why would a tenant's stage 4 breast cancer be a landlord's problem?
It's not.
But it is her opportunity to extend compassion, to increase vs decrease the tenant's chances of survival, to act out of humanity, to gift a fellow person.
Will the tenant's credit card company still extend credit for nonpayment to a cancer patient? Car lender?
Yes, some do.
Landlord's lender?
No.
So, I think we all agree that a landlord is indeed required to pay a landlord's bills. And that a landlord is by no means obligated to provide free or reduced rent now and then. I don't think anyone is saying otherwise.
But when someone is well off, and is in a position to help someone in an extreme circumstance, it's okay to help...even if we're a landlord and the person in trouble is our tenant :)
If you can't be the bad guy, then residential leasing may not be for you.
Agreed.
But standing by a lease in normal circumstances and being a jerk are two different things. To be an effective landlord, one must be strong, assertive, able to stand for themselves, recognize a problem and address it swiftly and properly. But it doesn't mean we need to be aggressive, uncharitable, mean, etc. Those are very different things.
being a landlord is a tough game played on thin margins.
Not always. Some landlords are in excellent positions, playing on wide margins.
It's generally recommended that one avoid landlording if it can only happen on very thin margins. A good business has some wiggle room, because stuff will come up.
You need to protect yourself to make money (or not lose your shirt).
Agreed.
But generally we protect ourselves as landlords by implementing legal agreements up front, honouring the laws along the way, ensuring the rents cover what they need to cover, having financial room for several months of no rent, etc.
This is why there are leases and why there are eviction statutes. Everyone agrees to the rules while times are good. All tenants are going to have a sob story when the rent is late. every single one.
This hasn't been the case in my experience. Plenty of people have said they don't have the rent, acknowledge they fucked up, accept the resulting eviction, and move on. All is well.
Even if "every single one" came up with a sob story, we can assess an excuse vs a tragedy. I don't extend anything in the former, and extend stuff in the latter. It's okay to mix and match as fits.