This old lady has partitioned off a section of her house into something like a 1 bedroom apartment. It's in a crummy neighborhood but only $1,000/month and I've been eager to have a private space free of other low rent roommates. The main issue was that she still needed to get back the key from her previous tenant who had split after living there for only 3 days.
The previous tenant, a young girl, had not paid any rent but she has been demanding her $1,000 security deposit back. Yesterday, I agreed to move in at the middle of the month so now the landlord could offer the girl half the deposit in exchange for the key and a few things that the girl stole. I was worried about how smoothly this exchange would go. The old lady has limited mobility and is apparently unable to lift even 10 pounds.
So I called this afternoon around the time she usually wakes up. "Were you able to get a hold of the girl?" I asked. The old lady was annoyed. "I told you I would call once I've taken care of everything...She returned my message this morning and said she would be coming around 6 or 7 this evening." Great, I said, would it be alright if I come over? I won't cause any problems, I just want to make sure she doesn't give you a hard time. The lady didn't care for this idea. "I don't know exactly when she will show up. You really are a worrier."
I didn't expect the girl to beat up the landlord but I did think she would sabotage the room. The landlord called later. Apparently, the girl demanded her rental application back and refused to give the landlord a signed paper stating that she was receiving $500 until the landlord gave her the money. The landlord decided they would exchange the money with one hand while exchanging the paper with the other. This didn't work out so well. The girl just snatched the money and the paperwork, tossed the landlord aside, kept the key and then threw all the furniture around before leaving.
The landlord didn't want to call the police to make an incident report. She couldn't even remember the girl's last name because it was only written on the rental application. I'm sure she wasn't watching when the girl collected her stuff from the laundry room and bathroom. Those were some of the areas I was most concerned about as it would be where she could cause the most damage.
I feel bad for this old lady--from what she has told me her life is really miserable--but I'm having second thoughts about moving into this place. I was already ignoring a bunch of red flags and I'm tired of putting myself into ####ty living situations that inevitably burn me in the end. I can't even shake the small thought that maybe the old lady is manipulating me. She gave me a receipt for the $500 I already put towards the deposit and I have not signed a lease. She is upset that if I don't move in, she will be out the $500 she just gave back to the young girl.
I recently bought a tent and sleeping mat and I was planning to get a gym membership so that I could try my hand at the homeless life. WWYD?