Caro
If you’ve ever had the soul stealing privilege of working a customer service job, you can back me up when I say there is no shortage of spicy people you have to interact with. Working in property management alongside renters and owners is no exception. I should preface that most folks I worked with were genuinely good people who wanted to treat others right while being a decent human.
However, there’s always the exceptions who warrant the very writing of this true recollection which I so fondly titled: FVCK YOU – A Late Fee Love Story.
At the property management company I worked for rent was always due anytime between the 1st and the 5th of the month. Any funds received after the 5th were charged a $50 late fee. Harsh toke for sure if you had to pay that fee, even if you were only 1 day late. *Note – For additional reading, check out: How to Avoid Paying Late Fees on Rent and Why Paying on Time Could Eliminate Rent Increases in the Future.
It was the 7th of the month and we had the last few renters trickling into the office to pay rent along with late fees. One such renter, who we’ll refer to as Craig (it just seems fitting), strolled in to pay his rent with one of my associates who was seated across from me. After paying his rent amount in full, my associate informed Craig he was still $50 short because his account had accrued a late fee.
You could see he was instantly annoyed and even though he was two days late on his rent, he felt he shouldn’t be liable for the fee. My associate calmly explained this was the policy as outlined in his lease agreement and since this wasn’t his first time paying rent late we would be unable to remove the fee from his account. Craig’s annoyance quickly escalated into yelling and name calling after finding out we wouldn’t reverse the fee. He even generously referred to us as thieves and money grubbers.
Quite uncalled for bro, you should’ve just paid your rent on time. My associate, gawd bless her, remained calm and repeatedly stated the facts about his account and even offered an extension to let him return and pay his late fee at a later date. Everyone in the office was now extremely uncomfortable (rightly so) and Craig continued to be so loud he was essentially hollering at this point. My other associate, who we’ll call Tricia, was seated adjacent to Craig and had been watching everything unfold. I could see her blood boiling at the disrespect Craig was spewing.
To quickly characterize Tricia, she was a middle-aged Scorpio mother of two, who was as loving to those who did her right as she was punishing to those who did her wrong. At this moment, Craig was doing her and everyone in the office wrong and it was time for her to grab the reins.
Tricia stood up and directly addressed Craig, stating, “You’re being really rude right now and you need to calm down. Pay the late fee or get out.” I was shocked at Tricia’s boldness but after seeing her in other fierce exchanges throughout the years, I wasn’t completely surprised. Craig whipped his head to face Tricia, fury now seething from his bulging eyes and thin lipped expression. This just turned into a fire versus fire skirmish.
He glared at Tricia and yelled, “You know what? FVCK YOU! You’re not involved in this!” Without missing a SINGLE BEAT Tricia quipped back, “FVCK YOU! You need to leave right now or we’re going to call the cops. You can’t come in here and treat us how you are right now.”
At this point the camera pans back to me, a youthful early 20s bystander in her first ‘real’ job sipping lightly on her tea as verbal fists fly just feet from me. In actuality, I was filled to the brim with anxiety, glued to my chair in a freeze response to see how everything would unfold. How was this going to end? I thought the cops were literally going to be called with how escalated this whole sitch was becoming.
Tricia’s entire face was rage red. Her stance was wide and ready for battle as she stood next to this bully. Her words hung THICC in the air while to everyone’s surprise, Tricia’s secondary threat seemed to cool down Craig. His voice lowered at his next sentence. Still upset but bringing himself down a few notches, Craig declared he still wasn’t going to pay the late fee.
At this point, the screaming match lured my boss out of her office to address the situation. In a few quick words she offered to waive the late fee this time, but next time he’ll have to pay. Craig mumbled a weak and obviously ungrateful “thanks” as if he were owed it and stomped out.
Over the years I saw my manager cave in many times to tenant and owner demands when they were clearly in the wrong. It always peeved me a bit because in my mind it taught people that all they have to do is throw a fit and they’ll get their way. But to my manager, it was a small price to pay to make the person happy and on their way. Both things are true but I guess it’s an art to decide which route is the best to take.
It felt defeating in a way to see Craig be so incredibly disrespectful and then have his fee forgiven. At least it seemed so at the time. A few months later when Craig’s lease came up for renewal, the property owner decided not to renew his lease and Craig had to move out. Did he know about the late fee situation? It’s still a mystery. Is it karma? Sure seemed like it.
The moral of the story? Pay your spicy rent on time and be respectful to everyone.