Background: My parents are both really hard working people, and on top of that they work in real estate for some extra income. When the housing market collapsed, they took out some loans to buy inexpensive properties and rent them out. This was also a good investment for them because they could easily sell one off when the market rose again to better afford my college tuition when the time came.
As landlords, they often have trouble with people who don't want to pay. In the place they live, laws are very loose on such tenants, and it can create real problems. This is one of those times.
So their current tenants on one of their properties became 3 months behind on their rent, and it became time to move them out. It's important to note that their income was high enough that they could afford the rent, so it wasn't clear what was going on. They were sent notices, to which they didn't respond, they didn't answer their phone, and when someone went by to check on them, it was discovered that they had changed their locks. This is a HUGE problem for a number of different reasons. First and foremost they violated their lease, they were clearly avoiding contact with my parents, and at this point for all my parents knew they could be inside damaging the property out of anger(has happened before with tenants who were forcefully removed, and unfortunately it's very easy to avoid paying damages if you're already being kicked out for not being able to pay your regular rent).
After enough notice and time spent trying to collect their rent back, it became legal for them to force the tenants out. Now, I have to say that this isn't something my parents like doing. It's obviously a painful experience for the tenants, but the landlord has to get the sheriff involved to force their way in, hire a moving crew to take out all of their stuff, and usually hire a security guard to make sure people don't try to force entry back into the house, as well as protect new tenants moving in if it comes to that. In addition to the planning of all of this, my parents brought the matter to court so that they could get back the rent they were owed.
After posting a final notice on their door with a warning that they would be forcefully evicted after a week, my parents were notified that the tenants had filed for bankruptcy. In essence, this delays any action of evicting someone because the case is moved to a different court (Forgive me if I'm a little fuzzy on the details. I'm 17, and most of the legal specifics bored me in comparison to the delightful revenge). Anyway, parents got a lawyer, and additionally tried to contact their previous landlord that gave a glowing review, who refused to call back.
At this point my parents were a mess. They rely on the income of their houses and this whole ordeal was causing a lot of stress, in addition to extra time and money for lawyer fees and whatnot. My mom just walked around the house sobbing the day she found out they were filing for bankruptcy, because it seemed like these people would get to keep living in our house for months more rent free. My mom had at least expected it to take a few weeks to open the house again, and she had lined up a nice family who wanted to move in and could afford it. They had already made an agreement and given a down payment, which my mom had to return, telling this nice couple that they wouldn't be able to move in after all. Getting a nice paycheck, holding it, putting it into your bank account, planning to pay your bills with it, and then giving it all back is one of the cruddiest feelings a person can experience.
After a week or two, my parents were able to recompose themselves, and my mom turned her despair into rage. These people were living in our house by manipulating the law. And so my mom started getting creative.
Revenge #1: She started by having our aunt (also a realtor that works with my parents) go by the house another time to try to talk to them. It was obvious they were home: their car was out front and the tv was on, but no one came to the door. At this point, my aunt snooped around the front of the house, and found that the electric cables were tampered with. Not severely, but enough that it looked "wrong". My parents then involved our handyman, who is a very good friend of my parents. They let him in on what was going on at the house, and he was just as frustrated by the evil weasels living in our house as we were. He promised to do anything he could to help, and so he visited the cables later that day. Once he had done his super handy handyman duties, he informed us that they were tampering with their television cables, at which point he made it quite clear that he believed this tampering to be a serious fire hazard. Who knows when a flame could burst, and what if that were to put our lovely tenants in danger?
Petty? Sure. But that's what you're here for. With that, the fire department was informed, the police department was called, and multiple officers firemen came by, causing a huge scene in the street that drew out the neighbors. The firemen looked over everything and said that while there may have been a slight fire hazard, it really was no reason to be concerned, to which my mom responded hysterically that our handyman made it very clear that this was an extreme hazard, and to get the fire department involved as soon as possible. The police tried to talk to the people inside, who were obviously home but still not answering the door, even after the police made it clear who they were, which only made it so, so much worse for the tenants. Although we didn't have a key since they had changed the locks, and we were told us that unless a fire was actually happening, they couldn't force entry to the house, the whole event was officially recorded, and my parents could now additionally sue for property damage to the cables, which also speeds up the process of forced removal. In addition, a record by the fire department of a fire hazard looks quite bad in court, especially with a statement from the officers that the tenants refused to come out of the house to talk with anyone about the potential danger.
Revenge #2: My mom contacted our gardener to visit the garden outside the house, and asked our trusty handy man to "tag along." You know, to ensure the complete satisfaction of our tenants by checking that all is up and running. When they went by the house together, the tenants weren't home, and the handy man was able to slip through an open window and safely remove the most expensive piece of their air conditioning unit. Unless they hired their own handy man and had the unit fixed, the air conditioner wouldn't work, but it would be very easy on our part to have the removed hardware placed back in. While our guy was at it, he deconstructed the fridge and took a few pieces of that too.
By the way, it's VERY hot where they live, and without air conditioning, the bottom floors of the house could easily get to the 100-110 degree F range. Want a nice cool beverage to help with the heat? Too bad. If you want air conditioning or a working refrigerator, or really any amenities that come with a rental home, fucking pay for it.
Revenge #3: This is, I believe, the pettiest of them all. Judge my parents if you want, but I personally believe this action was justified, since at this point it came out that the tenants had done the same thing in the past to other landlords. Why was this missed in the background checks? Well, the landlords all gave raving reviews to my parents, although it was now clear that they too had forcefully removed these people from their property. Why? To get them the fuck out of their house, which is also illegal.
The tenants living in the house are a married couple with a 11 year old daughter. I know. Trust me, I know. After saying that, I'd also like to remind the readers that the family definitely had the income to afford rent, but all signs, especially their history of doing this to other land lords, pointed to them trying to weasel out of paying. My mom took one final step. She knew the family had their child enrolled in the nearby public school. She also knew that enrollment in public school in contingent on living in the specified vicinity of the campus. She called the school, spoke to the financial department, informed them as the owner of the family's property that the family was no longer paying rent, and therefore did not have the rights to the benefits of owning property in that city, which included attending public school. It's summer break for us, meaning that the family's daughter won't be kicked out of school mid-way through the year or anything, but if the family tries to enroll her again this fall, they will be politely refused .
At this point the family is still living there, and the court battle is ongoing, but things are looking very good for my parents, and I will update as soon as I hear more information.
Submitted August 08, 2017 at 03:07AM by madisonpie2 http://ift.tt/2wBChel pettyrevenge
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