As I blogged here, I've been having roommate trouble. Well, it all blew up in my face on Tuesday. I tried to have a rational conversation with my roommate on the subject, and she flew off the handle, making insults which I will not reprint on this blog. I offered to move out and find her a new roommate, but she started making excuses why that wouldn't work. Then she said that she would move out, and she laid some guilt trip about how she had hoped she would be able to stay until her daughter graduates from 8th grade in June. I told her I wasn't kicking her out, and when she insisted on leaving I offered to help. She stormed off and has been avoiding me ever since.
I've been having problems with the landlord, too. (The complex is a dump, and the landlord doesn't seem to feel the need to comply with notice requirements before demanding entry to the apartment.) After talking to a lawyer, I've decided to just move. Since the lease is so close to being up, it's cheaper for me to keep paying for the place even while not living there than it is to break the lease or make the legal argument that the landlord has broken the lease.
I can see the Lord's hand in all of this. I was able to secure a beautiful apartment in the complex a block away from where I'm living now. There was a special running, so I can afford it. The apartment is just the right size for me, and when I walked inside, it felt like home. (There's no good way to describe it. I just knew it was the right place.) My sister is moving back in with our parents, which is good for her, too. I am officially done with roommates! The next time I live with anyone will be if I get married or adopt children.
Now my crazy roommate can have her shiftless husband around as often as she wants and I don't have to deal with it. I'm moving next Saturday. Hallelujah!
2 comments:
I'm glad you're moving, and getting out of that situation! The new apartment sounds great. Congratulations!
I'm actually a landlord, myself, and may be able to give a perspective on your (soon to be former) landlord's behavior. Although I, personally, would never fail to address issues in the apartment, or enter without notice, many landlords do when they feel like they have problem tenants. Generally, failing to address issues is one way of encouraging tenants to move on. Moreover, in many states--Massachusetts is one--landlords have huge liability issues. A few years ago, I kicked some tenants out, because they a) used drugs and b) had a number of male visitors. Personally, I don't care one way or the other; their private lives are their own business. However, as their landlord, I would've been criminally, as well as civilly, liable if the police had raided their apartment and found drugs. Moreover, if there was some sort of violent situation re: one of their visitors, I could potentially also have been liable as a party to creating a dangerous situation.
Generally, you're always better off if you can make a good impression on the landlord. It's not necessary to be friends, but if you come across as a dependable, reliable, clean living person, your landlord is much more likely to do anything he or she can to keep you as a tenant.
Right of entry was a topic of concern for me when I signed my last lease. I inserted specific language into the lease agreement specifying the steps the landlord had to take before he could enter the unit. (First knock, then call by phone, then enter.) The landlord had a habit of just entering his units, once surprising my neighbor in a state of semi-undress. The added language did the trick, mostly in the awareness category, because he has been very careful about entry in the time I've been there.
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