I should begin by telling you the first thing Haroldine said to me on Monday was "Happy Mother's Day." Our conversation went downhill from there.
It appears Haroldine is furious with me. I didn't return her deposit. And, I am not going to.
Haroldine was one of my few tenants whose rent was originally due on the first day of the month. When Haroldine's life started getting dicey, I offered to change her payment due date to the 15 of the month, so that she wouldn't incur late fees. Tenants who can't pay the rent, don't have the late fees either.
Haroldine readily agreed to this change. But somehow she was still paying late--like the beginning of the next month. So, the rent for the March 1 through the 31st--with a payment due date of March 15--was getting to me on April 1.
What I didn't understand was that in Haroldine's mind, her rent dates had magically shifted from the 15th of the month to the 14th of the following month--in essence, she had 15 days rent free. In my book, all that changed was the actual date her payment was supposed to arrive--and yet, never did. Her rent payment was still for the first of the month until the end of the month.
When Haroldine and I talked about her being out by April 30, I told her we would use her deposit for April's rent. That would be April 1 through 30th. Haroldine thought her (late) March payment was from March 15 through April 14. However, I didn't know that at the time. I certainly do now.
It never occurred to me Haroldine was thinking this way. After all, it made perfectly good sense to me. I was helping a tenant out so they can get the *^%$& rent check to me closer to the due date. Not that she ever did.
Sadly, I didn't understand Haroldine somehow thought differently until Monday when she asked where her deposit was. And she was none-too-happy when I told her it wasn't being refunded. Of course, at the time, I wasn't aware she thought I gave her 15 free days of rent. And even though I explained it a few times, apparently in her eyes I went from being an "understanding Christian woman" to a "nasty, greedy money-grubbing woman who takes advantage of poor working folks."
I am kind of sad it came to this. And more importantly I'm sad there was a misunderstanding that could have been easily remedied early on. Haroldine lashing out doesn't really bother me. Money is on the line. I am fair about money and I don't take what isn't mine. This one is mine.
I have no idea if Haroldine is going to sue me or not. She said she was. But, I see that as a lot of effort for $500 she won't win. It will cost me a lot more to fly out to defend Haroldine's assertion (provided Jack can't do it--but I bet he can). Haroldine said a lot of other unflattering things too. I can live with that. But, just like the tenant who tried to ruin me for saying Happy Mother's Day, Haroldine has now ruined this favor for other future tenants.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
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3 comments:
You have 45 days from moveout to get her deposit to her anyway so why on earth does she think you should send it to her NOW? Not that she deserves to have it back as you certainly are entitled to keep her deposit because she has NOT fulfilled her lease conditions (such as paying her rent on time) and furthermore, the lease isn't even in her stinking name so what is her problem?? It sounds to me as if Haroldine is so deep in caa caa that she is trying to dig up money where ever she can and she thought if she squeaked loud enough that you would grease her wheels. I feel badly for her but maybe next time she'll be a tad pickier about whom she decides to co-habitate with?
I certainly will be pickier.
I was floored she pulled the "where is my deposit" card. I suspect she did understand and thought she would pull this out of her hat and see if I would play along. After all, up until yesterday at 11 a.m., I was a "nice Christian lady."
Well, I guess it never hurts to ask. LOL She is a piece of work.
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