Advice - property manager call this morning

[Elegant]

This morning I awoke to a phone call from the property manager of the house I am living in (I own a house 400 miles away from where I live now that my sister is renting) and he tells me the owners of the house are very upset that I haven''t paid the rent (due on the 1st of the month) and was there a problem. I told him that I was pretty sure I had paid it, told him to hold while I looked through my carbon copy check book, and told him that I paid the rent on July 31, 2009. He said they didn''t have anything to show that I paid. I told him I would go online to see if it had been cashed and I would call back. I looked, saw it was cashed that same day, so I printed out the image of the check from my banks website. I called him back, told him that it was cashed and that I even printed it out. He told me he was going to connect me to the woman who does all of the accounting and I told him I was on my way over to show him the image. I got there, gave the woman the image of the cashed check and she said, "Oh, I know what happened, all right."

Now, I think I am offended because (1) I have being accused of something I haven''t done and felt like I was presumed guilty until proven innocent, (2) I always pay my bills on time or early - I have excellent credit, and (3) I didn''t receive an apology from anyone.

My problem: I can never keep my trap shut when I feel offended... I want to send my property manager this message via email but wonder what the point to it is, what is the goal, and will this affect my renting this house:

Hello MrMan (not his real name

),

I am emailing to ask if the accounting mistake for my paid rent has been corrected and if the landlords have been informed that I did pay my rent early for the month of August.

When you called me this morning it made me feel as if I had done something wrong when in fact all I had done was pay my rent - one day early. I had to go down to your office and prove myself. I understand that mistakes happen, but I guess I just feel offended that I was accused of not paying my rent when I had in fact made it.

I always pay my rent on time and hope that since you said the landlords were extremely upset, it will be clarified that it was not my fault whatsoever. I take pride in the fact that I have excellent credit and pay all of my bills early or on time.

I''ve enjoyed living here in this house and appreciate that the landlords replaced our air conditioning unit when temperatures were reaching 115 degrees. Please extend our thanks and appreciation to them the next time you speak to them. Thanks.

Elegant

So, instead of pushing the "send" button on this email, I thought I would go to the wise ones of PS and ask for advice. As I am typing this I feel like I either shouldn''t send it at all or just send the first paragraph with a smiley face at the end.

What do you think?

 

[somethingshiny]

I think what he did was completely ignorant but I think you''re overreacting towards him directly. A property manager is trained to expect and assume the worst (I have one in my family

)

I think the appropriate course of action would be sending a letter or an email that says something like:

Dear Mr Man,

Regarding our recent conversation of my paid my overlooked rent, I would like you to ensure that my credit has not been adversely affected. I would also like you to assure that my landlords are aware that my payment was in fact made on time.

Thank you for your time,
Elegant


Don''t take it personally, he isn''t. And don''t hold your breath for an apology. Everyone makes mistakes but everyone does not apologize.

 

[Elegant]

Thanks somethingshiny,
I like that letter too. I don''t expect an outright "I am so sorry," but more like a "oops, sorry about that" light-hearted kind of thing. You are right - I always take things personally. Thanks for your words of wisdom!

 

[phoenixgirl]

I''d go with something like what SomethingShiny wrote. At the very least remove the "I just feel offended" paragraph. It won''t make make him feel bad at all; he''ll probably just think, yeesh, overreact, why don''t you? Mistakes happen . . . we didn''t do this on purpose . . .

I''d be annoyed too but an indignant tone usually just puts the other person on the defensive or causes him/her to dismiss you as high-maintenance. I''d stick to asking for concrete things -- assurance that the landlords have been informed and the mistake has been fixed and won''t happen again.

One time I used two letters I had written (I got a fine for running a toll that I had in fact paid and wrote a letter in my defense as the court was three states away) as an example in tone for my students: one was my first draft which was frustrated and sarcastic. The second was my final draft which was polite and to the point. They agreed that the first one would not have done me any good if I had sent that in to the court! But the second one got my fine dismissed . . .

This is the problem with email . . . so easy to click "send" before we''ve had time to really think about it. The act of stuffing a letter in an envelope and putting a stamp on it was a good opportunity to rethink the venting letter . . .

 

[DiamanteBlu]

I like what SS wrote. It documents the fact that they made an error - just in case you need the documentation in the future.

 

[jcarlylew]

Date: 8/12/2009 5:51:51 PM
Author:Elegant
This morning I awoke to a phone call from the property manager of the house I am living in (I own a house 400 miles away from where I live now that my sister is renting) and he tells me the owners of the house are very upset that I haven''t paid the rent (due on the 1st of the month) and was there a problem. I told him that I was pretty sure I had paid it, told him to hold while I looked through my carbon copy check book, and told him that I paid the rent on July 31, 2009. He said they didn''t have anything to show that I paid. I told him I would go online to see if it had been cashed and I would call back. I looked, saw it was cashed that same day, so I printed out the image of the check from my banks website. I called him back, told him that it was cashed and that I even printed it out. He told me he was going to connect me to the woman who does all of the accounting and I told him I was on my way over to show him the image. I got there, gave the woman the image of the cashed check and she said, ''Oh, I know what happened, all right.''

Now, I think I am offended because (1) I have being accused of something I haven''t done and felt like I was presumed guilty until proven innocent, (2) I always pay my bills on time or early - I have excellent credit, and (3) I didn''t receive an apology from anyone.


My problem: I can never keep my trap shut when I feel offended... I want to send my property manager this message via email but wonder what the point to it is, what is the goal, and will this affect my renting this house:


Hello MrMan (not his real name

),


I am emailing to ask if the accounting mistake for my paid rent has been corrected and if the landlords have been informed that I did pay my rent early for the month of August.


When you called me this morning it made me feel as if I had done something wrong when in fact all I had done was pay my rent - one day early. I had to go down to your office and prove myself. I understand that mistakes happen, but I guess I just feel offended that I was accused of not paying my rent when I had in fact made it.


I always pay my rent on time and hope that since you said the landlords were extremely upset, it will be clarified that it was not my fault whatsoever. I take pride in the fact that I have excellent credit and pay all of my bills early or on time.


I''ve enjoyed living here in this house and appreciate that the landlords replaced our air conditioning unit when temperatures were reaching 115 degrees. Please extend our thanks and appreciation to them the next time you speak to them. Thanks.


Elegant


So, instead of pushing the ''send'' button on this email, I thought I would go to the wise ones of PS and ask for advice. As I am typing this I feel like I either shouldn''t send it at all or just send the first paragraph with a smiley face at the end.


What do you think?

Here is my suggestion

"Hello MrMan,


I am emailing to ask if the accounting mistake for my paid rent has been corrected and if the landlords have been informed that I did pay my rent on 7/31/09 for the month of August.

I''ve enjoyed living here in this house and appreciate that the landlords replaced our air conditioning unit when temperatures were reaching 115 degrees. Please extend our thanks and appreciation to them the next time you speak to them. Thanks.

Elegant"

my apt has LOST a check from me, and i never got an apology (an eviction notice, however i did receive

) but in the end was all resolved. it would not affect your credit since it would usually take an actual eviction and attempt to get monies owed.
sorry they are being a butt - so is my place, but its just the joys of renting

 

[ficklefaye]

i would go with something similar to what somethingshiny suggested

the same thing happened to me at the apt i am renting, FI and i paid our rent early one month because we were going out of town, then one day we got a letter on our door saying that our rent was overdue when it clearly was not and i had the carbon copy to prove it, i had to write out a whole other check and they later found the old one i wrote and gave it back to us, it turns out that the secretary misplaced it in someone else''s file

we never got an apology, but we''ve definitely made sure to ask for a receipt and photocopy of the actual check each and every month now

i was also very angry because i pay everything on time and for them to accuse me of a late payment when it was their fault just floored me

so i feel ya

 

[Elegant]

Okeedokee...
Thanks you guys!