Punisher Bass
He who drives a Buick
Be warned, this a long rant, but I have to get this off my chest.
So you wanna be a landlord? You might want to think twice about it.
First, a little bit of back story. My family had our house (a duplex) built special 16 years ago. We live on one side, and my grandma lived on the other side. She passed away in 99 and since that time, we?ve rented out that side to various people with the help of a management company. Most of the time we?ve had little to no problem with the tenants who?ve lived there? till Chad (name changed to protect the guilty douche bag) moved in a year ago.
At the end of last summer, my house started going through what is called mine subsidence. I?m sure most of you have no fucking clue what I?m on about, so I?ll try and explain. A company called Peabody Coal undermined this entire area many decades ago, and because they did not leave enough support behind in their wake, that area deep underground has collapsed. This means my house, along with about 30 others in my neighborhood, have started to break in two and crumble in various ways. But that is another thread for another day.
The point is while the house has some cosmetic problems inside and out, it?s still 100% safe and livable. It?s been inspected and is fully up to code. Hell, the city inspector is a former tenant of ours. The mine subsidence is fully disclosed to each tenant, and they sign a paper saying ?yes, I know this house is going through yadda yadda yadda?.
Keep this in mind for later.
Last September our last tenant moved out and our management company found us Chad. Chad is a military asshole. Chad starts parking a trailer in the yard next to the driveway. CSM tells him that he can't do that, so he puts the trailer in the driveway and parks his TRUCK in the yard. CSM tells him that is even worse and he throws a fit.
About a week after this, the contractor we have on call to keep our house from falling apart (lets call him Bill), a person from CSM (John), and myself go next door to look things over. For the first few minutes he?s trying to be looming and intimidating to the three of us, till he realizes who I am and that I live right next door and have seen all the shit he?s been pulling.
Bill checks the supports in the crawlspace and John just goes over the subject of mine subsidence with Chad again, telling him people will be by periodically to make sure the house itself is ok. Then Bill goes over it with him again about what can happen during these events, and Chad says he understands.
Things are ok for a few months, other than Chad making a lot of noise from time to time, he doesn?t cause us much trouble. As the house moves, Bill and his crew keep everything in check.
Then April comes around.
CSM emails me a copy of a letter Chad sent them. In it, he says he wants to be let out of his lease with no penalties for the following reasons/lies.
1: He says the mine subsidence started after he moved in.
2: He says he was never informed about the mine subsidence.
3: He says the house is not safe and livable.
4. He says we?ve done nothing to keep the house safe.
5: He says he and his family (what family?) are in danger.
Needless to say, I hit the roof. We type up a letter shooting down each of his points and say "no, we will not release you from the lease". We also pull out the paper he signed that said "Yes I understand this property has mine subsidence". He does have the option of breaking the lease, but that means paying all the fines and fees that go along with it.
Since Chad didn't get his way he starts acting out like a child. And in the middle of May he just vanishes into thin air. His truck is gone and there is no noise next door. Into mid June there is still no sign of him. He hasn't given us or CSM a note or phone call or anything saying he would be gone for X amount of time. But his rent is still being paid.
The whole time Chad has been away, the grass has been growing and growing. A cop knocks on my door and says they've gotten a complaint from a neighbor about how high that side of the yard has gotten. He also says that if it is not cut soon, we will be cited and fined because we are the property owners.
I call up CSM and tell them what I was just told. They try to get a hold of him over the phone but have no luck. CSM can send one of their guys out to cut the grass for a $45 fee which Chad will have to pay, or I can cut the grass myself and charge him. I do the job myself and charge him $90 because it took 3 tanks of gas and 3 different passes to get the grass down to a normal level.
A few days after I finished the grass, Chad shows up again and starts throwing another fit. I'm sure it was caused by the letters CSM left him saying "You need to cut your grass" "Your grass will be cut for you if you don't" and "Here's the bill for cutting your grass". He doesn't pay up.
On July 4th I discover he now has a dog over there, which is a major violation of the lease. Because of this, he gets charged an extra $250 a month which he will get back, provided the carpets are not messed up because of the dog. Again, he doesn't pay up.
Shockingly, he decides not to renew the lease.
At the end of September he?s moving out and making more noise than ever. For the last few days it sounds like he?s stuffing whole potatoes down the garbage disposal and hammering the walls constantly. When he?s finally gone for good, I go over to have a look at things, and I am not happy.
He?s put all kinds of holes, scuffs, scrapes, gouges, and stains on the walls. I find bits of plastic, ceramic, and what looks like an orange bag inside the disposal. He?s stained custom made blinds. He?s put a nail in a door. He dented the front door. He also stole the broiler pan, shower curtain, and curtain rod.
Here are some examples of the damage. He did a lot more than this, but it gives you an idea.
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/10/09/1_001.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/10/09/2.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/3.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/4.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/5.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/6.jpg
I call up CSM and they send someone over to see the damage. Rather than have them do the repairs and cleaning, I will do them myself. I've already painted that side of the house twice before and cleaning isn't hard. I am told once again that since I am doing the work myself, I can charge whatever I want and it will be taken out of the security deposit.
I figure it up at:
$350 for repair and repainting walls.
$200 for supplies and materials. (paint, new disposal, new blinds, ect)
$100 for carpet cleaning.
$90 for the grass cutting.
$40 for 2 hours of labor. (for removing the old and installing the new disposal and blinds)
TOTAL: $780
I worked from Friday afternoon to Sunday night and here are the results.
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/1.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/2.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/3_000.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/4_000.jpg
I wrote up the invoice and dropped it off at the CSM office on Monday morning, and now I wait to collect my money. I wish I could see the look on Chad's face when he realizes he's not going to be getting back any of his security deposit.
Also, his commanding officer will be called and notified of Chad's actions over the last year.
So if you ever have the chance to be a land lord, you might want to think it over.
Some people might think I'm overreacting, but think about it from where I'm sitting. If you had a very nice home that was in great shape with fresh paint and carpets, and someone came in and damaged it like that, you'd be highly pissed wouldn't you? Especially if you had to deal with crap from them over a whole year.
So you wanna be a landlord? You might want to think twice about it.
First, a little bit of back story. My family had our house (a duplex) built special 16 years ago. We live on one side, and my grandma lived on the other side. She passed away in 99 and since that time, we?ve rented out that side to various people with the help of a management company. Most of the time we?ve had little to no problem with the tenants who?ve lived there? till Chad (name changed to protect the guilty douche bag) moved in a year ago.
At the end of last summer, my house started going through what is called mine subsidence. I?m sure most of you have no fucking clue what I?m on about, so I?ll try and explain. A company called Peabody Coal undermined this entire area many decades ago, and because they did not leave enough support behind in their wake, that area deep underground has collapsed. This means my house, along with about 30 others in my neighborhood, have started to break in two and crumble in various ways. But that is another thread for another day.
The point is while the house has some cosmetic problems inside and out, it?s still 100% safe and livable. It?s been inspected and is fully up to code. Hell, the city inspector is a former tenant of ours. The mine subsidence is fully disclosed to each tenant, and they sign a paper saying ?yes, I know this house is going through yadda yadda yadda?.
Keep this in mind for later.
Last September our last tenant moved out and our management company found us Chad. Chad is a military asshole. Chad starts parking a trailer in the yard next to the driveway. CSM tells him that he can't do that, so he puts the trailer in the driveway and parks his TRUCK in the yard. CSM tells him that is even worse and he throws a fit.
About a week after this, the contractor we have on call to keep our house from falling apart (lets call him Bill), a person from CSM (John), and myself go next door to look things over. For the first few minutes he?s trying to be looming and intimidating to the three of us, till he realizes who I am and that I live right next door and have seen all the shit he?s been pulling.
Bill checks the supports in the crawlspace and John just goes over the subject of mine subsidence with Chad again, telling him people will be by periodically to make sure the house itself is ok. Then Bill goes over it with him again about what can happen during these events, and Chad says he understands.
Things are ok for a few months, other than Chad making a lot of noise from time to time, he doesn?t cause us much trouble. As the house moves, Bill and his crew keep everything in check.
Then April comes around.
CSM emails me a copy of a letter Chad sent them. In it, he says he wants to be let out of his lease with no penalties for the following reasons/lies.
1: He says the mine subsidence started after he moved in.
2: He says he was never informed about the mine subsidence.
3: He says the house is not safe and livable.
4. He says we?ve done nothing to keep the house safe.
5: He says he and his family (what family?) are in danger.
Needless to say, I hit the roof. We type up a letter shooting down each of his points and say "no, we will not release you from the lease". We also pull out the paper he signed that said "Yes I understand this property has mine subsidence". He does have the option of breaking the lease, but that means paying all the fines and fees that go along with it.
Since Chad didn't get his way he starts acting out like a child. And in the middle of May he just vanishes into thin air. His truck is gone and there is no noise next door. Into mid June there is still no sign of him. He hasn't given us or CSM a note or phone call or anything saying he would be gone for X amount of time. But his rent is still being paid.
The whole time Chad has been away, the grass has been growing and growing. A cop knocks on my door and says they've gotten a complaint from a neighbor about how high that side of the yard has gotten. He also says that if it is not cut soon, we will be cited and fined because we are the property owners.
I call up CSM and tell them what I was just told. They try to get a hold of him over the phone but have no luck. CSM can send one of their guys out to cut the grass for a $45 fee which Chad will have to pay, or I can cut the grass myself and charge him. I do the job myself and charge him $90 because it took 3 tanks of gas and 3 different passes to get the grass down to a normal level.
A few days after I finished the grass, Chad shows up again and starts throwing another fit. I'm sure it was caused by the letters CSM left him saying "You need to cut your grass" "Your grass will be cut for you if you don't" and "Here's the bill for cutting your grass". He doesn't pay up.
On July 4th I discover he now has a dog over there, which is a major violation of the lease. Because of this, he gets charged an extra $250 a month which he will get back, provided the carpets are not messed up because of the dog. Again, he doesn't pay up.
Shockingly, he decides not to renew the lease.
At the end of September he?s moving out and making more noise than ever. For the last few days it sounds like he?s stuffing whole potatoes down the garbage disposal and hammering the walls constantly. When he?s finally gone for good, I go over to have a look at things, and I am not happy.
He?s put all kinds of holes, scuffs, scrapes, gouges, and stains on the walls. I find bits of plastic, ceramic, and what looks like an orange bag inside the disposal. He?s stained custom made blinds. He?s put a nail in a door. He dented the front door. He also stole the broiler pan, shower curtain, and curtain rod.
Here are some examples of the damage. He did a lot more than this, but it gives you an idea.
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/10/09/1_001.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/10/09/2.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/3.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/4.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/5.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/6.jpg
I call up CSM and they send someone over to see the damage. Rather than have them do the repairs and cleaning, I will do them myself. I've already painted that side of the house twice before and cleaning isn't hard. I am told once again that since I am doing the work myself, I can charge whatever I want and it will be taken out of the security deposit.
I figure it up at:
$350 for repair and repainting walls.
$200 for supplies and materials. (paint, new disposal, new blinds, ect)
$100 for carpet cleaning.
$90 for the grass cutting.
$40 for 2 hours of labor. (for removing the old and installing the new disposal and blinds)
TOTAL: $780
I worked from Friday afternoon to Sunday night and here are the results.
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/1.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/2.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/3_000.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/pu/punisherbass/2008/10/09/4_000.jpg
I wrote up the invoice and dropped it off at the CSM office on Monday morning, and now I wait to collect my money. I wish I could see the look on Chad's face when he realizes he's not going to be getting back any of his security deposit.
Also, his commanding officer will be called and notified of Chad's actions over the last year.
So if you ever have the chance to be a land lord, you might want to think it over.
Some people might think I'm overreacting, but think about it from where I'm sitting. If you had a very nice home that was in great shape with fresh paint and carpets, and someone came in and damaged it like that, you'd be highly pissed wouldn't you? Especially if you had to deal with crap from them over a whole year.
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