I met the most amazing parent today. A true breath of fresh air! He is forcing his daughter to honor her lease even though she is fighting with her friends and doesn't want to. It is sad that this is actually something that needed to be talked about. He basically told her to grow up, and make better choices in her future. I tried not to act gleeful while I stood to the side and listened. The mom stood with me and just chuckled. She and I discussed how it is absurd that these girls think it is ok to ignore a legally binding contract just because their bff is, like, totally ruining their life. We would not have ever thought this was ok when we were their age. And this mom and I easily had a 15 - 20 year age difference. (I am in my mid-thirties.)
Which begs the question: Why is it ok now?
I am 10 years older than my younger sibling. She is just on the cusp of this whiney, lazy, self centered, insane generation. She has her moments, but she is pretty self sufficient. She can solve her own problems, has a good job, and is a productive member of society. (and a kick ass sister if I do say so myself.) (and yes that is because I think she might read this). But the people coming up in the world behind her seem to have grown up in a completely different environment. I am shocked daily by the way they lash out at the people around them with no thought of what the effect might be.
Example: Some of the delightful people that we rent to decided they didn't like the amount of money they got back from their deposit. They didn't feel they should have to pay for the 12 halogen light bulbs they left burned out, the broken cabinet door, the ripped screens, the water damage where they had the let the toilet leak for months without calling maintenance, the holes in the door, the pet fine for the not one but two giant dogs that had lived there with no pet deposit that chewed up the trim at the base of the walls, or any of the numerous other things that they damaged. (I pulled the actual file to write this so I assure that list is accurate and I am actually leaving off multiple items.) They felt all of this should have been covered by the rent they paid and should not have come out of their deposit.
I am guessing they don't understand that their rent goes to cover our mortgage, taxes, employees, standard building repairs. . . Well why would they understand any of this? Their parents pay everything for them.
Well after they decided we were 'stealing' their money they decided to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. And all three roommates filed separate complaints. By the time we all went back and forth with the letters responding to the BBB letters our rating went from a C (pretty standard for property management since everyone likes to complain) to an F not because the BBB disagreed with us, but because we received so many complaints in such a short amount of time. Another fine example of them not caring what the effect of their actions is. If I were a parent and I was researching the place that my college kids wanted to live I would see that rating and have to think twice. At least I would have before I had this job.
They still had to pay the bill because we took them to court and they lost and ended up owing not just their bill but now they have to cover our court costs. Poor them. It went from them owing us about $800 to them owing us closer to $3000 and getting a hit on their credit for not paying for so long. And as always they blame me for all of this. Because I am big, mean, dragon lady landlord, who thinks they should pay their bills on time and not destroy other property.
Because they couldn't take responsibility and they could not be bothered to deal with things in a timely manner or like civilized adults, they are out far more money than they should have been, they have a bad mark on their credit, and we now have to explain to people that we aren't actually a bunch of thieves and bullies.
The real thieves are the ones who upped my favorite cheap wine from $3.50 to $4.25. Bastards. Rainbow neighbor, you know my pain. That's a secret shout-out. It's ok if you didn't understand.
No comments:
Post a Comment