I was showing a vacant retail space to a potential tenant.  He had called me after seeing an advertisement we posted about the space.  An advertisement that clearly stated the monthly rent amount and other terms.

Tenant: This place is perfect for my start up business! When could I move in?

Me:  Great! I’ll need you to fill out some paperwork to get things started. Here is a credit application…

Tenant: What? Hold up! You expect me to pay you to be here?

Me: Yes. That is how this works.

Tenant: But it’s empty!  You’re not using it at all!  You want me to pay you for this space when you’re just letting it sit here empty?  What about encouraging local businesses and entrepreneurs? What about supporting young people?  I can’t believe you want to charge rent for this?

Me:  We talked about the rent on the phone and the rental rate was in the advertisement too.

Tenant:  I know but I can’t believe you’re actually going to do this.  Not when the space is just empty and unused.  Why would you make me pay for this?

Me: You pay rent to have use of the space for your business.  That’s why it’s called “renting” space and not “giving away free” space.  I mean it’s right in the description, RENTING space.  You pay rent for it.  That’s just how this works.

Tenant: Wow. You only care about money. That’s really sad.

Yes.  It was really sad.  Sad that so much time was wasted on explaining that rent is part of RENTING.