Burned again! when will I ever learn!?

[Luvmypitgirls]

So hubby went up to the other house to pick up the rent, and do some stuff, and low and behold it appears our renters made a midnight move! Yep, and these ppl were so called friends.
I let them have their cats and I agreed to one dog, and about 4 months ago I go there and there's 2 dogs, I didn't say anything I agreed to let them keep it as long as they made sure it was trained.
I put in new lino and carpet and laminate, and the carpet is snagged all to hell because they didn't know how to trim their dogs nails. The bedrooms where the cats were kept, stink to the high heavens and there is stains where the finish on the laminate was eaten off by the urine.
They didn't even leave a key with our neighbor and friend next door, and they left the back bedroom window wide open, and wouldn't ya know it, there was a huge thunderstorm up there the other night, the floor in there is screwed and probably the drywall too.
They were friends....I didn't charge them a damage deposit, because they were down on their luck. Stupid me...stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid me!
Shall I say it again....STUPID ME!

[Love4himies]

Ah crap . Some people take a freakin mile when they are given an inch , hopefully karma will catch up to them soon.

[Luvmypitgirls]

Originally Posted by Love4himies

Ah crap . Some people take a freakin mile when they are given an inch , hopefully karma will catch up to them soon.

Yes may karma go narly on their totally freakin' cowardly butts!
May moths invade their closets, may their dogs chew and poop in their favorite shoes!
May flying ants fly up their noses or their butts, whichever is most appealling to a flying ant.
May her cat have the runs on her favorite pillow!

(sigh)....oh well....what can ya do...

Life goes on.......I think I'll go up there this coming week and clean the bejeebus out of the house, do some painting, all the while I'll consider listing it. I think selling it and buying something closer to home is probably a better idea.
Once again I say to myself....."Suck it up Princess...lesson learned."

[chico2]

LMPG,judging by what has been going on next door to me,for several years,one bad renter after the other,I would never rent out a house,many people just don't care..
Maybe you should even be grateful they sneaked off at night,sometimes it's worse trying to evict bad tenants.
I would definitely put the house up for sale if I were you.

[Luvmypitgirls]

Originally Posted by chico2

LMPG,judging by what has been going on next door to me,for several years,one bad renter after the other,I would never rent out a house,many people just don't care..
Maybe you should even be grateful they sneaked off at night,sometimes it's worse trying to evict bad tenants.
I would definitely put the house up for sale if I were you.

Well that's the problem, I would like to sell unfortunately I can't afford to take a loss on the house, so I will have to hold onto it until the markets pick up again. Calgary and area real estate hasn't bounced back up to pre recession prices like most places, it will eventually but until then I think we are going to have to hold onto it.
We can afford to pay the two mortgages for a few months if need be, but our financial advisor says we should go in clean it up, freshen it up with a new coat of paint and lease it out until the markets rebound. He also suggested hiring a leasing company to deal with the legalities, since hubby and I are apparently too soft hearted and easily taken advantage of...(yeah Bryan twist that knife in my back just a lil more lol).
My son Justin, would like to move back into the house, we will have to cover the mortgage until he finds another job to pay rent, he would have a couple of his best friends move in too (ones that I know would respect the house). Told him if he wants to do that, great, I'll give them a discount on the rent for improvements made as well.
I dunno, I'm just hurt that ppl I cared about and tried to help would crap on us like that. If they wanted to leave all they had to do was say so , we wouldn't have tried to make them stay, but at least the house wouldn't have been sitting empty for dog knows how long.
To think I even paid to take their dog to the vet...they couldn't afford to at the time. I don't regret doing that the dog is awesome, but talk about feeling rather betrayed.
Oh well, nothing I can do about it now, I refuse to let this ruin my long weekend...
Tomorrow I'm getting a tatoo, and Saturday we are going to the mountains for a picnic...I'm just not going to worry about the rest of it until Monday.

[ancientgirl]

I don't think you're stupid. You just wanted to help out some friends. How could you have known they were going to turn out to be 's.

[serenamlambe]

What a terrible experience, Luvmypitgirls. I especially hate to hear it because I am a young renter myself.

It's so terribly hard to find a landlord who will allow pets on their property... People like you're tenants ruin it for everyone, sadly enough.

Good landlords with nice houses fear that tenants with pets will leave the place in a mess, stinking like animal "business." Now I can see why! And, often, those few apartments that allow pets... well, let's say that a lot of them are not fit for my dogs Sigh.

So sad to hear of your experience. Hoping that you'll find a decent tenant if you do rent out again!

[Luvmypitgirls]

Originally Posted by ancientgirl

I don't think you're stupid. You just wanted to help out some friends. How could you have known they were going to turn out to be 's.

I really didn't expect them to do this...which adds to the embarassment, because I was "fooled".

Originally Posted by serenamlambe

What a terrible experience, Luvmypitgirls. I especially hate to hear it because I am a young renter myself.

It's so terribly hard to find a landlord who will allow pets on their property... People like you're tenants ruin it for everyone, sadly enough.

Good landlords with nice houses fear that tenants with pets will leave the place in a mess, stinking like animal "business." Now I can see why! And, often, those few apartments that allow pets... well, let's say that a lot of them are not fit for my dogs Sigh.

So sad to hear of your experience. Hoping that you'll find a decent tenant if you do rent out again!

serenamlambe, regardless of this experience, I won't hesitate to rent to people with pets, my renters actually did pay a pet deposit (150), most of the damage was caused by the humans, leaving a window open so the rain could blow in on a laminate floor, snags in the carpet, burn in the new lino, after we asked them not to smoke in the house, with the exception of the front foyer in the winter time.
We didn't charge them a regular damage deposit, because they couldn't afford it and there was still some things that needed to be done to the house, a bit of painting and flooring in the basement area. But before they moved in we did new garage roof, new flooring thru-out, painted main floor and upper floor, new vanity and sink in upstairs bathroom, new toilets in all three bathrooms, new light fixtures thru-out, new baseboards and such.
I"ll take my chances on strangers next time.

[serenamlambe]

Originally Posted by Luvmypitgirls

serenamlambe, regardless of this experience, I won't hesitate to rent to people with pets, my renters actually did pay a pet deposit (150), most of the damage was caused by the humans, leaving a window open so the rain could blow in on a laminate floor, snags in the carpet, burn in the new lino, after we asked them not to smoke in the house, with the exception of the front foyer in the winter time.
We didn't charge them a regular damage deposit, because they couldn't afford it and there was still some things that needed to be done to the house, a bit of painting and flooring in the basement area. But before they moved in we did new garage roof, new flooring thru-out, painted main floor and upper floor, new vanity and sink in upstairs bathroom, new toilets in all three bathrooms, new light fixtures thru-out, new baseboards and such.
I"ll take my chances on strangers next time.

Glad to hear it! I didn't expect that you'd ban pets Unfortunately, many landlords will assume that pets did all the damage Poor little ones getting all the blame. Hoomins are the stupid ones, most of the time! Good luckk!

[Jim Hall]

i jear ya serena thats why i also leave on goor trms with my l lord so i can use him as a reference

[Goldfields]

It's the same the world over unfortunately. I was never so glad as when we sold the house we had rented out. I never want to be a landlord again, thank you. Sorry to hear they let you down so badly.

[Luvmypitgirls]

Originally Posted by Goldfields

It's the same the world over unfortunately. I was never so glad as when we sold the house we had rented out. I never want to be a landlord again, thank you. Sorry to hear they let you down so badly.

thank you...I just thought real estate was a "safer investment" for our retirement. Some of the people we know that played the stock market lost 95% of their life savings, I have always believed that real estate is the better way to go...still do.
They are gone, and I believe things happen for a reason, they haven't been the best tenants the last few months, with bounced rent and having to chase em down for cash. So while it may not be ideal with the house sitting empty, the bright side is I can go up there and start doing some of the reno's I've wanted to do without someone getting in my way. There is always a bright side...just sometimes it takes me longer to find it. Basically I'm over it, where ever they went I hope they are well, and I hope the pets are doing good too.
No point in holding a grudge, life is too short....
So I am enjoying a nice glass of wine (shame on me...a slight cheat on my diet...but hey it's Canada Day, gotta toast to the country right!)
It's all good

[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by Luvmypitgirls

May moths invade their closets, may their dogs chew and poop in their favorite shoes!

Nanook pooped in my mother in laws sneaker tonight

As for your "friends", that's horrible. I'm sure karma will definitely catch up to them. I just don't understand how some people can take advantage of someone who has went out of their way to help

[Luvmypitgirls]

I don't get it either, but I won't let the experience stop me from helping someone in the future, but I will certainly be more cautious and I will take steps to protect myself as well. No more waiving damage deposits and such.

[kiara]

You definitely are not stupid, you helped friends in need. You did the right thing. You did not know that they would not turn out nice, because they are users. They probably did the same thing to many others before. There are a lot of this "type" around. Been there, done that many times. Humans are so ungrateful, it is better to help animals in need. They will really appreciate it. I love rescuing cats and I think my days of helping people are truly OVER!!!!

[marko]

Some people are scum - sorry to hear this.
If it were me, in a few months, when they settle down, I'd try to do a search to find them (phone, current/past employers). and then I'd haul their butts to small claims court....unless they have nothing. But as long as they have something... even a steady job...small claims court it would be. Rent plus damages (take pics of the damage). If they have a steady job, then their wages can be garnished until their debt is paid if they lose in small claims court and still do not pay (at least in QC. it works that way). It is a hassle on you for sure to collect, but if it were me, I'd do it so long as I thought I could win...and there was something to collect from. Good luck if you try.

[binkybuff]

I know that some are real scum. I moved into a rented place, and the landlord didn't do anything to fix up the smell. He then tried to blame it on me, and my animals. I ended up moving to another unit.

I know, that if I was able to rent from you, I sure would have appreciated the fact of no damage deposit, and being allowed to keep my pets. If I ever decide to move back to Calgary, I might just look you up to see if you have something.

Damage deposit, for me, would be the issue at the present time, however, I DO understand the problems involved. Even if an animal doesn't damage anything, there is still the hair to clean up, and a responsible renter would clean the place up, before leaving, at least I know that I would. The last place I rented was cleaner when I left, than when I moved in.

Am sorry that you are stuck with this mess, and bless you for trying to help people.

take care
binky