This week in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a man allegedly attempted to run over his landlord with a car and was arrested on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon. Jesse Andrew Thornill, 28, was released on a $10,000 bond a few hours later according to jail records.
According to the police report, Thornhill was arguing with his landlord (who is also his neighbor) and it escalated to his attempt to run over her with his vehicle. The landlord jumped out of the way and was not injured.
A lot readers here at AgentGenius are property managers and landlords themselves and while we don’t know the exact circumstances of this arrest, it is a reminder that landlords should be gentle yet firm in these tough times. Often, landlords treat renters like unit numbers and forget that it’s someone’s home they’re dealing with and not much more in life is as sacred as the roof over a head.
Let us be mindful in these explosive times that landlords and property owners should take steps to be fair and compassionate, even in the quest to enforce.
Chris Lengquist
July 22, 2010 at 2:31 am
And let’s remind the tenants to be mindful that the landlords also have mortgages that need to be paid. It’s a two way street. 🙂
But your point is well taken. More than a few landlords each year are killed by tenants. A great reason to use a property manager since they are not so emotionally involved.
Bryan Thompson
July 22, 2010 at 9:17 am
“But your point is well taken. More than a few landlords each year are killed by tenants.”
Is there a study to show these numbers? I don’t doubt you, but man, that is alarming!
Lani Rosales
July 22, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Bryan, I don’t have any studies in front of me, but as someone who reads real estate news and covers it for a living, we hear about incidents like this several times each year in America, even when economic times aren’t difficult. Homes are a really emotional commodity and renters often get the short end of the stick.
Miami Condo Shop
July 22, 2010 at 12:06 pm
I first read about the incident a weak ago and the media made a circus about how Mr. Thornill modified his face to look like a reptile. Thornill tried to hit his landlord with a ’96 Ford Windstar van. Anyway, both landlords and tenants have legal rights and obligations. It goes both ways and the law protects both parties. No one is allowed to take the law into their own hands, irrespective of circumstances. In this case, Thornill simply blew it. A lot of similar cases have been documented. I guess landlords should be extra cautious when choosing tenants so incidents like this can be avoided.
Liz Benitez
July 22, 2010 at 8:58 pm
I gatta say I’m a little surprised at the sympathy for the renter. After all he did try to run someone over with his car. In my book that makes him in the wrong. Regardless of what happened in the argument the renter shouldn’t have taken such drastic measures. The caution to the Landlords/Property managers to be more compassionate is good but in the end they still have to collect the rent, they still have to make sure the renters aren’t tearing the place up, they still have to make sure the lease terms are being followed.
Erica Ramus
July 22, 2010 at 11:15 pm
I am shocked at how many times tenants feel that they have the RIGHT to stay in a place even after they don’t pay the rent, tear the place up and owe money to utilities. It is so tenant friendly that the landlord has to spend time and money trying to evict a deadbeat who has not paid his rent!
I had one where when I went to talk to the tenant, they quoted landlord/tenant rights to me and told me I could not possibly sell the place because they deserved to live there. They did not pay the rent, owed PPL for months, and we were evicting them (they had a month to month lease). Yet they screamed at me and came charging at me violently that I was the bad guy.
It makes you never want to rent or deal with tenants.
Lani Rosales
July 24, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Erica, you and Liz must be in pro-tenant states! lol
I’m in Texas where it is extremely pro-owner, almost to a fault in my opinion. Oklahoma laws are very similar to Texas’ from what I understand, so I would be willing to bet the same applies there.
Regardless, this guy’s a tool, there’s no defending attempted murder, PERIOD. That’s not what I’m saying. He doesn’t deserve a defense if he is guilty, but it still acts as a reminder that a person’s home is sacred and compassion must be applied, even in a pro-owner state. It also makes for a strained situation for an owner to live next door to a renter, don’t you guys think?
Jim Gatos
July 23, 2010 at 12:45 am
Did you see his picture? My Heavens!
tulsaworld.com/includes/article/relatedphotos.aspx?articleID=20100721_11_0_ATulsa287782
Joe
July 23, 2010 at 1:31 am
Why the nofollows on links Lani? Some of us are attracted to blogs that have value but offer a dofollow link for contribution.
Sadly, we’ve seen the same before. The website offers a dofollow link in reward for participation, then nofollows links once they have a reader base. Not sure there is a whole lot of ethics in that decision.