A bad tenant may create
a real horror story.
This is my story about such an experience with a bad tenant:
A limping skinny sick woman with arsonist behavior got tenancy from us by hiding her real mental health situation.
Her daughter said they will live together, and she will take care of her mom. This was another lie. That creates a bad tenant situation.
At lease signing time the woman pulled her lighter and gazed into my eyes through a three inch long flame. It was disturbing in itself, but I did not get it then. It was four days later, when the garbage container was on fire for the first time, than we started to worry that we have got a bad tenant.
Can you imagine 15 - 20 feet high flames close to the surrounding apartment buildings?
The point is, we did not have time to follow the 7-days Notice procedure that I sent right away. The lawyer could not help with 24-hour Notice either, based on the false information provided on the application form.
The woman was hiding two blocks away at her daughter's apartment. By the time I contacted the daughter, her mom was already in Police custody.
The daughter called Police to protect her, probably knowing what other tenants did to her in the past. That clarified the root cause of her limping.
After four days, the woman was back from jail, because no eyewitnesses stepped forward.
We start investigating, looking to control the damage.
The only hint we might have had was that the deposit and the first month rent were paid by a company, not a person.When we contacted that accounting office, they denied any knowledge about her mental state. We finally got to the specialized institution that was paying her checks. We found out that they had been treating her for the last 20 years. We contacted them in person. We explained why we - the woman, her daughter and us - were there, asking to give her a new mental check right away. We waited for results, and they said she was perfect if she takes medication. We knew she was not OK, and she knew that also. She told us then, outside, that she knows all the tests so well that she can pass them any time and her IQ is 300! What to do?
I felt responsible for my other tenants.
After she set fire to the garbage container a second time, the Police picked her up from the street. From there, they told us she is in jail again.When the Police and Firefighters could only do so much, I decided for immediate action to protect my tenants. When the daughter and I opened the woman's apartment door, inside the living area there was a big pile of papers ready for a lighter. On the spot I decided she will not have another chance, no matter what, to get inside this building. Her family understood the tragic situation and removed her belongings into a storage place with money from the security deposit.
She is back again!
In jail she got into a fight with another woman inmate. The fact was, she got out very soon. She was limping around with bad fight marks on her face.
She was living now at a nearby motel. Next day in the afternoon, one firefighter on duty, saw her limping slowly carrying a paper bag, passing by their Station. Only when he smelled smoke, he made the connection between limping woman, paper bag, smoke, and why he was there for.
Soon, the Firefighters and the Police saw the fourth fire of the garbage container, and got the whole picture of what going to be their life as long as she was free.
Finally that night, I saw a team of two Firefighters with a patrol car at her motel, talking with her. I can not imagine what was going through that 300 IQ brain at this stage.
With the other tenants' vigilant participation, Police and Fire Department helped us clear the situation - in four weeks, after the garbage container has been set four times on fire. She was in jail after the first and second fires. The third and forth fires were in retaliation for jail time done, we think. That person finally has got the help she needed, into an institution somewhere.
Important Tip:
Now, I am very careful with people with 300 IQ intelligence, supporting agencies' checks and long flame lighters. I am trying to keep my humor here.
These tragic facts made me think a lot at what made me to accept that women in the first place.
For 20% it was my belief that I am in a humanitarian service business and the rest 80% was the greed and risk taking personality inside me that pushed my hand to take that printed check. Can I learn something from Bad Tenants and correct it eventually?
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