Let’s talk about the trending concept in property management called “cash for keys.” It’s probably one of my biggest pet peeves, and I will never offer it.
Parents, let me ask you something: When you tell your kids to clean their room and they deliberately ignore you, do you reward them with a bigger allowance, bake them cookies, or take them to their favorite trampoline park? I have three children, and I don’t reward bad behavior.
I wasn’t rewarded for bad behavior in school, and I don’t promote it in my company. Some companies may reward or promote the wrong behavior. That’s not how I choose to operate.
When an adult signs a legally binding lease for a property I manage, I expect them to follow the terms of that agreement. If they don’t, we have a problem.
We’ve all had nightmare tenants. Sometimes we just want the situation to be over. Some owners and managers offer money to get a tenant to leave. To me, that feels like saying, “I’ll pay you to go away.”
That’s not my approach. I’ll pay an attorney to help enforce the lease and pursue the proper legal process. But I’m not going to pay someone for breaking the agreement. The tenant may still owe money under the lease, subject to the law and the facts of the case. I don’t owe them a reward for leaving.
And here’s another part of the problem: word gets around. A tenant is packing up a U-Haul, and someone walking by asks, “Why are you moving?” The answer is, “This management company is paying me to leave.”
Now you may have put the idea in other residents’ heads that breaking the rules can pay off. Someone else who wants to move may decide to ask for money, too.
I believe leases should be enforced, and residents should be held accountable for the agreements they sign. Cash for keys may work for some owners and managers. It will never be part of how I manage property.