Phew! Rented

The evictee's unit is rented again. Mostly. I need to get a deposit from the girl on Sunday, but she wants it and wants to move in by June 15. So that's even better than I expected. Yay!

All done.

Yay, kiddo is out! So, from the first of April until now - that's not too bad. It went more smoothly than I could have hoped. He's actually been "gone" for a week or two, but didn't get that he had to return my keys for it to really be done. I ended up calling his mom and leaving a detailed message so that maybe she could give him a kick in the ass. She called this morning and told me they'd gotten the rest of his stuff and left the keys last night. So (phew) I don't have to call the sherriff.

This gives me time to clean it up, and get it rented for June. That would be nice. The basement kids might even want it, for that matter. That would be even nicer. For some reason the basement is easier to rent.

Apparently he's moved back in with his dad and lost his job. He should have just called me and told me - now he's got an eviction on his record. Dummy.

Well, that was anticlimactic

Eviction hearing was today! I had no idea what to expect so I booked the day off work. The way it works is that everyone's hearing is at 9:30, then they go one by one when you get in there. There were 10 hearings in my meeting room this morning.

Not one tenant showed up.

So basically, it was the landlord presenting the evidence, and the board member saying "I will issue an order for termination and it will be mailed to you today."

So I win, by default. Not that I wouldn't have won anyway. I was out of there by 10:00 and went to work. Now I guess I just wait for the mail to arrive. Which seems weird to me.

HAHAHAHAHA

So my phone rings this morning, with the regular everyday person ringtone (yes, I have a ringtone for my tenants and a ringtone for my husband). It's the first of the month, so usually my phone is singing George Thoroughgood at me (the tenants' ringtone) about rent. It is a woman on the phone, and the following conversation ensues:

Strange Woman: "Hi, I heard you have a place available for rent?"
Me: "Errr, no not right now, where did you hear that?"
SW: "Um, I thought you did."
Me: "Ahh, nope. But I may soon," (thinking about eviction guy here), "When do you need it?"
SW: "Well, it's an emergency and I need to move now."
Me: "Where did you hear I have a vacant unit?"
SW: "A friend."
Me: "Well, your friend is wrong."
SW: "Ummmm....Will moved out."

DING DING DING DING!!! I knew it.

Me: "Well, Will hasn't talked to me about that, and Will actually owes me $1500."
SW: "Oh, really?"
Me: "Yes, and we actually have an eviction hearing next Tuesday for him. So, I can't exactly re-rent the place to you right now, unless Will magically called me, paid what he owes, gave me his keys, and proved that he was moved out."
SW: "So there's really no chance I can move in today?"

Duhhh.

The LTB (Landlord Tenant Board), when I called them with this stumper, says I should go through with the hearing so that I can get a money judgement even though he's moved out. I am compelled to agree with them. Then I hire a collector and they will hound this kid until his dying day. And I'm glad.

Seriously - on the first of April, when he couldn't pay, he could have called me and arranged something. On the third, when I served him a late rent notice, he could have called me and arranged something. On the 16th when I called him he could have handed me his keys and walked away (I have a months' rent deposit). On the 18th when I served him notice of his eviction hearing he could have called me and only owed me $150 and walked away (court filing fees - it was still within the month that I had a deposit for, no court will award me a proper notice fee). No - he leaves it until 5 days before his hearing, on the first of the month, so that he now owes me $800 and leaves me in a lurch for another month.

Personal responsibility, kids. Get some.