Sense of Entitlement: A Tenants First Mistake

Recent events have caused me to vent my frustrations regarding the following topic. The above picture is real and was taken last February.

Through the years I come across tenants from all walks of life. From the newlyweds to the nearly dead, the disabled and the dysfunctional, tenants are all kinds. One thing they certainly are not is entitled; other than a place to live in swap for their contracted rent money, a tenant should never ever be entitled to disfigure their residence, fulfill the sudden urge to paint a room, or take in a cat from off the streets.

For some reason, it happens all too often, after a tenant has accommodated themselves in the property, they all of the sudden want to change the rules on me. They start requesting everything just shy of room service and fresh towels for the bathroom.

Renting should be called "borrowing", to dispel any confusion. You are guests in a property that, as long as you continue to pay your contracted amount due, you may continue to live there, otherwise enjoy what you originally agreed upon. In an attempt at satire, I have gone ahead and listed some of the recent "demands" from tenants (I must note that it is fine to request an improvement to the property, however, always remember that when you signed the lease, you agreed to the property "as is". Don't try to change the rules once you're in there):

-a dishwasher
-shower curtains (what, you can't buy your own?)
-an elongated toilet
-a water softener
-an elevator
-a cat
-child safety plugs for electrical outlets
-paint the kitchen bright red
-"the most well behaved indoor dog ever"
-high speed Internet
-"softer" carpet
-another cat

I have had tenants that have been great, they left the property much better than they found it, and never made a peep. Typically, these people were not "life-ers", they left on their terms because life turned around for them.

To quote a truism from my harsh father, "there are 2 types of people in this world, there are normal people and there are tenants". My truest respects go out to those who are temporarily renting and are not "life-ers".

Qwest workaround-"Since I got out of the loop.."

It's been a year since I got rid of my qwest phone service, since then life has been free of red-tape and "gotcha fees". What a poor excuse for a phone company (heaven forbid you should use them as an internet service provider or a cable company)! Here's the workaround: if you currently have internet access that is not through your phone line, for $50 you buy a Linksys PAP2 Adapter that hooks right into your internet modem, and for $7.95 a month you can enjoy unlimited local and long distance calls, even includes free caller ID. The company is vitelity.net. I have been using them for over a year and have had great success. We even have a fax line and a 1-800 for my business through them, it's amazing! Take that, Qwest!

First post

Let's just get it out of the way.