CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I side with tenants under most circumstances. Let's keep it real, a metropolis like Cleveland has an army of slumlords who'll squeeze as many pennies out of a property as they can without putting dollars back into it.

In old homes like those on the East Side, properties need upkeep and repairs, which will cost landlords a lot of money. As much as they might want to pass on these costs to a tenant, they can't always do it.

So, landlords have to hope their tenant understands. The two sides have a relationship, a simple relationship: A tenant gets a clean, cozy place to live; a landlord gets money each month.

Their relationship falls apart when one side doesn't keep up its end.

That's what I've learned from listening to a friend, who owns a handful of rental properties in the city and near-ring suburbs. He's got a crew of workers who he relies on to keep his property in good repair.

Yet, even that's not enough for some tenants, who can't seem to fit rents into their budget. Aside from perhaps food, I can think of nothing more important to a family's well-being than a secure place to stay.

Still, rents baffle some people.

My friend told me he started an eviction process on a tenant who, because she qualified for housing aid under Section 8, paid him $18 monthly for her share. Uncle Sam picked up the rest.

During the two-plus years she stayed in his property, she'd pay one month, miss one month and then play catch up. She did catch up, but then she fell into arrears afresh.

With late fees attached, she owed my friend $800, which he realized he'd never get. Instead of the money, he wanted his rental unit back, which is why he went to court looking to evict her.

Nobody can call eviction a pleasant process. To see a person's belongings on the lawn is enough to make you weep. You wonder what happened in this person's life to make eviction a landlord's last option.

My friend hesitates to use eviction, and his tenant didn't want him to. Eviction for someone on Section VIII is devastating to their lives. They can lose the privilege of being in the federal program, a safety net for the truly needy.

But my friend doesn't run a charity. He's got a rental business, which he hopes to pass to his 11-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter.

His tenant couldn't know this. What she did know is she didn't want to move, and she absolutely didn't want an eviction. She asked her minister to intercede. He did.

He talked to my friend about what could be done to keep the woman and her children in the home. My friend's answer was straightforward: Catch up on the rent.

Now, $18 a month isn't a big ask, but you question whether somebody has mixed up her priorities if she can't at least pay that small sum. Few things in life are free, other than the grace of God.

My friend isn't a Christian, which saddens me. He's a landlord; he's a landlord with a big heart, though.

His heart is only so big, and he's not naïve. He won't do for a tenant what the tenant won't do for him.