I woke up this morning to a phone call that one of my tenants has committed suicide.

I found my initial reaction interesting.  At first, I had no reaction at all. Strange.   People who know me will tell you that I can be a very sensitive person, especially when it comes to children. That is probably why I became very angry when I was told he had shot himself in the head in front of the neighborhood kids. I mean furious.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m sorry the guy is dead. I’m sorry for his parents. I’m sorry for his girlfriend who had an argument with him that apparently triggered this. Mostly, I’m sorry for his children and the neighbor’s children that watched this all happen. They are undoubtedly traumatized and damaged for life. 

Contrary to popular belief, property managers are human and we do have feelings.  But we also must do our job. Without getting into detail, we will now need to evaluate the scene for hazardous conditions. We must hire licensed professionals to clean the scene. It is also reasonable to expect some tenants to vacate after such a tragedy. We will have disclosure issues. These are just some of the things we must now consider to make sure that our owner’s property is protected. This was not our first suicide, and unfortunately, it likely won’t be the last.

I am a Property Manager 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.