The Bad Landlord

I am sorry, the smell-o-vision
is currently turned off.

This story hurts my insides.

Landon and Dawn were moving away. They had Bess house sit while they looked for a place to live in another state. Cindy, a mutual friend of Landon, Dawn and Bess suddenly became homeless through circumstances I don't exactly understand. So, what happened?

Well--and I am not making this up--Bess (the house sitter, not the homeowner) said to Cindy "Why don't you just move into Landon and Dawn's house? They are moving out of state and were thinking about renting it out anyway. They won't mind."

And then handed Cindy the keys to Landon and Dawn's home.

Bess didn't ask permission.

There was no lease.

There was no security deposit.

There was no nothing. And whilst you think Landon and Dawn should be 100 percent furious with their house sitter, they weren't. THEY DIDN'T MIND.  Why? Because Cindy needed a house.

Let's fast forward though the years of this train wreck, shall we.

I am not showing you the bathrooms.
You are welcome.

Cindy has lived in this house with her adult children. Rent is below market and has only been a mere suggestion, with Cindy having excuse after excuse about why rent would be late, if at all. Landon and Dawn have done their altruistic duty and kept the place habitable, by putting in a brand new AC unit, taking care of minor maintenance issues and paying the mortgage and taxes on the place so Cindy and her adult children had a place to live.

You think Cindy would be the least bit grateful, right? For the record, that question was rhetorical.

Last week Cindy and her adult children moved out. Landon and Dawn figured this out when the neighbor called and said there were two sizable moving trucks outside. Last week (after Dawn sent an unanswered text and e-mail to Cindy and her adult children saying this was happening) I entered the property to find a humongous mess.

Cindy et. al., left a good amount of their worldly possessions and a crap-ton of trash behind, including plates of food on the counter, and lots of perishable food in the garage refrigerator. Given the size of the moving trucks, it struck me they might have been able to squeeze in a few more items, but I guess not.

Though the place is a mess, fortunately, the house appears to be in reasonable condition. However, I had bad news for Landon and Dawn, they had to inventory and keep Cindy's possessions for a period of time before they can clean out the place and turn around and rent or sell it.

This past week, Dawn has repeatedly called me asking me for advice. Every time I give her my answer as a former landlord and as a real estate broker, she counters me, citing sources from fix and flip TV shows to what her third cousin's father-in-law thinks. I am the dumbest person alive in her eyes because I never agree with the third cousin's father-in-law. I don't watch the fix and flip shows, but I thought everyone knew they weren't reality, but instead sponsored content.

From what I can see, both Landon and Dawn don't really want my advice or expertise. I have made suggestions and given the names of folks that can help them. But so far, this is being met with, "we have this handled." That's awesome. I didn't really want to handle it for them anyway. I am not even sure I want them as clients when they go to sell it. However, I just hope Bess isn't their general contractor.