I won't speak to friends, but I will speak to parents of my 19 - 20 year old student applicants. It helps a lot for me to have mom/dad on my side.

I often have a parent calling to ask about policies, costs, etc. Many of the students just don't know what to ask/say. In one situation, I had an email from a student, then a call from the father, then showed the student, now I just got off the phone with Dad. Final is that Dad is dropping a check into the mail for me as a holding fee.

If the student doesn't answer email/text for a couple of days, I double check with the parent they are still here.

When renewal time comes, if Mom/Dad have been actively involved, I copy them when I send my "are you staying" email. Particularly when mom/dad are the ones paying the rent.

I won't speak to friends, but I will speak to parents of my 19 - 20 year old student applicants. It helps a lot for me to have mom/dad on my side.

I often have a parent calling to ask about policies, costs, etc. Many of the students just don't know what to ask/say. In one situation, I had an email from a student, then a call from the father, then showed the student, now I just got off the phone with Dad. Final is that Dad is dropping a check into the mail for me as a holding fee.

If the student doesn't answer email/text for a couple of days, I double check with the parent they are still here.

When renewal time comes, if Mom/Dad have been actively involved, I copy them when I send my "are you staying" email. Particularly when mom/dad are the ones paying the rent.

I am still answering the phone so when they say kids or cousin, I tell them to call back and ask for Mr. Vee and he will help your cousin, he tries to get some difficult situations solved. The depth of my help goes on a 1 by 1 basis.

I hate this as well, but...

A good friend asked me to rent an apartment to a friend of there's who's down on his luck. I said not a problem. You will pay his rent to me every month and be responsible for damages, late fee's and any issues like additional occupants at 10% extra per person.

Depends. I can see parents helping their kids get their first apartments. They don't know what to ask, they don't know what to look for. It is like buying your first house. You bring other people along who are more experienced in it.

I also understand if you have to call during the business hours. I will make calls for my daughter during the day since it is difficult for her during work and she works long days. I gather all the information and give it to her to decide. I made a spread sheet of fuel costs and fees for each local company for her to decide which she wanted. Now I don't usually call and say I am calling for my daughter, I just gather the information. In the case of the fuel, I actually made the contract because I put a couple of locations on the same contract to get the volume discount.

Lots of people are not good talking on the phone. They text, they don't have to use their voice. Some people do need others to watch out for them. Having that family member involved is a safety net for a LL and the tenant. So I don't always say to no to someone calling for someone else. But I look carefully at the circumstances.

I have one sfh which was the first house that we live in. I got a call one day from a newly divorced woman with two kids, wanted them to stay in the same school. She was passing the screening very well, so I told her the name of the neighborhood when she asked. She paused, then said, "Oh. We lived there until about 5 years ago." I then realized from her first name and the fact that her voice was familiar that she was my former next-door neighbor from when we lived in the now-rental.

I only had her first name, so I asked, "Is this so and so?" Then I gave my last name. She stopped dead, then said, "Oh, it's not for me, it's for my brother." Right. After all that you just said. Then she said that she'd talk to him and let him call. Uh-huh.