Feel good story of the day: elderly man gifts house to single mom tenant

Mother and daughter laughingPhoto byVivek KumaronUnsplash

A good friend of mine posted a true story recently on social media. She gave me permission to share this inspirational story of kindness. Names and locations have been withheld for privacy, and the original post has been revised and expanded.

An insurance agent had a customer who owned several rental properties. Some landlords are better than others. Good landlords keep their properties in tip-top shape and take care of their tenants. There are, unfortunately, plenty of not-so-good landlords, who care more about profit than the people who rent their homes. When you rent a home, you hope for stability. Best case, you pay a reasonable rent, have a safe, comfortble place to live, and can settle in and call the property your home for many years. In this case, it was a fantastic landlord, who happened to be 94 years old.

Because the landlord owned several properties, he had many tenants. At one point, he decided to perform major renovations on one of the houses he rented out.

He spent thousands of dollars on a new roof. He also updated all the electrical and even the fixtures in the home.

Oil painting of cozy New England House by Tracy CarbonePhoto byTracy Carbone

The long-term renter of this property was a single mother. After ten years of renting, she and her children thought of it as home. So when the renovations began, and continued, she was happy to see the house get a facelift but also concerned about the implications. Surely, the landlord would be raising her rent, or preparing to sell the home, and then she’d have to contend with an owner who may not be as personable and kind as the man she’d known for so long. She worried about needing to relocate and what that would mean for her children, and if, in the current market, she could even afford rent.

When all the renovations were complete, the property owner called the insurance agent to inform them that indeed, the house had changed ownership. But in a wonderful and unexpected plot twist, he explained who the new owner was. He’d transferred the deed to his favorite long-term tenant, the single mom who had worried needlessly. People are good and kind and this is a great example of “pay it forward” in action.

To make you smile even more, the man also paid the renewal premium on the house! How’s that for restoring faith in humanity?

Though the insurance agent didn’t have insight into the renter’s reaction when she got the news, I think we can all assume that she was pretty darn happy.

Share this story and spread the kindness.