When we didn’t bow down to her list of wild demands, a property owner from the mainland called us “stupid Hawaiians.” 

Karen (yes, we are going to call her Karen) wanted us to sell her condo. We told her it was overpriced. But we’re professionals, so we gave it our best—staging you see on HGTV, fabulous photos, and extensive marketing. Still, no takers. When reality knocked, she shut the door, refused to lower the price, and said, “Rent it instead.”

Now, Karen had some demands. No children allowed, she said. We explained, very slowly and painfully, that this was not only discriminatory but also very illegal. She pretended not to hear us. Then came the other demands. We listened patiently until we heard something we had never heard before: “And make sure the tenant uses only one-ply toilet paper.”

This is when we knew our time with Karen was over. We tried to explain that our Rental Agreement already discusses proper plumbing care, but this was not good enough. She wanted us to police tenant toilet habits. We politely told her, “We are sorry, but we think it is best you find another property manager.” A storm of racist name-calling followed. There is no doubt that firing this client was anything but stupid.