Ms. Kathy's lease is up February 1, 2011. I don't know if she is staying or going. Given her sister lives next door, Ms. Kathy has no money to move and deems me as a pushover for a landlord, I am guessing she is planning on staying.
On January 1, 2011 I can officially give her a 30 day notice, asking her to leave. I envision my overall joy of not having to deal with Ms. Kathy's stupidity ever again. And, as of this week, the stupidity level is pretty damn high.
I hate the fact I put up with her and her excuses. I hate the fact I feel trapped, because her stupidity is the lesser of evil. On one hand she pays. On the other hand, she is under the impression I care about her problems and the reasons why she repeatedly pays late. She is also under the mistaken impression I believe her when she apologizes. Over and over again. I can honestly say, if Carolsue weren't riding her I would have evicted her long ago.
I have been running a few scenarios through my head about what I wish to do January 1, 2011.
1. Keep Ms. Kathy. Keep dealing with this nonsense. Keep writing in my blog. After all, I know her game. I know the rules. She takes decent care of the place. She has roots in the neighborhood. She is happy. She doesn't ask for repairs. And, she generally pays her rent on time. At this moment keeping her is cheaper than evicting her.
2. Give the property over to Kirby to manage and let Ms. Kathy stay. This seems the most sensible solution for my sanity. However, if Ms. Kathy is aware I am still in the picture, I would imagine she would still pay late. Kirby would then probably either make the executive decision to evict her or more likely ask me how I felt about letting her slide--which puts me back at square one. Meanwhile, I will pay Kirby a monthly fee to field the same drama and pass it on to me.
3. Ask Ms. Kathy to leave and continue managing myself with Carolsue's guidance. Ms. Kathy would probably go, but not by January 31, like her lease states. I would then end up lowering the rent about $50 to $100 to compensate for the overall market rent going down and the fact it is a one bathroom home (the realtor lied to me when I bought it). I would also have a vacant home and an unknown factor of what I will get for the next tenant. Meanwhile, Ms. Kathy would probably live next door with her sister. I will probably have the home vacant for six to eight weeks.
4. Ask Ms. Kathy to leave and give to Kirby to manage. I would end up lowering the rent $50 to $100. He would charge a property management fee on top of that. I will not break even if Kirby manages this home and I lower the rent. I will probably have the home vacant for six to eight weeks.
I am trying to figure out a win-win scenario. The easiest is to keep Ms. Kathy--though I don't feel like it is a win-win situation if I do. Ideally, if I keep her, she will loose her sense of entitlement. Ideally I am a size 5 too.
When I wrote her today, I ended my e-mail by saying, "I am tired of this game." Anyone want to bet she either takes offense to that or feigns ignorance?
I have some time to figure out my choices for Ms. Kathy's home. Meanwhile, I am keeping an eye on homes for rent in Ms. Kathy's area of town. The schools are very good. Maybe if I have to make a move, it won't be until closer to summer. Or, maybe Ms. Kathy will figure out how to pay her rent on time and save me a bigger headache.
But probably not.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
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3 comments:
Why don't you just go month to month with her in January? Then you can give her the old 30 day notice closer to summer when folks normally move?? OR, you can give the house to Kirby and have him imply that there is new ownership (imply - not lie) and stress to her that her rent is going up $80 or so (whatever - you just can't raise a current tenants rent by more than 10%) AND that he is not going to play with her if she is late. Kinda like "there's a new sheriff in town" type of scenario. Maybe that would be the better cure??
Those are the two basic scenarios I have been toying with.
I would rather try to rent out her home in May than February.
I think Kathy will do this to any landlord.
I don't know about that. I think she is doing it to you because of the following:
1. You are a woman and she feels certain that she can rely on that to gain empathy. She also feels more comfortable in asking for favors from another woman.
2. You are in a far away place and that makes her feel more comfortable in her belief that you will endure most anything not to have to fly here to deal with her or an empty house.
3. A man can get more out of a woman than a woman can. Sad, but true. A man can intimidate a woman far easier than a woman can.
Kathy is like a child. You have to stay on top of her and threaten to take away her toys to get her to do anything. What a chore she is!! Sorry you have to deal with her.
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