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Your Friendly Neighborhood Landlord

By John B. Swift posted 10-10-2016 08:34

  

I own and manage a couple rental houses in a certain municipality we all know and love at Nine Mile and Woodward. It continues to be my favorite suburb in metro Detroit. Sorry, Royal Oak. Keep your chin up and maybe one day Birmingham will let you sit at the big kids’ table.

Having been a renter for most of my life, I had always told myself I would be a good landlord in a legal sense and also in a “good citizen” kind of way. In the past, I represented plenty of tenants and landlords, so I was familiar with the imperfect decision making of good people in bad situations. But I found the negative stereotypes of renters and landlords to be rare and mostly unfounded.

Recently, I signed a lease with a young couple. It was the first time either of them had lived with a romantic partner. They appeared to be good candidates based on income and background checks, but I noticed a certain naiveté about actually occupying the same house. They were clearly very fond of each other and seemed to have their cohabitation well planned. Once moved in, however, they lasted two months before one of them moved out. It broke my heart a bit—young optimism being crushed by the weight of human nature. But while I felt bad about the breakup, I had to advise them that I wasn’t going to release anybody from anything. Ultimately, my duty is to protect the property and the interests of my small family.

While I can’t do anything to prevent my renters from breaking up, in the future I will be sure to recommend a cohabitation agreement, which may lessen the hassle if they do break up. If you have unmarried clients looking to live together, be sure to look at the cohabitation agreement forms provided by Henry Baskin and Henry Grix in the ICLE Formbank.

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