At the tail end of your conversation, something dawned on me that is a reality for landlords and investors. Sometimes we have to outmaneuver the courts. We have to stay ahead of them. In regards to the Convid, this goes back to what I’ve been saying for well over a year now. Screen their politics. If you see a tenant who Covid-crazy and feel they will become a problem in this regard, move them out. If you don’t want them in the building in the first place, dig into their Facebook and don’t rent to them. Same as the ESA nonsense. Personally, I am not in the business of playing this game nor do I wish to add it to my to-do list. So if in fact the courts put in on the responsibility of the landlord, then we outmaneuver them. Like we do with everything else. We do this by not getting ourselves into that situation in the first place. And in this regard, it’s the Convid Karen’s who would put us into this precarious situation. It’s easy to avoid if you find out the root cause.

Yes, same thing can apply to other situations such as when selling a property. Some sleazy investors specialize in tying up a property in litigation to obtain additional concessions. You can call their bluff, but better is to avoid being placed in that situation in the first place. Check out the buyer ahead of time. If the guy has a list a lawsuits he filed in acquiring properties, let him take his routine elsewhere.

We kind of do this with our HVAC customers. When a new customer calls they usually send out red flags in the initial phone call. Especially the know-it-all and self-righteous types. Karenesque type customers tend to reveal themselves in the first three minutes of conversation.

MAP,

What are your yellow and red flags on those initial phone calls?