance cost.

Experience has shown that where you permit a tenant to have a dog, you spark feuds among the tenants. These invari­ably come to roost on your doorstep. You will not like being phoned at midnight, by an irate tenant who protests that "that dog has been barking and howling constantly since 8:30 and I demand that you do something about it!" It is not neces­sary to list the other problems you will encounter in the build­ing where you allow dogs. It is amusing to remember the hun­dreds of tenants who applied for apartments in my buildings during the war years, when the shortage was so acute that many tenants offered illegal large bonuses to unscrupulous owners to get one. Every applicant who wanted an apartment from me and who had a cherished pup refused the apartment rather than give up Fido. And of the many who protested the point, every one had a dog which neither barked nor "went."

Much bother, argument, and expense has been saved by the insertion of the drainpipe clause. It is the best practice to give the tenants the drains in clear, full working order. Thereafter, it must be the tenant's responsibility to use them properly. If the previous tenant left a plugged or sluggish drain, we must get it cleared and turn the responsibility over to the tenant from that point on. We cannot check on the tenant who emp­ties improper waste down the sink, such as bacon grease, chicken bones, and the like. But having treated him fairly by giving him the equipment in proper condition, we can and do insist that he keep it that way. This rule carries even to the cases where a child (or adult) has dropped an object such as a comb or toy train into the toilet. Experience has shown that for the landlord to "take care of it just this once" establishes a prece­dent. I remember particularly a lady who just couldn't help letting the dishcloth slip from her ringers down the kitchen sink drain. After I'd paid the plumber several times to remove it, she had another accident and demanded that I take care of it. I refused and she complained to the health department that the sink was now a health menace. My signed lease showed clearly whose obligation this was. It made the health inspector wash his hands of the matter. But having lost this battle the tenant could not thereafter forgive me and she vacated soon.

As we undertake to analyze the "locks and keys" clause, we have in mind the provisions of the first paragraph in the lease. We have provided that we will receive two months' notice of an intended vacancy. This, however, would be worthless to us if we were not permitted to show the flat in July. Unless you have made a clear (provable, written) agreement otherwise, the common law of landlord and tenancy applies. That is, the tenant is the king in his castle. He has a right to absolute pri­vacy of his home and can keep all, including the landlord, outof it.

When I inherit a bad tenant with a building that I have just taken over, and he gives me notice that he is moving out, this law often costs me a few months' rent or more. The tenant may be irked that I have insisted that he make out a formal applica­tion and sign a lease. Or he may have intended to move when­ever the rent was raised to a fair level. Or I may have ordered him to move. Either way he is usually not too cordial.

Consequently, when I mention that I will be showing the flat to prospective tenants during the month of notice, he will often say, "No, I don't want anyone going into my apartment until after I move out. I pay rent there and I want my rights." And he is in the legal right. Unless I am lucky enough to have an­other similar apartment to show to prospective tenants (which often saves me the loss), I must wait according to his orders. If he vacates on October 31 or November 1, for instance, I may start showing it during November. Then when I find a taker, he must give his landlord notice on December 1, and move on January 1. So I lose both the months of November and Decem­ber in the deal. Worse, the renting season is well over by then and very few desirables move around Christmas. So that the exercise of care in tenant selection may cost me four or five months' rent before the apartment is on a good paying basis again.

It is mainly for that reason that we incorporate the clause in the lease requiring the landlord to have a key at all times and the tenant signs that the landlord may enter, show the apart­ment, etc.

There are some other loss-saving effects of the key clause. If, for instance, you smell smoke in a building, and want to in­vestigate at once, and find the door locked and the lock changed, this can have very serious consequences. If water is seen dripping into the apartment below, you will want to get in to stop it. Sometimes a tenant leaves a window wide open and a sudden downpour threatens to do serious damage. When gas must be shut off for a repair, it is usually necessary to check each apartment before it may be turned on again. It should not be difficult to demonstrate to a reasonable tenant that he owes this protection to all other tenants. If he will not agree, he is making the rules and you do not want him.

The heat clause is one that will be of concern only where you give heat, of course, and is so worded. You may strike it out but it automatically applies only in those cases where you custom­arily supply heat. I have always found that it is best to follow the advice of an oldtimer who said, "What's a few gallons of oil or shovels of coal, compared to the profit we make? Give them good heat and keep them satisfied if they are reasonable."

You will invariably find that the heating system of any given building is adequate to keep the building properly warm in zero weather. Often the building is not satisfactorily heated simply because it has gotten out of adjustment or repair. In some cases a radiator or two are plugged or improperly vented. A system that was adequate to heat a building when it was new may not be capable of doing so when the windows have be­come loose and leaky, allowing a portion of the heat to escape, and causing serious discomfort, not to mention expense.

We should bear in mind that if we want others to live up to our deals, we should be equally willing to do so. The tenant of a heated apartment has no means of keeping warm except through the heat we supply. He cannot be expected to shiver uncomplainingly any more than you or I would.
By accepting him as tenant in a heated apartment, we have undertaken the obligation to furnish reasonable heat. In prac­tically every state this means 70 to 72 degrees, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fortunately the degree of heat is a measurable thing. And thermometers are very inexpensive.

If the system is defective, have it put in proper condition. Not only will you have satisfied, long term tenants, but you will save fuel. Nothing convinces a tenant that it's time to move more than being cold in the winter.

There is no economy in procrastinating a heat repair. You will want to rent the apartment to another tenant if this one moves out. The new tenant will be no more likely to endure the cold than the old one. So it will have to be straightened out anyway. It is simple common sense to do it early and well. Give the tenant all the heat that is fair, and even be a little generous, allowing for human variants in this regard. And do it with a good heart. It pays.

The unjustified complaint is not difficult to pinpoint. Nor is it arguable when you show a thermometer registering 72 de­grees to a tenant. The apartment is or is not being heated prop­erly. If the thermometer shows 72 degrees it is. A bothersome tenant who insists that he is cold and asks you to touch the cold radiator must be told the facts of life, shown the thermometer, and the conversation should end there. But be right first, and if you are not, accept the responsibility gracefully and do your part.

The case of Mr. P. contained a combination of object lessons. You will remember that I rented the flat to his wife and never had the Vital Interview with him present. After he got out of the service and entered into civilian life, his wife's life be­came a hell, and Mr. P. tried his best to make mine the same. As soon as I saw that this was another mistake resulting from lack of a proper Vital Interview, I tackled the business of get­ting rid of him, which was not easy in those days of OP A. Fortunately, he and Mrs. P. separated and she went back to her mother. That left the apartment vacant. I breathed a sigh of re­lief and rented it to another tenant.

Soon after, the P's reconciled and occupied various places as they separated and tried again, until one day they took the fourth floor apartment in a building owned by one Mr. McG. Mr. McG. was an interesting chap. He was a simple, direct, honest fellow, almost illiterate, and had been a janitor of sev­eral buildings when the depression struck. The owners had abandoned the properties to the banks and, as often happened, the banks had turned over management to the janitor.

When Mr. McG. showed by his actions that he was honest, they urged him to take over as owner, and he did. Thereafter, he ran them in a direct, uncomplicated way. He never bothered with things like applications, credit reports and all that. If you looked OK and wanted the flat, you paid the rent, got a receipt and the key and you moved in. When you wanted to go, you did.

Soon after Mr. P. moved in, Mr. McG's headaches started. Mr. P. had a right to heat, dang it, and he was going to get it. And he was going to get every iota that he was legally and technically entitled to—or else. When Mr. P. found one bed­room (which he didn't use, by the way) that was 67 degrees, he called in the city health authorities as witnesses, and filed complaint in the Brookline Municipal Court against Mr. McG.

Mr. McG. brought me the summons and explained that he was worried. This was the second such complaint by Mr. P. against him and he engaged me for the defense. I was some­what in a quandary. If I tried to break down the witness, the city inspector, what would he do to me in the apartments 7 owned?

This was the solution we decided upon. I had Mr. McG. in­stall a controlling thermostat in Mr. P's apartment, in the cold­est room. Then we went to court and I explained how Mr. McG. was trying his earnest best to make things right, and the case was dismissed. But a bad tenant is just that. The defeat, if such it was. rankled in Mr. P's breast.

All was quiet for a time. Then Mr. McG. started to get his oil bills. He got hold of the repair man quickly and they surveyed the building for the cause of the enormous bills. They noted that the first, second, and third floor tenants kept their windows open in bitter cold weather, and many paraded around their apartments in undershirts, a la July.

Examination of the system showed nothing out of order. But when it came time to check the thermostat, they could not get into Mr. P's apartment. He had changed the lock. He knew his rights. So they had to wait for Mr. P's boy to come home from school and open the door. Of course when they entered, they found that Mr. P. left the beds "to air," and the windows wide open. The thermostat was set at 85. They removed it and in­stalled one that was locked at 72. They closed the windows and left a stern request with the boy about open windows.

This part of the unhappy experience proved the necessity of the application-and-investigation-first technique, and the value of the Vital Interview. But Mr. P. was not yet through with Mr. McG.

A few days later Mr. McG. brought me another summons with which he had been served. This time, on the complaint of Mr. P., he was to answer to a criminal charge of Breaking and Entering, like a burglar. He asked me, "Can he do that to me?" I reiterated my advice that he adopt my methods of handling applicants for apartments. He never adopted them. Neverthe­less, by and large, he did well and became very wealthy.

It was routine for the charge to be dismissed, of course. But here was a dramatic example of the protection that our Key Clause affords. If Mr. McG. had had Mr. P. sign such a lease as ours, he could have checked on Mr. P's use of the thermo­stat periodically, and have been spared a month's abuse of the system.

Besides, the other tenants had now become used to 90 degree heat and it is not easy to accustom yourself to 72 thereafter. You feel as if you are freezing. The whole unhappy thing should have, and easily could have, been avoided.

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