What Would You Say If You Could Write Your Own Recommendation
By: Brian Dickens Barrabee
Tags: Humor, Business, Tenant Screening, Real Estate, Recommendations

It’s surprising how accurately and articulately people write their own recommendation letters if given the chance.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

When a tenant moves to another apartment, applies for a mortgage or makes some type of life- altering moves, Real Estate Man is sometimes called upon to write a letter of recommendation. When the rush is on to vacate and fill apartments, time to do this is a luxury. Real Estate Man has been known to ask the tenant to write his/her own letter of recommendation and Real Estate Man would sign it.

Of course, the letter would have to reflect pretty accurately the tenant-landlord dance the preceding year.

Most of the time, this works out.

Elliot, a tenant for the past year, gave his notice that he was going to move out of 1-D 1426 Lombard. He needed a letter of recommendation from me to send to his prospective landlord.

The relator who managed the apartment Elliot was moving into was someone Real Estate Man knew. Actually, a friend.

He and Real Estate Man used to compare verbal notes on tenants all the time.

Real Estate Man’s friend needed the Man’s written recommendation with his signature to have in the tenant’s file in case of legal action….due diligence and all that.

Real Estate Man’s story:

It’s surprising how accurately and articulately people write their own recommendation letters if given the chance.

Tenants that don’t appear to be scholarly gifted come to the fore when ask to complete this task.

I don’t recall rejecting one of these letters in my 40+ years in “da business”

Landlords usually ask for a hand written missives on office letterhead to avoid….someone writing their own?

Now I know what you’re thinking — the difference is that I read the self-recommendation acting as censor for accuracy. If I judge it be close to correct; only then do I sign it.

Elliot came in to my office with his self-recommendation. I gave it a cursory read, signed it and slid it in a formal envelope with an embossed return address. I put a stamp on it for Elliot to drop in the corner mailbox.

Real official looking.

A couple of days later I received a call from the relator who originally ask for the letter. It was my friend who was checking on Elliot’s recommendation that Elliot himself wrote — and I signed.

My friend was laughing when he thanked me for the letter but asked me why I wrote what I did on the back of the letter of recommendation.

“Back, what back?” I questioned.

He said he’d scan it to me.

The first scan I receive was the front recommendation that I glanced at for reasonable accuracy and signed. It was followed by the other side of the letter that read:

Help! I’m being held prisoner in my apartment. Please send money!

I had not seen this little added contribution, of course. Hadn’t bothered to look at the back of the letter.

I do now; my relator friend had it framed,in a tasteful manner and it’s now hanging on the wall of his office.

When Elliot came into the office to get his security deposit, I asked him why he added the plea on the back. He smiled and said that he had made up his mind he was moving in with his girlfriend, not the apartment, and didn’t have to use the recommendation that he wrote.

But since he had already written it………

I appreciated his odd sense of humor. I gave him the satisfaction of reporting the letter was now framed, hanging in the offices of Premier Real Estate — its back facing out.

I only subtracted from his deposit the cost of lunch for both of us at Shake Shack across the street from my office.