So, I don't like my landlady.
She is one of those types that takes on projects, like owning a house and having tenants, as if it were a pet. And she is a terrible pet owner: not one of those loving, dog-owner types, but rather a goldfish-killer, forget-to-water-the-cactus-to-death, types. Let's call her Homeowner extraordinaire or HE for short.
I have many quibbles about her negligence, but really not quite enough patience to document it all here. So I'll just give the highlights of the "good times".
1.) The Mold.
So, the back corner of the house looked like godzilla had been snacking on it. I mean there was a chunk of house, just gone. You know, I mentioned it at the lease signing and was told that it was, "Not my problem". Well, post-remnants of hurricane, um, which one was it?, Bob or Waldo or something, mold began growing in the corner of my daughter's room, about 3 feet from where her head rests to sleep. This was the beginning of the saga that involved many phone calls and a very convoluted path to resolution. (yes, this ends well.)
2.) The Glass
Somehow HE got it in her head that the house needed to be painted (Although how painting could resolve the godzilla snack problem was and is still a mystery to me. I don't think logic is one of HE's better traits.) So during the painting process the newest immigrant, $2-an-hour workers that HE'd hired removed all of the storm glass and put them *inside* my house in front of every window. For 2 months.
And it was *only* two months because I removed them from inside my house myself, following several futile phone calls and broken promises (She's not a call-returning-type of girl) which incited me to take matters into my own hands. I decided that I didn't feel like sueing her after my 2-yr-old fell into a pane of glass (oh, wait, 2-yrs-olds NEVER trip or jump...I'm just overprotective. ?)
3.) The Call
Dec. 1, 8:51am
HE leaves a message on my work voicemail complaining that I was 2 months late on my rent, due on the 1st of the month. Following my blood pressure spike, I confirmed via on-line banking that not only had I mailed my November's rent, but it had been cashed and cleared by Nov. 8th. So I was late on December's rent as of Dec. 1, 8:51 am?!? Um, hmmmm.
4.) The Current State
Well, I returned her call and finally laid into her, in contrast to all the nice, positive-reinforcement type calls that I'd made in the past. It felt good and apparently is the right way to handle this woman: She said "thank you!" right before I slammed the phone down. So, I'm prepared to be neglected for awhile, again. The storm windows are still not in (yay, expensive heating bills!!), but at least they are not sitting ducks for a 2-yr-old crash. I'm just hoping that my bathroom ceiling leak doesn't start up again...HE will decide to have Spanish only-speaking cheap labor plant new bushes instead of sending in construction workers, while my ceiling caves in (but, goddamn-it the neighbors will think the house looks great!)
(And I'm only 3.5 months into my lease.) :)
Pa
4 years ago
2 comments:
Oh super! I hope you're talking about a 1-year lease, because a friend of mine signed on for 5 years once, without really understanding the full ramifications...he had to sue to be released from the lease when his home became 'unlivable' according to the health and safety board.
Yum.
J
Yeah, it's just a year. And there's no biohazard in progress, just some icy floors and high heating bills due to lack of storm glass. My projection is that I am going to just have to suck it up...the last two messages that I left on the landlady's answering machine have been blatantly disregarded. Bugger it all.
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