Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-11-07
ReuItor Takes Issue
With Court Articles
Housing Association Report
Held Erroneous
In Part

e'sShSS~S
In Port
To the Editor of The Star:
I think some Of the statements in the
series of articles on landlord and tenant
proceedings in the Municipal Court,
which are written by Horace Knowles,
and which are appearing in The STAR
are very unfair to real estate owners
and real estate brokers in Washington
In the article which appeared in The
Star of November l the impression is
certainly gained that Mr.. Knowles (and
that The Star comedies with his opin-
ion) assumes certain findings in the re-
port made by the Washington Housing
Association are true. The report con-
cludes with four observations, which are
quoted in full by Mr.. Knowles.
Answering the first observation, may
say that the landlord is in very diff
ferent position from a merchant or a
newspaper or any other business. With
the merchant and the newspaper and
other general businesses, if credit is
granted to customer for merchandise
or advertising and he does not pay his
bill, no further credit will be granted
the tenant is already in possession of
the property and in effect has the
granting of further credit to himself in
his own hands. The only way the prop
erty owner has of stopping further credit
to bad tenant is to file suit in the
Municipal Court and put him out, unless
he pays his rent. 1t Is true that the
landlord attempts to protect himself by
requiring the rent to be paid in ad-
vance, but We all know that in the ma
jority of cases the rent is not paid in
advance on the first day of the month.
In practice, if it is paid by the 10th of
the month, that is good; and if it is not
paid by the 10th of the month agents
generally make definite effort to collect
it, and, failing in that, they are put to
the necessity of bringing a suit in the
Municipal Court for possession, in which
event the tenant will be in debt for at
least months rent before possession
can be obtained under the suit.
When tenants do not pay their rent
it is idle to sue them in an ordinary debt
suit as nearly 100 per cent of those who
do not pay their rent promptly are
judgmentproof. Charging the property
owner or agent with using the court as
a means of pressure for collection of
rent is, to say the least, unfair. 1t Is the
only way the owner or agent has of stop
ping further credit and loss and, re-
member, that is what the court is for.
The second observation of the Housing
Association report, that many years of
continued tenancy should result in the
establishment of mutual confidence and
credit and that this seems to be of no
consideration with owners and agents.
is refuted by their own statements in
the report, that go per cent of the de-
PENDANTS in such cases were found to be
chronic cases and were sued six times
or more in the II months, and that 80
per cent Of the tenants sued were in
court more than once in a 12-month
period. The report only emphasizes the
precarious position of owners in collect
1llS AShto AAoAl lilS pSolCl SAdoSCS
The third observation, that tenants
complain that some agents are unwilling
to adjust the rent day to the pay day
and refuse to take installment payments
of rent, is false in part and true in part,
but the power to correct the same is
not in the hands of the owners and
agents.
The statement that agents are not
willing to adjust the rent day to the pay
day is certainly not true in most cases.
Agents generally, would rather have
rents fall due on either the LIST or the
18th of the month, as it is much easier
to look after them if they fall due on
those dates. 1t is true that agents refuse
to take installment payments of the rent,
because, under the present state of the
law if they accept part of the rent and
the tenant does not pay the balance, the
agent cannot bring suit for possession
until the beginning of the next month.
If the law was changed so that agents
and owners could accept part payments
without waving their rights to file
dispossess suit if future installments are
not paid as promised, am sure that
agents and owners would be glad to &C
cept, in proper cases, installment pay
ments.
1t is too bad that everybody doesn't
have enough steady income to insure
their proper and reasonable living ex-
penses, but property owners have to pay
taxes, interest on mortgages, if any; re-
pairs, insurance and other expenses, and
few of them can, therefore, afford to
lose their rent. With many of them,
loss of rent means loss of their equity
in the property: and dispossessing a
tenant who cannot or will not paw his
rent, means further loss to the owner
who must in most cases make repairs
and then lose further rent while the
property remains vacant awaiting a new
tenant. Owners and agents don't like
to have to bring dispossess suits. They
certainly do not go to the trouble of
filing suits for the fun of them So far
as they are concerned dispossess suits
are only necessary headaches.
Mr.. Knowles should write a series of
articles presenting the property owners
and agents side of the case.
G. r. LINKINS.
November 3.
Editors Note:
The Star is Glad tn r,,,hlieb Mr. ;,,l,