At Lease-t I'm Almost Out of Here

A few weeks ago, I shared the insanity of where I am renting an apartment and the stress it has caused me since late June. This week, I'm going to share some updates about the insanity of leases and all the work I've done to make this place less traumatizing to live at.

Parking

I've had a lot of issues with people parking illegally and making it difficult or impossible for my car to get out of the garage and go where I need to go. For the last 3 months, I have taken pictures, called my landlords, and sent the landlords emails to prove what a pain in the ass these repeat offenders are. There are ~4 cars that are repeat offenders and occasionally some new ones, but when the new ones appear, usually one of the repeat offenders is also parked with them, trapping my car. Last month, I met the apartment manager (I'll get to why later). In a phone call with her, she said she couldn't do anything because I often found the illegal parkers after hours or on weekends. She also said she couldn't punish who it was because she didn't know them. In response, I asked how she could not know the people who rent this garage. After an idiotic phone call with this woman, I decided to only communicate with her via email as what she says is illogical and seems like a cop out for managing the apartment building.

This last Thursday, I finally made some progress after 3 months of complaints and documentation. I sent the picture above (a repeat offender) to the landlords with the subject "SSDD (same shit, different day)." I also noted how they were working on their car here, which is against the lease rules to do. I went inside my apartment to shower and have dinner before going to my next activity that night. When I came outside, there were 3 police cars, a tow truck, and my favorite person from the office (she's in charge of leasing but she seems to be nicer and more understanding than the other people I talk to). Apparently, this person has been trespassing to fix cars in the same spot for months. 3 of the 4 repeat offender vehicles belong to him. I was also told he was a dick. His car got towed and he would be charged at least $250 I was told. A small victory.

Still I know the owners of that garage still trap me sometimes because they'll be in front of their garage in lawn chairs with their buddies and the last repeat offender car; they watch as I try to escape between the illegally parked cars. I'm their favorite Saturday night cartoon. I've made some progress, but there is still an issues. At least the issue is recurring less.

Theft

Ever since I tried to renegotiate my lease, my laundry has been getting stolen from the laundry room. Even when I keep a timer so I get my clothes when the cycle is over, my stuff is going missing. First, it was my bath towels. Then it started being more clothes like my flannel jacket, socks, and shorts. After I was ignored twice, I tried sitting in the laundry room to make sure nobody stole my stuff. I was greeted by two visitors, one after the other. The first was a man who claimed to be a tenant and said he needed to do laundry before work (much like me). I think he wanted my dryer, because his laundry took up 2 of the 2 washers but only 1 of the 2 dryers was available due to my laundry drying. He claimed to not be the thief and told me if someone tried to take his stuff to tell them he'd "fucking kill them." That was the last I saw of him.

Within 10 minutes, someone new has joined me in the unbearable heat of the laundry room, the property manager. She started asking me questions, assuming I don't live here. And when I tell her about my stuff being stolen, she has no support to offer me and goes away, saying she got a report of someone not living here doing laundry. I'm guessing the other tenant reported me. Figures. As the laundry room is too hot to spend 1 and a half hours in again, I've started dragging a chair to my front door, cracking the front door (while blocking my cats from leaving), and listening for any foot steps or doors. This also is difficult and uncomfortable. The hallway is also hot compared to my apartment. This isn't a great long term solution. My landlords have said it is. Boy, I can't wait to leave this place. Oh, and if I see someone wearing my stuff outside the apartment, I'll be snapping pictures and reporting them. I still think the car-blocking neighbors have it out for me; I wonder if the man I met in the laundry room is in cahoots with them. Nobody else seems to be worried about their laundry; I see people leave their laundry unguarded when I'm looking to see if the machines are free. Strange.

Exhausting All Alternatives

Because this has been such a pain in my ass, I have gone through a lot of potential routes to help me in the last month. Many were not what I needed them to be. My therapist hooked me up with a social worker, who helped me apply for legal aid and find a place on the HUD government website to complain. The legal aid office said I made too much to get any aid from them based on their sliding fee scale (boo). I'm still waiting for a meeting with the HUD regarding the laundry room issue and garage parkers.

I also sought help from r/renters on Reddit. Most gave no help while one gave me some good feedback and a way to move forward since I have a lot of phone calls, emails, and pictures to support myself. My partner also offered his help, as he is more professional when talking about this stuff than I am. I do get angry, but it's more of a righteous fury thing. The drama over the last 3 months has pushed me to the edge of no more Mr. Nice Guy. My partner and I also looked at police reports in the area as there have ben a lot of disturbances and gunshot issues on my street. I started advertising my apartment on websites including Reddit and Facebook and on my college campus.

I've been hoping that all of this will get me out of my lease because it is practically impossible to get someone to take my place as everyone I refer ends up being shown a different apartment instead of mine. I just want out and to not be charged for when the apartment is empty due to all the stress that caused me to need to move. I barely have enough money to pay for rent this month. I definitely don't have enough to keep paying for the place if it isn't taken over by someone else soon. I've tried to be nice about everything. I like being a nice, clean, responsible tenant. I want people to like me. But these last 3 months have pushed me to the edge of my sanity. And it keeps getting worse and worse.

Anyway, that's my lease insanity update. I'm already packing and planning to officially move out by mid-October. I hope I can find someone to take over my lease by then. And I hope their experience here is way better than mine.

#IDisappointMyDad #IDMD #post29 #09292024 #lease #rent #landlords #goldmark #parking #graffiti #illegal #mentalhealth #theinsanityofleases