{"id":8595,"date":"2015-08-24T01:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T08:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/?p=8595"},"modified":"2015-08-19T09:55:09","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T16:55:09","slug":"wheres-the-guilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/","title":{"rendered":"Where\u2019s the Guilt?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"15698224630_85fddfa509_z\"<\/a>I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of the ugliest, most unpleasant things a person can go through in business.<\/p>\n

You might say, \u201cWell, everybody knows that\u2014people don\u2019t really respect what they don\u2019t own.\u201d True, I suppose, to a degree. But then, I\u2019ve rented property for most of my life, in one way or the other, and it would be a slander to myself not to qualify such an adage. I\u2019ve kept up the places and paid my rent. I\u2019ve given them back to their owners in as good a shape as they gave them to me, \u201cnormal wear and tear accepted.\u201d So I think there\u2019s something else behind what I\u2019ve gone through. Let me relate my woes:<\/p>\n

Let it be said that this property is in a prime location, is practically brand new, and is marketed at a price that would chase away the kind of folks who aren\u2019t paying much, so don\u2019t care much. A professional set is the target audience and a professional set, by and large, has been interested in leasing it.<\/p>\n

But you\u2019d be surprised at what even professionals are capable of doing. The first group of people came well recommended and had good references; they had the money and were anxious to move right in. They were in transition (which now I know is always a dangerous state\u2014volatile and unpredictable).<\/p>\n

Within months, they pressed demands for windows free of smirches (glare?) and gravel that did not \u201cping\u201d beneath the undercarriage of the car when it was driven over. There were wasps outside the barn (this is a rural area I\u2019m talking about), and you could hear traffic from the highway. Rent was withheld, vulgarities volleyed, and in the end, they skipped out owing a shocking balance and damaging the property in a vindictive assault.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter that the law was on my side. Try enforcing the law and see what happens. You make the lawyer rich and wind up standing in line behind other people they\u2019ve treated the same way when they declare bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

Another tenant with a good job came, one who wanted some stability. Again, no bad references or credit. But just like the first time, before long the money wasn\u2019t there on direct deposit day and excuses began to pour in. Every month was torture\u2014grace periods were exhausted beyond the limits of grace\u2014and at the end of that year, a deal had to be cut to pay the last amount owed over time, itself a nightmare.<\/p>\n

Burned twice, you can\u2019t help but be wary the third time. The next group came in with good manners and good references (a worse than worthless exercise). Nevertheless, with a week, one of the parties wanted out of the lease that was just signed and the other wouldn\u2019t return phone calls about it. Like the repetitions of hell, rent payments were late and took inordinate amounts of time to collect. Lies flew about like birds flushed from cover. Wild parties, unpermitted fires, dogs never anticipated by the lease\u2014the covenants of the agreement were turnstiles to these folks.<\/p>\n

When the owner had had enough, it was another Herculean task to get the tenant out. The walk-through revealed a state of horror, as did the burden to haul away things and clean up the property\u2014efforts frustrated by the holdover lessee who padlocked the gate to protect some hunting equipment that should\u2019ve been removed the week before.<\/p>\n

Security deposits don\u2019t begin to cover the amount of time and trouble it takes to get out of such situations. Threats of what you\u2019ll do\u2014the credit damage that will be exacted, the police who will be called, the attorneys who will be loosed\u2014none of these things have the effect that I once expected for them to have. That is, they don\u2019t have the effect that they would have on me.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the difference, I guess. Because without a sense of shame, without a concept of honor, you can get away with anything. If you don\u2019t care \u201cwhat it looks like,\u201d or \u201cwhat people think,\u201d\u2014in the good meaning of those terms (i.e., \u201cI don\u2019t want to be known as someone who doesn\u2019t keep my word, pay my debts, respects what belongs to others, etc.\u201d), then this is the world for you. Just walk away from your obligations, become judgment-proof, and you get off scot-free. You can count on nobody going to great efforts because it will be more costly to do so than it would to suffer the loss you\u2019ve inflicted.<\/p>\n

Which is why I find it strange that guilt has become something people try to \u201cget past\u201d and \u201cnot feel.\u201d You should feel guilty for things you\u2019re guilty of. But the less you care, you really can get away with murder. Even with a conscience, you can go wrong more often than not; without one, there\u2019s nothing to get in your way.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A.G. Harmon<\/a>\u00a0teaches Shakespeare, Law and Literature, Jurisprudence, and Writing at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His novel,\u00a0A House All Stilled,<\/em>\u00a0won the 2001 Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel.<\/p>\n

The above royalty free image is attributed to\u00a0Don Graham<\/a>\u00a0on Flickr.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of the ugliest, most unpleasant things a person can go through in business. You might say, \u201cWell, everybody knows that\u2014people don\u2019t really respect what they don\u2019t own.\u201d True, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1049,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1457],"tags":[3570,493,325,432,1104,1846],"class_list":["post-8595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-g-harmon","category-personal-reflection","tag-a-g-harmon","tag-conscience","tag-guilt","tag-home","tag-humanity","tag-rental-property"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere\u2019s the Guilt?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where\u2019s the Guilt?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-24T08:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-19T16:55:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/imagejournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/15698224630_85fddfa509_z-300x203.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"A. G. Harmon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"A. G. Harmon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/\",\"name\":\"Where\u2019s the Guilt?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-24T08:00:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-19T16:55:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#\/schema\/person\/89dfa4a382c958d21d43263040eb5ebc\"},\"description\":\"I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where\u2019s the Guilt?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/\",\"name\":\"Good Letters\",\"description\":\"Words. Made flesh.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#\/schema\/person\/89dfa4a382c958d21d43263040eb5ebc\",\"name\":\"A. G. Harmon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f8fd18bd338164370dcb7cd5675c2f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f8fd18bd338164370dcb7cd5675c2f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"A. G. Harmon\"},\"description\":\"A.G. Harmon teaches Shakespeare, Law and Literature, Jurisprudence, and Writing at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His novel, A House All Stilled, won the 2001 Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/author\/agharmon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where\u2019s the Guilt?","description":"I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where\u2019s the Guilt?","og_description":"I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/","og_site_name":"Good Letters","article_published_time":"2015-08-24T08:00:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-08-19T16:55:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/imagejournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/15698224630_85fddfa509_z-300x203.jpg"}],"author":"A. G. Harmon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"A. G. Harmon","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/","name":"Where\u2019s the Guilt?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-08-24T08:00:45+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-19T16:55:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#\/schema\/person\/89dfa4a382c958d21d43263040eb5ebc"},"description":"I\u2019ve had the experience of dealing with renters from time to time, though more in the capacity of property manager than as landlord. It has been one of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2015\/08\/wheres-the-guilt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Where\u2019s the Guilt?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/","name":"Good Letters","description":"Words. Made flesh.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#\/schema\/person\/89dfa4a382c958d21d43263040eb5ebc","name":"A. G. Harmon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f8fd18bd338164370dcb7cd5675c2f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f8fd18bd338164370dcb7cd5675c2f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"A. G. Harmon"},"description":"A.G. Harmon teaches Shakespeare, Law and Literature, Jurisprudence, and Writing at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His novel, A House All Stilled, won the 2001 Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/author\/agharmon\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1049"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}