I am officially an Evil Landlord.

[IdaBriggs]

Moved in a family who had a previous history of financial challenges, who swore up one side and down the other that things were better now, and they could afford the rent. Since, logically, they could (its reasonable, and includes gas, electric, water, etc.), they moved in.

The first 'full' month (July) they were late. They were late in August, too, and we switched them from a 'monthly' lease to a 'weekly' one, which they promptly screwed up. They were late in September (but only by a few days), and I now have eviction proceedings going on them because I still don't have October's rent.

Turns out the husband has diabetes, and has been hospitalized for it several times in the last few months. Since he doesn't work at a union shop, its 'no work, no pay' and his wife -- well, she says she can't find a job, but had two 'part time' ones when she moved in that should have covered things.

So, they didn't pay October 1st, got served with a 'Notice to Quit' (7 days) and then his youngest brother (age 41) committed suicide on October 8th. I delayed filing the court papers as they promised payment for the next week and a half (dumb, I know), the brother's funeral happened, and the day after, when they were supposed to give me the rent, he didn't go to work, and was back in the hospital for another week. Now he's been told he can't go back to work because of damage to his eyesight, and they found a spot on his lung that could be the scary C word.

The court date for their eviction is next Monday. They'll be given 10 days to get out. They have no money for October's rent, no way of getting November's rent, and it could be months before social security disability comes through for them.

We can't afford to be without the income the rental unit provides (all rent from all units simply pays the mortgage and bills on the property), and I need to get someone into the unit who can -- and will -- pay the rent.

(The property was my parents; after my father passed, it was too much for my mother to manage, so my husband and I took over -- with the Michigan economy being the way it is, it is more a labor of love and duty than profit making.)

They are in despair, and I understand it. They have two children (10 & 12) and a dog. I have compassion for them, but at the same time, they know the system to the point where they are trying to take us down with them, too. They *thought* the eviction process would give them several *months* of a free place to stay, but forgot they had signed a lease addendum making them 'weekly' tenants instead, which lets me get them out by mid November. Sigh.

The sad thing is, if the wife was working 40 hours at a McDonalds, those wages alone would be enough to come close to covering the rent, and if we were seeing some sign of payment (instead of Zero), it would be easier to work with them. However, she's not working (apparently anywhere at the moment), he can't work per doctor's orders, and while I'm willing to offer my floor to them, I can't let the whole property go into foreclosure, making 7 other people homeless, because of them. (The other folks rent smaller units -- these folks have the 3 bedroom place.)

I guess some folks will consider me an evil, heartless bitch. I am.

Sigh.

[MrsBrady]

1. don't be so hard on yourself

we all have to take care of business.
it seems like you tried to work with them.
it's not your fault that our "system" doesn't do much to help these kind of folks.

It seems like things are hard for them, but she should be working. I didn't say it was easy, but I've been in situations where I had to take ANY kind of job. I took a low-wage job at a grocery store when I couldn't find anything else one time.
I HAD to have SOMETHING.

Also one time, I had a situation where my roommate had to ask me to leave. I just couldn't find work. Luckily a friend at the time let me stay with him for a few weeks till I could find work and get a cheap apartment.
That didn't make her a bad person. And it DID make me work harder to find work, not that I wasn't looking hard anyway, but you get the idea.
Hey listen, I've had to live in the not-so-good neighborhoods of Dallas, because I just couldn't afford anything else.

[IdaBriggs]

6. I've had to deal with 'pay the bills or else' situations before, too.

I lived in a neighborhood which I called 'good' because the nearest crack house was at least a block-and-a-half away, because I could afford it. This unit is in a great neighborhood, and since it was my parents place, it is *really* nice -- a $50K kitchen, with 47 cupboards, double ovens, a fireplace, 3 bedrooms, PLUS an office, 2 car attached garage, all utilities included -- for $350 a week, or $1350 a month.

The kitchen is incredible -- it is huge!!! Its not a normal 'rental' unit, as I said, because my parents lived there, and made it nice over the course of 30 years.

She needs to get a job. Sigh.

[MrsBrady]

10. sounds like it is maybe "too much" for them.

i don't know what your area is like, but I would have never been able to afford that.

when I finally got it together, I ended up with a one bedroom apartment -- electric and water were not included, but when all was said and done it was about
800 per month? a two bedroom wouldn't have been TOO much more.

are there cheaper places around there?

[IdaBriggs]

14. There are cheaper places, just not as nice.

Altho, to be fair, the other places are probably just as much money when you add in the utilities (or so we've calculated). We aren't 'slum lords' as we take great pride in offering good housing to people at reasonable rates. The caveat, of course, is that folks have to pay.

They've borrowed and had local churches pay two months of their rent already due to his hospital stays. There is something else going on (her wages should be covering stuff) but I am not privy to their financial world, other than the fact that the only other bills they should have are phone/food/gas/necessities.

:shrug:

[bicentennial_baby]

11. Um, can I move in?

We pay about $200 more a month for a 2 bedroom apartment!!! :wow:

[IdaBriggs]

15. Are you in southeastern Michigan?

It is a really nice place -- its about 1400 sq feet, and the office has an entire wall of windows. The fireplace is nice, and I have tons of good memories of it when I was a child. But the kitchen is absolutely phenomenal -- my mother finally got her 'dream kitchen' -- and the family joke is she stopped cooking shortly thereafter! LOL! The bedrooms are nice size, and the closets -- let me tell you about the closets!!! There is an entry closet, a cleaning closet, AND a 'grandma' closet next to the living room (where my mom used to keep toys for the grandkids), AND *huge* closets in all three bedrooms. Double sinks in the bathroom, hardwood floors in the kitchen, and an acre of property to play on that we mow/shovel, plus a private deck.

My folks raised six kids there, because the downstairs unit was 'the scary basement' when we were all growing up.

:)

[Lyric]

2. It's impossible to judge right or wrong through an internet post.

Only you and your tenants know all of the details, background, and history.

My thoughts in the short-term are for your tenants. I hope they are able to find some help. God knows I can relate to their situation; it wasn't all that long ago that we were in a similar position ourselves.

Vibes to them from us.

[Midlodemocrat]

4. I gotta say. I'm gonna err on the side of the ones who will be homeless.

Surely there's a solution to not putting someone on the street.

It sucks all around.

[Lyric]

5. On a personal level--me too.

:hug:

[blueraven95]

3. oh, hun, you aren't an "evil, heartless bitch"

if you were, you wouldn't be so upset about the situation.

What an all-around awful situation. I feel bad for you and the family.

:hug:

[JVS]

7. "trying to take us down with them"

Then fuck em.

[JoDog]

8. You are not heartless and evil

You cannot afford to have your building go under and throw 7 other households into the street. Things would be different if your tenets were making some sort of good-faith effort to pay.

The only avenue left, which you did not mention trying, is to get them in touch with the local Salvation Army, public housing officials, employment office, temp agency or welfare office. From the sound of it, this family should be on some sort of public assitance if they are not already. Would it be possible to offer the family an arrangement where they could take care of cleaning, yardwork and upkeep on this and your other properties in exchange for rent? Would that defray your operating costs enough that it would be worth your while?

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Tough situation, IdaBriggs.

I agree with JoDog that you could try to help them hook up with social services in your area because it sounds like they sorely need it.

I also agree with oktoberain that it's hard for anyone here to understand all of the dynamics just from your email, but my family had a similar situation and the house DID come close to foreclosure because of it and that would have put three people in the other unit out on the street, including the owner. No one liked it but there wasn't much choice - the nonpaying renters had to go. The neighborhood tenants action group helped them find a subsidized apartment elsewhere.

[JitterbugPerfume]

12. sometimes the choices we are forced to take just suck

don't beat yourself up over this. I have been at both ends of this equasion , and believe me neither option is any fun

[SmokingJacket]

13. Which is why I will never be a landlord.

Thanks for reinforcing my decision!