In 1986 I went to work for a local real estate and development company as their bookkeeper. They owned and managed hundreds of apartments and office buildings. The month of August always brings back memories of that time in my life.
Apartment complexes are uniquely affected by our student-oriented college town, and my employer was no exception. August was fearfully referred to as “turnover month.” All leases ended on July 31 st to allow for a 15-day move-in period for tenants before the new school year began. Strangers to bookkeeping wouldn’t be aware of the stress and pressure on those who had to deal with the limited time of settling accounts, specifically deposit monies held for damages. Most are on the other end of the seesaw.
According to Florida Landlord and Tenant law, deposit monies shall be remitted to tenants within 30 days after the date of the notice of intention to impose a claim for damages. My employer had hundreds of rentals, and upon vacating, I had 15 days to send a notice of intention, and then 30 days to send an accounting of deposits with all notices being mailed certified with return receipt requested as proof of our compliance.
Added to this stress is the fact that landlords notoriously get a bad rap. Remember I Love Lucy and Fred Mertz who was a stingy so-and-so and would stall as long as he could with repairs. And then there was Dickens’ Scrooge, the ultimate heartless landlord. Even in legal proceedings where one is innocent until proven guilty, that statement applies only to tenants. Landlords are always guilty.
But let me get back to turnover month. My employer was not an on-site manager. They hired other people for that, but curious students are inventive and even though the internet was just getting started, some would manage to find out the location of origin of those “lawful” notices even though we used apartment complex stationery.
Walk-throughs were done after apartments were vacant, but we received many demands for inspections on moving day. There just were not enough people available to comply with these kinds of requests. Tenants had a hard time understanding this, always loudly voicing their objections, in person and over the phone. More stress even though our receptionist attempted to handle most of these complaints. I always cringed when I heard the entry doorbell ring.
Disagreements over deposit deductions for damages were always expected, and we were hardly ever disappointed. Most of the time tenants wrote letters claiming their apartment had been left in better shape than on move-in day and how we could claim otherwise was unbelievable. In these cases, I had to write reply letters, include their signed move-in condition sheets and enclose verifying photos of the damage we claimed. Usually, that would be the end of it.
We had a list that we handed out to new renters along with their move-in sheet which itemized charges for things that might be damaged such as broken light fixtures or missing oven racks that were popular for make-it-yourself barbecue grills. This list was my determining guideline for deposit claims. I always tried to be fair and if the scales of justice balanced near level, I would lean in favor of the tenant if only to avoid conflict.
Sometimes tenants with charges would retaliate with claims of their own. One young lady actually barged into my office waving several pairs of underpants in the air claiming our washer had ruined them. She demanded compensation for her torn Victoria’s Secret panties regardless of the stains indicating they were old old. I compromised, halving the fees, and she left somewhat satisfied…with her underwear.
No one ever took us to court over a security deposit in the thirteen long years I worked there, and I can sincerely say that I do not miss working there at all, at least during the turnover period. Although August was a terrible time on the job, the rest of the year was normal bookkeeping. When I first started, everything was done by hand but after less than a year we were computerized, general ledger, payroll and all, a learn-as-you-go experience, not unpleasant as I like to learn new things.
An Epsom Equity was my first computer, and it was attached to a track-feed printer which I used for reports, spreadsheets and checks. Word Perfect was our writing program. When we upgraded, my boss let me have my Epsom, and I used it at home, hooking up through CompuServe and AOL, the beginning of a very long partnership between me and the internet. Remember when we thought we would use a computer at home only for recipes and telephone numbers and address lists? Were we ever wrong? Now I couldn’t live without one.
August will always be turnover time in my memories and if there is anything I could tell the person who is taking care of that this month, I would say, “Yes, this, too, shall pass.”
