Topic: Why o why are folks still referring to our residents as tenants?

Yes, I know its their legal term. It's such a turn off. Over the last 26 years I've worked affordable, luxury, mixed use, student, rural housing...there is nothing warm and fuzzy about the word tenant. It should be banned from our lingo. What other words should be banned from our industry lingo?

Unit

What should we call them instead of "units"? I am here with an open ear.
I do agree with residents over tenants, community over complex; and landlord is the owner not the community manager.

“Homes”

apartment homes, townhomes, lofts, condo, homes, home sweet home. :)

Agree! We also need to ban “complex.” We work at apartment communities.

Suzanne Murphy I was hoping someone would say this one! People have complexes, they don't live in them.

Suzanne Murphy, YES! This one is like nails on a chalkboard for me!

LIVE in a community. Get psychological help/medication for a complex. Now I just need to get my maintenance tech to stop calling it the"compound". ????

Suzanne Murphy and tell the media that! They ALWAYS say complex in reporting. Drives me nuts! And unit. Or Work order...

yes someone needa to send in a tip to the medua about complex. Work order is still a work in progress with our teams.

Michelle Cornelison-Cruz I was meaning using "work order" to a resident. I was taught to say "service request"

Michael Baldwin yes exactly. Its still a work in progress teaching our teams to use service request. I'm witchyou!

Michael Baldwin Agree! We call them service requests and recently changed all titles of our maintenance associates to reflect service. ie, “Service Tech.”

Landlord. I’m a Community Manager not a landlord. I know it’s the official term and used on several legal docs but it’s so dated and almost has a racial undertone.

I tell my residents that until I earn a salary equal to what Lords make in England I am simply the manager ????

LP Hall please explain. How does the word landlord imply race in any way? I have see landlords and owners and managers of all races. It might have a negative connotation, but that is not the same as "racial undertone". (P.S. I am in no way trying to start a disagreement, but genuinely interested in the explanation)

Hello Ryan Shiveley well to point out the obvious, we live in America, there are no lords here. No one in America should have to refer to anyone as “lord” or lord of the land -“landlord”. We are community managers, business managers etc. and as agents for the owner we have the power to file eviction (civil matter) and make other business related decisions. As Fair Housing advocates, it’s absurd to be referred to as anyone’s lord or the lord of the land.

LP Hall Again that is negative connotation, and nothing to do with race. It actually implies more racial undertone suggesting that it is a racial term then the actual word itself. The term is rooted from "Lords of the Land" in which nobility was the same race as those that were not. And Fair Housing has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with a LEGAL and widely used term. Using the term landlord (like every lease EVER) does not in fact imply that you do not treat everyone fairly...hence, nothing to do with Fair Housing. If it was a fair housing issue I am pretty sure it couldn't be in every lease I have ever seen.
Just because we do not like the way something sounds does not make it a racial issue and certainly not a fair housing one...

Ryan Shiveley please read my posts again. I’m not gonna do this all day. You asked a question and I answered you. 1, I never said it was a fair housing issue and 2, I said “it ALMOST has a racial undertone”

Oh my people...lets keep stuff positive. Remember you can choose to just keep scrolling. We're so sensitive these days.

Complex

“Unit” and “bug man” make me cringe along with “tenant”

Unit, complex in addition to tenants. We have to remember this is someone's home no matter how long they live there

The term "Tenants" is only appropriate for Commercial renters, since they don't reside there.

Their use is accurate if inelegant. Id hardly stop others (not in my company) from using them.

Conrad Ward we actually incorporate this into our sales training. What not to say...

When speaking about residential property management, I agree about complex and tenant, the connotations are derogatory. I believe there are some word that are appropriate for intracompany communication like the word unit. The key is to remember to speak the language of our client (residents) in any communications with/for them.
Another thing I’ve learned to keep in mind, if you are reading a resume from a person who has moved from another regions of the USA, don’t rule the person out if they use the words complex and tenants. I see great resumes with those words from people who lived in the Northeast area of the country.

Shelby Richardson Weidler absolutely! And everyone can be trained. Well...most everyone! ????

Michelle Cornelison-Cruz true. When I interview people I look at how they react to constructive criticism. If the person acts interested at all in the feedback and willing to listen to advice, I can work with whatever the issue at hand is. If the reaction is defensive, I walk away.
I was just telling someone yesterday that I am so thankful that my first manager overlooked some of my flaws because she saw something in me. For example: when I started this business I came to work wearing club clothes... literally I wore club clothes. I was young and dumb and I thought I was nicely dressed. I loved the way the other girls in the office dressed, but I didn’t even know where you bought those clothes. About two weeks after I started, we magically got uniforms it was the best thing, I was so excited! I could tell you so many other crazy stupid things that I did when I first started out in this buisness, glad that manager was a very patient woman!

Shelby Richardson Weidler yes. My first manager fired me for my attitude abd told me to come back if I wanted to be successful. 3 days later and 26 years later...we need someone to care enough to groom us!

Unrenovated unit < Classic Style Home
Parking lot view < Community View
Terrace Level < Ground Level with more Privacy

Occupy - “how many people will be occupying...”. They will be LIVING in it!!!!

Unit, complex, tenant, traffic, prospect

I think it is a big tell that someone is not industry savvy when you hear them using these words......good way to know someone's level of industry expertise!

Rebecca S. Mills Of course you wouldn't use those in a resident facing conversation, but in a business setting they are perfectly appropriate.

Adam Wilkins the problem is that these words (and others like them) have gone from being internal industry words to words that end up getting used with/in front of our residents & customers/guests. We get so used to saying them that they slip out when they shouldn't. I have watched onsite team members call people looking for apartments prospects yo their faces.

We also refer to their apartments as "homes."

Complex should be banned!!!
Community or Property is much better!!!

These are communities with homes & residents! As more people choose to rent over purchase we have to improve our lingo the same way we improve the amenities & services!

Resident is my favorite word. I only use it. If I'm feeling extra uppity, I refer to their units as "home."

Landlord
Landlady
Tenant
Unit
Complex

“Complex“ -it’s a “community”

I agree. We manage affordable apartments and always try to use professional language. It’s residents, community and service requests for us.

The one I want to see go away is- Company Policy. Our residence do not work for our company. They live in our community’s. Let’s find a more comfortable way to teach this. Your community guidelines, your resident agreement etc... can’t we all get along?? ????

Can’t stand-
Tenant
Unit
Piece of Traffic
Complex
We teach Legend Lingo at our New Hire Orientation to get everyone away from these words as well as a few more.

Vendors! They aren't selling hot dogs and pop corn at a ball game. They are suppliers; and the good ones are partners!

Amy Foster Williams Eh, vendors don't need kid gloves like residents do. I think they can handle the term vendors just fine.

Adam Wilkins I know when I was a "vendor" that I thought it sounded ridiculous. Other industries I'd worked in didn't refer to them as that.

Big Facts! This always rub me the wrong way

Actually 2 different legal terms that differentiate between a person who lives in a residence and a person who rented a residence.

In privatized military housing, we have communities, families and partners....

I say resident, and neighborhood rather than complex.
"home" instead of unit.

Residents are people who live at the property or communities.
They re-site on the location.

Tenants do not. This word is used for Commercial Estate Business Parks and buildings.
We have Tenant who lease Offices, suites, and warehouses from us and do not live there.

See the difference?