And, The Rest of the Story

Late last Tuesday night, fresh from the Bernice drama of last two days, I called Carolsue. After asking the property management company to drop everything and take care of me, Bernice had just blown me off. Though she has rented all of her life, she apparently wasn't expecting to part with a security deposit.  That Tuesday night, I was tired and frustrated. And, I just wanted to vent to someone about how much I absolutely hate being a potential landlord to crazy people. And more importantly, how did I screw up my karma so badly that crazies are attracted my way?

That's when Carolsue dropped this little nugget on me. While she was working on the steps at the house Monday (helping me get ready for Wednesday's rental), and while Flunky's crew was over there changing the locks, replacing the broken window and fixing the drywall in the bathroom, Bernice just happened to pop by. I guess she had nothing better to do with her entire afternoon except channel her inner contractor, because she walked around, overseeing the work, telling everyone how she was moving in two days later. She asked the crew if they would fix this? And would they take care of that? Thankfully, the crew told her that was up to the owner to decide. Hence, this explains why I was getting a ton of texts asking about maintenance from Bernice.

But, that's not all. Because Bernice was telling everyone how she moving in (she had neglected drive over to the property management company and fill out an application at this point, much less be approved), one member of Flunky's crew gave her a key to my freshly re-keyed home. Apparently he just figured she said she was moving in, it must be true. I am sure he was doing it as a favor to all involved and had the best of intentions.

However, when Carolsue told me this Tuesday night, I stroked out.

To put this in perspective: some chick who has to be out of her home by Wednesday now has a key to my house. What is to stop her from making up a fake lease and and just moving herself in? This was a potential nightmare (actually it was a true nightmare, because that is what I dreamed of that night). This scenario, happens more often then you think. Squatters are hard to get rid of. And with the Alabama court system so darn slow, getting rid of someone with a key and a fake lease could take a year--if she moved on her own. and frankly, with an open bankruptcy and an eviction, Bernice has nothing too loose. So, while I was on the phone with Carolsue, I was frantically e-mailing everyone in Luigi's organization whom I had an e-mail address, explaining the enormity of the situation.

Then, very early Wednesday morning Jeff from Luigi's office called. And when I re-iterated how a member of Flunky's crew illegally gave out a key to my home, Jeff said--and I am not making this up: "That's the craziest thing I ever heard."

I couldn't help myself. My filter was gone as I incredulously replied, "Seriously Jeff? You have been in property management for at least a year and that's the craziest thing you ever heard?"