Really? Did that just happen? # 4

Your favorite blogger is back with another adventure to share with you!

It's not only tenants that we have funny stories about.  Vendors can also do some amazing things when they need money quickly.  I have seen everything from padding their bills, to trying to slip in invoices for properties that they have not even serviced yet.  That is why you have to keep a really close eye on not only who you hire, but what is actually being charged to you and whether you ordered everything that is on the bill.

About eight years ago we had a painter who desperately needed to get paid on a project.  He called us and stated that he had in fact finished the exterior and we explained that we would be doing a drive by later in the day and that if everything looked good we would be able to pay him for the job the following day.

We went by the property and the front of it looked GREAT!  We gave the painter a call and let him know that his check would be ready the following morning.  That night we received a call from another agent (regarding the newly painted property) asking us if the back of the house was going to be finished getting painted.  We were in shock.  We immediately drove to the property and saw that the painter had indeed tried to trick us into paying him after only half the job was done.

The next day the painter came by the office to pick up his check for that job as well as several other jobs.  He was surprised to find out that we discovered his little ploy and that we were holding all of his checks until he finished the job to our standards. 

He made right on this and finished the job that day.  We also kept this policy with him for the rest of the time that he painted for our company which was only a few jobs.  When you lose that trust with a vendor it is hard to get it back, and I am sure he didn't like being constantly under the microscope.

It really is amazing the lengths that people will go through in order to get money, and it is important to keep this in mind.  Make sure you hire reputable people that have plenty of references.  This is the age that people hire a lot of their workmen through Craigslist, Yellow Pages, etc. Just make sure that all their work is done properly and to your standards prior to paying any money out to them.