As both a renter and a landowner I am always astounded by the behavior of other renters in Second Life. I have several outlets, (8-9) for my main store and approach renting as seriously as I would if I were in real life because we are dealing with real money, real debt and real income-loss potential. I keep a list of when the rent is due on each of my shops. Landlords have tier to pay each month and the bottom line is if they can't pay, then regions/communities disappear. I personally have over $1000.00 USD a month tier to pay here in SL. I am not rich in RL. Yet, I have observed some renters in our community that seem to have a sense of entitlement that they are owed a free ride. They take it for granted that the landlord somehow is a bottomless pit of money and can afford the loss. When a renter stalls payments at the end of rental periods for several days they are stealing from the landlord plain and simple. When they constantly go over prim limits it's the same thing..theft. Prims are 'goods' in SL. When you don't pay for them you are stealing. You can sugar-coat it if you like, but when I see the same individuals do it over and over again I call it theft. I am not referring to the occasional mistake, we all do that from time to time. We may accidently go over limit a prim or two or we may forget to pay rent now and then right on time. That's understandable. I am referring to those who do it all the time. These same people will not respond to inquiries from the landlord about whether they intend to stay or not which makes it even more difficult for the landlord to make the decision about whether to return their items or give them the benefit of the doubt. They will also ignore requests to lower their prims when over limit.
The bottom line is this...be honest, have integrity. If you don't know what that is, look it up. IN-TE-GRI-TY, you will like yourself better if you have it. If you are one of those renters, you know who you are...what you may not realize is that we know who you are also, we know you cheat and we will not continue to buy your goods when you treat us so poorly. We will not support your business when you disappear without notice, go over limit constantly, don't respond to ims and notecards and drag the end of your rental period up to a week or more past the due date. You waste our time and money. So yes, you have gained a few free days (whoopie!) but you have lost the respect of the community region owners...not a smart thing to do. As landlords we have a lot of influence, more than you may realize, it's not wise to bite the hand that feeds you. We are the ones who tell others to support your store, we pass the word, buy, display and wear your creations. We also create the themed regions that provide the places for you to display your creations in a proper setting; give us a little respect back.
So yes, I have been very direct here. Sorry about that but this has been going on ever since I came to Second Life and someone has to say something.

So here are some Renter Suggestions:

Stop thinking about rent cheating as something you can get away with...how self serving is that? Think instead about supporting the community and your business will thrive too. I will be glad to help and support those who are honest.

If you plan on leaving, let your landlord know prior to the rental ending. No this isn't a requirement but it's really considerate...now there's a thought! You don't need to provide a reason just let them know so they can plan ahead.

Don't lie to your landlord and say you want to expand or need more prims or plan to stay then simply disappear. This happened to me several times with one individual... I'm done with you.

If your landlord contacts you about being over limit or past your due date, give them the respect of a reply. Offer to pay for lost days or the additional prims. Gosh, what a concept! They may or may not take you up on it, but will it kill you to be honest?

If your landlord returns your items after notifying you, don't blame them, blame yourself. Take personal responsibility for your lack of care for your business. Yes, I realize some landlords maybe let you get away with murder on their sim...and that's exactly why those sims are no longer there or are struggling to survive...get it? Landlords can't keep putting band-aids on a gaping wound of mismanagement and expect to survive. I am not a 'meany' because I don't let you do the same.

If you can't afford to rent then don't. Look for places that offer free rent. Build up your business by devoting TIME and EFFORT to it then rent in the more expensive places. You can also offer to rent on commission rather than actual lindens. Not all landlords will do this but some will. If that fails then maybe don't be in business in Second Life? There's a thought....

So there you have it; my opinion. I have been here for almost 4 years and have seen so much mismanagement and plain old rudeness going on it has left me speechless. I have watched sim after sim fail and it doesn't need to be that way. Landlords need to be math smart (stop giving things away to get renters, you just attract freeloaders), and be organized, fair and firm. Renters need to be honest and realize that the rent they pay supports their community. Both in RL and here in SL I run successful businesses. It doesn't come without effort. Our community has so much potential but only if everyone carries their weight. Let's get rid of the deadwood and support those who are here for us all.

In closing, I want to thank those who have been wonderful renters in our communities. You know who you are also...and so do I. I will do everything I can to support your businesses.

Skye

updated by @skye-varriale: 06 Oct 2016 06:07:04AM

Contessa, I am like this in Rl too! I speak my mind. Sometimes we pussy-foot around too much here in Sl when there are things that NEED to be said. Yes Stormy, I agree that people take liberties here they wouldn't in RL,but whenSL behavior effects RLfinances or our livesthen a line has to be drawn.

Smiling, I commend you as well! I believe we are all like we are in real life...it is just that we dont get punish as fast in second life as wedo in real life, when we pull the non payment act.I have been in second life now 1 yearand 2 months and have had land for a year now.I have 3 homesteads thatI now keep closed...I pay close to 400.00 in us fundsfor them each month. I have come to my various homes only to find "people" living in them without the consent of my partner or myself. One even told me he owned it and threaten me untilI ejected and banned him! I make sure that my rents are always paid on time here in sl (as we do with our mortage in real life)with close to 2 weeks left as my personal timelimit for paying for the next month...way before they are ever due.My landlord loves me!!! My real life home is very very nice and I have people who had the nerve to drive up the hill, unlock the gateand drive up andget out of their cars walk around my lawns and gardens and come up to the main house. They mostlyget insulted when I ask why are you here, as they wish to take a look inside, take pictures,or picnic on our land. Well it is our home and strangers are and can be dangerous so I never let anyone in I dont know and who has had the gaul tocome past the bottom gates. I know how to call the police and I am licensed to protect myself.

It is funny in a sense that we can always pin point those who dont pay in a timely fashion, as their behavior is always shipshod in other ways in their dealings with othersin what ever they do.

Also, to be fair, andI am not saying you are one, becauseI know you are not...there are deadbeat landlords too! Prior to becoming knowledge savvy and informed in second life,I was taken advantage by one unscrupulous one. She took my money and I was ready to move in...then ejected and banned me andeveryone from her sim who was renting and had just started toand there was nothing that we could do itabout as Linden does not get involved in these types of situations and disputes. Now I am better armed and look for a good track record, such as you have with your renters.

So many of my favorite places are disappearing because of money. Money they are owed and depended upon to pay tiers. We make our world...and some of us are destroying it....for others!

That is why a lot of organizations in real life are failing as well, because of too many deadbeats who do not pull their own weight...looking for a free ride or feeling like they are special and self entitled and dont have to work like the rest of us.

Just my penny thoughts.

I agree Desireme, One thing about managing a business; you can't always be MR. or Mrs Popular. Too manymerchants and landlordshere get too involved in wanting to please people and be popular. Nothing wrong with pleasing your renters and customers, it's very important. But...you also have to not be afraid to draw the line and run a tight ship where Rl finances are concerned. Failure to do that is where many fail. I am sure that every lame-duck renter dislikes me. That's fine, I can handle it.

I can't count the times when i have been lambasted by a disgruntled renter who is upset because I didn't understand why they were late or didn't reply or whatever. Problem is, EVERYONE thinks their excuse is excusable and if a landlord caves then they end up out of business. So yes, I may not be Miss Popularity but I am stillaround and now I have people who I respect and who respect me renting from me. People who really know me know that I am a nice person ( I hope!), I just separate business from the rest of my Sl relationships. Also, when you aren't a push-over you attract people around you who aren't users.

My family has a rental business. This is how we handle tenants who do not pay their rent on time: in the contract it clearly states that the tenant will be assessed a late fee if the rent is not paid on time. (We typically give a 24 hour grace period.) The amount is usually 5% of their total rent and due immediately. (This could be modified to suit your specifics.) After receiving a penalty, the tenants usually always pay on time therafter

I agree with you in theory. My Rl business has late fees. I think it's a bit different in SL since it's easy to move in and out of places. I think most would just disappear. One thing a landlord can do is be strict about enforcing rents and if someone goeswaaay over prim limit and ignores notecard warnings then shorten their rental length accordingly to make up for the additional prim usage. I have done this a few times with people who are vastly over prims and ignore Ims and notecards. I would not do this with someone who is just a few prims over or who gets back to me and reduces prims.

I would like to give this a bump How often are we concerned with unreliable tenants who do not care about regular rental ayments or PRIM LIMITS: Esspecially at a place like Versailles where you have a prim shortage those can be a "pain in the arse"

Now that I share responsibility for a homestead that's half ocean, I am starting to appreciate the challenge of prims. My partner and I keep several hundred prims unused to facilitate intersim sailing for our whole community, with rezzing rights allowed to everyone for the same reason, and most people respect this and use the rights as intended, to facilitate sailing, battle, and community RP. However, every so often we'll discover quantities of prims and scripts that other people have left just sitting around. Sometimes it's not their fault - we've all been logged out by the system and had trouble getting back on - and sometimes they don't realize that the lag that ejected them has left hulls sitting around on mountaintops, but sometimes they're just too thoughtless to come back and clean up. Sometimes they think it's a joke, too, but when more than a handful of prims are left, it isn't a joke for anyone trying to move.

Olavi and I can't be sure of logging on absolutely every day in order to clean up after others. Because litter makes intersim sailing and RP more difficult for everyone in the community, it becomes a community problem, not just our own.Those who don't control their prim litter are robbing all kinds of responsible community participants of the enjoyment that their investments of rent, tier and RP time should bring them. It's very tempting to send bills to a few people - if only collection were possible.

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Antiquity Hedgewitch

Tiamat, Unfortunately it's just human nature...Some people are more caring than others of things like this. Some just don't think or are unaware of how prims effect a region's use or performance. Region owners have to expect to police their lands on a regular basis for wayward prims.

Anne, I agree with you.If people want these places to continue to exist they need to support them by paying rents on time and not going over prim limits. Since LL chargesUS every month... every day without rental payments counts.