Friday, June 13, 2014

This job is going to break me


 
Not to make fun of Nancy, but this is how I feel about this week.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Flashback #3

So I started working here in September of 2012.   We had two boys living in an apartment that were a total disaster.  When I started they were over a month behind on rent and had a damage bill that was growing daily.  The first day I was here I was told to call them to collect money and if they didn't answer I would need to go and knock on their door.  That was how I was introduced to the wonderful world of property management.  The boys did not pay that day.  They did try to get caught up over the next couple months but were such a continuous disaster we were finally left with no choice but to evict them.  Here are some of the highlights of their very short time on our property.

We will call them Idiot A and Idiot B.

Idiot A was only 18.  And barely even.  He turned 18 after he moved in.  Idiot B was 19.  (The property manager before was moron.  She should have never let a 17 year move in.  Especially not to such a nice place.) 

One of the first encounters I had with them was on my first day.  I went to their door to collect back rent.  Idiot B answers the door in his underwear.  The overwhelming smell of beer and cigs hit me in the face like a wall when they opened the door.  Once I got past that we began discussing payment.  He flat out told me that he would pay when he could and that today was not that day.  Proceeded to fart extremely loudly, laugh hysterically, and slam the door in my face.  Nice.  I felt this was his amazing way of saying 'Welcome To Your New Job!'  This was probably a good sign I should find another job, but I am a glutton for punishment, so I stayed. 

About a week later, Idiot A calls me around midnight while he is wasted to tell me that all the lights are out in his loft and he demands someone come fix it.  I asked him if he had checked his breaker box.  He told me that wasn't his fucking job.  I asked if he had paid his utility bill.  He told me it was not of my business.  I hung up and let him sit in the dark for the night.  He called me back about 10 times but I didn't answer.  Our maintenance man swung by in the morning and they had somehow thrown the main breaker in their apartment.   The kid called me later and told me he was pissed we hadn't just done that the night before.  Really?  Seriously?  At this point I asked my boss if it was always like this or these were just really bad tenants.  He promised these were just really bad ones.  I think he was trying not to scare me off in my first week.

About a week after that I go and knock on their door again to try and collect some rent money.  When Idiot A opens the door a dog runs out, poops on the side walk next to me and then runs back into the apartment.  The kids yells good boy and the dog.  I told him he would need to pick up the poo.  He said that he didn't have a dog so it couldn't be his problem.  True story.  Having only been working here for two weeks I was so flustered but the level of rudeness and lying that I just left.  No money in hand, pile of poo on the side walk.   I of course begin to get calls in minutes from the neighbors complaining about the poo which my maintenance man also refuses to pick up.  FML.  Guess who cleaned up the poo?

Later that same week, Idiot B calls to tell me that their toilet is clogged and so is the kitchen sink.  It is about 3 in the afternoon and he sounds hammer already.  I tell him I will get someone there as soon as I can and I try to talk to him about the back rent owed.  He tells me he won't talk about money until the toilet is fixed.  Then tells me it has been clogged for days and it is now 'fucking up his game with the ladies'.  Yep.  I am sure the clogged toilet is your problem buddy.

By this time I have worked here about a month and they have brought in some money but still aren't caught up.  I beg my boss to evict them.  He wanted to wait.  No idea why.

Sometime in early October the boys threw a party.  They ended up throwing someone through the front window and an all out brawl broke out in the lot.  The police came and broke up the party and found that all of their 16 and 17 year old friends were there.  Thankfully this helped with my eviction begging and we began the process.  Now this is a process that takes a little time.  As soon as the boys found out they were getting evicted they amped up the insanity.  They partied every night.  I was getting awakened by the police and the neighbors at all hours to here about the insanity. 

We finally contact the boys parents to tell them what is going on because we doubt they are aware.  Wrong.  One of the mothers is semi apologetic but lets me know they are coming down that weekend to move out their son.  That would be Idiot B's parents.  They however, can't believe we can't just wait until Christmas break when it would be more convenient for them to make the two hour drive to get his things. Sure lady, we will wait three more months for your non rent paying son to destroy an apartment.  Ok.  

Idiot A's parents said I was lying and they were going to sue us for illegally kicking out their son.  Remember A is the young one.  They actually used the phrase 'my baby wouldn't do that'. (which is why we love that phrase around here!) Well Idiot A's parents came down to get his things and got here a day early before he could hide the disaster that is his life.  They found him wasted and passed out on his couch.  Saw the insane amount of dog poo that was outside his front door because the boys were too lazy to walk the dog, and saw the beer bottles, booze bottles, and body sized holes in the walls.  She also saw that doors were off the hinges and the front window was broken for the second time in two months.    She was kind enough to apologize to me. 

The boys moved out, and we got a judgment against them and we are still getting garnishment checks from Idiot B's paychecks because his parents wouldn't pay to clean up his idiocy and he was too dumb to just pay for it on his own. 

Why oh why did I not quit then?

I am leaving out so much from this story.  Like the Federal Marshal's, the burning car, the peeing on doors . . .  This would be the longest post ever if I included it all.  But needless to say it was quite the welcome to this place. 



Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Wow

Holy Crap.  I feel like I should call the crazy wagon to pick up the parent I just spoke to.  Wait for it.

A woman we shall refer to as Satan for this story, called me earlier and left a message wanting some information on her sons lease that she just co-signed.  I returned her call a few minutes ago, and let me tell you it has been an interesting 10 minutes in my life.

Ring ring ring. . .

Satan: Hi there Jane, I need a bit of information regarding this lease.  I need to know where to send it (the address is listed on the front page) and I just had a few questions about that actual unit they will be living in since I haven't seen it yet.

Me:  Absolutely.   (give her the address and specs on the unit)  I can also open up some photos of the unit online for about 20 minutes so you can see it.  I don't like to leave them up too long because I will get tons of calls from people who think it is available since it is one of our nicest units. 

Satan:  Thank  you that would be lovely.  Can you just open them now and I will look at them tonight?

Me:  What time do you think you will look at them and I will open them up at that time,   I don't like to leave them up too long because I will get tons of calls from people who think it is available since it is one of our nicest units.

Satan: (Heavy sigh) It's fine, I guess I will just see it when I move my son in this August.  Can I just bring you his rent at the time of move in.

Me:  (now confused about the pictures online and why that was so difficult)  Well his lease started the first of this month so if you could mail June now with the lease, July at the time it is due, you can bring the August rent when he moves in so long as it is in on time.

Satan:  He isn't living there this summer, so why should I pay rent for those months?  He replaced someone on this lease isn't this rent their problem?

Me:  Well his name is on the lease as of June first so he is responsible for the rent whether he choses to stay there or not.  (I said this as politely as I could, truly.  I was so confused by this point because she was being extremely hostile, all I could do was be nice and just keep explaining things because clearly this woman wasn't understanding)

Satan:  How dare you attack me and be so rude!  My son just signed this lease, how could it have started at the beginning of this month??  I know how these things work and you are just trying to manipulate me.

Me:  Ma'm, I am not sure how you think I attacked you (my confusion is just escalating by now.)  Your sons lease began on June 1 and he owes June rent.  That is not me being rude that is fact.  And I just pulled out the actual lease and he signed it back in April.  I am sorry that he is just now giving it to you.  Do you have the copy of the lease in front of you mam?

Satan:  (screaming at his point) I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY.  I AM GOING TO HAVE MY ATTORNEY GET YOU FOR THIS.  THIS LEASE ISN'T EVEN BINDING.  YOU DON'T HAVE THE CO-SIGNATURE YET.  YOU CAN'T ENFORCE ANY OF THIS.  YOU ARE THE RUDEST PERSON I HAVE EVER SPOKEN TO.

Me:  Ma'm I am very confuse right now.  I don't understand what you are upset about.  (speaking as clamly as I can, and being as polite as I can because her insanity is literally scaring the shit out of me at this point)  I am only giving you the facts of the lease.  He signed it in April and I went over it all with him before he signed.  He knew his lease started in June.  I am not sure why he is just now giving it to you, you will need to ask him that.  Also, it is actually a binding contract because your son is 20.  He was not coerced in to signing.  He is not a minor.  If you will turn to the front page of the lease it has the lease term dates at the very top.  In the middle of the page it goes over when rent is due and how late fees work.  I can gladly go over it with you.

Satan: (by now completely hysterical) WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?  YOU ARE EVIL AND MEAN AND YOU CAN NOT SPEAK LIKE THIS TO ME! 

Me:  Ma'm I am very confused by this conversation.  I think we may need to end it now.  If you feel you need to speak to your attorney I can give you all of my contact information and I can give you our lawyers info as well.  I want to be helpful but you are not making any sense and I am not sure what else I can do.  At no point have I attacked you, been rude, or raised my voice.  You are the one yelling and calling me names.  If you would like to calm down and call me back I can gladly help you to understand the lease and all of the rent due dates. 

SATAN: (screaming the loudest she has screamed so far)YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT ATTACK ME AND YELL AT ME SINCE YOU CALLED ME.  I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU EVEN CALLED ME IF THIS IS ALL YOU ARE GOING TO DO (remember I was returning her call)YOU WILL PROBABLY NEXT TELL ME YOU EXPECT ME TO PAY A LATE FEE.  THIS IS SO UNLAWFUL.  I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU REGRET HOW RUDE YOU HAVE BEEN TO ME.  I AM CALLING MY ATTORNEY AND MY HUSBAND AS SOON AS WE HANG UP!

Me: Ma'm I am getting off the phone now.  I do not understand any of this. 

SATAN: YOU CAN NOT HANG UP ON ME!!!!  THIS TREATMENT IS RIDICULOUS!!!  YOU WILL BE HEARING FROM MY ATTORNEY IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

At this point Satan slams down the phone and I am left speechless.  I checked with my book keeper who was in her office to make sure she had heard the conversation so that I had proof that I had never raised my voice, attacked her, or called her a name.  Thank God I will have back up. This was quite possible the craziest conversation I have had since I started working here.  And I have had some crazy talks.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Daring to believe


Almost all the way done with all these crazy people moving out and new ones moving in.  I must say I have high hopes for this lease term.  I feel like we might actually have a fairly decent group of people.  Nice mix of college kids, young professionals, and even some real grown ups.  So exciting. 

Still have a few empty units.  That is stressful.  I have my boss freaking out because we have 8 empty units (out of 125)  I am on a mission to get up to 100% leased.  But this year is a hard year.

In this lovely town of mine we have gone from about 350 units in this area, up to 500 units and we are awaiting nearly 900 more units/beds to open up in the next year.  All of this in a very small part of town.  This area is having a huge boom which is great, but people around here don't seem to understand that if you build it, and there aren't enough people to fill them . . .  Well at some point one of the builders will have to realize the market is a big saturated. 

College towns like ours are into this new by the bed rental set-up.   The company I work for doesn't participate in it.  Basically it is a four bedroom apartment.  Fully furnished (Gross).  Each bedroom is on it's own lease and they share the living room and kitchen.  Usually what happens is 4 friends go in on an apartment together and they don't have to share with strangers.  But if one breaks a lease, the owners of these properties have every right to put whoever they want into that bedroom.  Also if only 2 or 3 friends want to go on a lease they can fill the other spots with people who don't have room mates. This sounds like the most awful living situation ever.  Truly.  But everyone went nuts for it. 

All the college kids who don't want to live on campus that usually flock to this part of town to live and party started getting all excited about these new places.  We began to worry about all these new units/beds going in around the area.  These kids love a shiny new toy. And we are not new.  I kept looking at my 8 units I don't have lease yet.  (only 2 of them are actually empty right now, I have 6 that just don't have the next lease term filled)  I have had heartburn.  I haven't been able to sleep.  I like to see all of my places leased up.  One less thing for me to worry about.  I just knew all these other places were full.  How was I going find anyone to lease our stuff when they all had gone to live at all these new places (which aren't all by the bed rentals, some of them are very nice new apartments and lofts). 

Yesterday I was showing some places to some potential tenants.  They brought along a friend.  He happens to manage one of these places.  He and I got to talking.  They are only 50% leased.  Whaaaaaat??????  Then he told me two of the other new buildings are about the same.  I am at about 95% and I am stressing.  And they are only at 50%???  Let me just tell you I kind of feel like a bad ass now. 

Then this poor guy starts telling me about his new tenants.  And how they are all fighting about who they are living with, and how they are so rude, they complain about everything  . . . Oh this poor guy.  Didn't have the heart to tell him that I had quite a few idiots move over there.  Guessing they are now making him crazy. 

Maybe this year really will be better.  Do I dare to believe it?

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Our future is bleak

I can assure you my lack of posts has nothing to do with my tenants behaving.  I have just been too busy this week with people moving out and getting the lofts turned and getting people moved back in.  The idiots are still idiots.  Here are a few snippits of my week so far.  I will expand on them later:

**A tenant informs us his smoke detector is beeping and he has the battery to change it (we change them if they are up to high for them to reach.  Some of our units have 20 ft ceilings) He tells us it is weird, because normally he can just throw a shoe at it and it stops beeping,  but this time it wouldn't stop.  I ask him if there are marks on the wall where he has been throwing things at it and he says yes, but that it is our fault since his smoke detector was beeping. Ok.  Sure.  It is my fault you are too lazy and stupid to make sure your smoke detectors work.  Let's go with that. 

**A tenant texted me and asked for our mailing address.  I give it to her.  It is a PO box. She texts back and asks if it should be addressed to me.  I say no, address it to the company at that address.   She texts me again a few minutes later and says she is confused.  Should she address it to the PO box or to the company.  I literally had to explain to her how to write and address on an envelope.  She is 20.  This is our future. 

**A tenant texted me the other day at around 7 in the evening and asked for the phone number for the cable company.   I offered (very sarcastically) to google it for him.  He said ok.  Seriously.  He wanted me to look up a phone number for him.  For the record I did not look it up.  Again, this person is 20.

**Had some girls move into a large apartment on Tuesday.  Yesterday their dad called and freaked out on me.   Because they told him they found a dead body outside their apartment on the side walk.  I also freaked out.  Obviously.  That was probably terrifying.  Poor girls.  They said it was a hit and run and they man died right there in front of their door. . . . . . . . .  Bet you can guess what I am going to say next . . . . . . . . Lies.  All lies.  Someone was hit by a car, were taken to the hospital, and will be fine.  I called the police to get all of this info.  Who makes something like that up?????????  My tenants.  That's who.

Needless to say I am so glad tomorrow is Friday.  I need a break from this place.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tardiness

No. Just don't be late. It's rude. It's unprofessional. It creates chaos. It's stressful. It's immature. 

ANNOYED!!!!!!!!!! That is all.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Oh Monday, how I love thee

It isn't even noon yet and so far I have been called a multitude of names and someone has let me know they are suing us.  The day started out so wonderfully with a sweet note on my night stand from my sweet daughter.  I had high hopes for today, which the idiots who live in idiotville are quickly shattering.  Once I get an answer from our attorney, I will share the story of why we are being threatened with a lawsuit this time.  In the mean time I am wondering what time the smoothie place a couple blocks away opens. And by smoothie I mean booze filled frozen concoctions that I like to pretend are healthy because they taste like fruit.  Please say a small prayer for me.  This week is looking to be just super.