Praying my fears weren't being realized, I walked over to the kitchen sink and turned it on.
No water.
Immediately I called my landlord (For this story, we'll simply call him Asshole Motherfucker, or AM for short).
Me: "AM, I told you this would happen- and my guess is this time they capped it and it can't be turned back on."
AM: "They always do this on a Friday afternoon, don't they?"
Me: "Well, you would know."
Ten months ago I moved into my gorgeous three bedroom house in a nice suburb in Texas. It was my first house post-divorce and the first time I was able to freely decorate to my own liking. I was over the moon! I immediately set up all of the utilities in my name...with the exception of...
Water.
'Someone' hadn't paid the water bill on this house for quite some time, and they needed proof that I had just moved in. I asked for a copy of my lease. The one I received from AM was completely unintelligible. He refused to give me anything different. So the water company asked for a warranty deed, proving he was the owner of the house.
He refused.
So they turned my water off, and AM promptly turned it back on. This has happened three times in the ten months I've lived here, and AM has continued to refuse to provide the necessary documents.
Having made the decision to move to SoCal at the end of my lease, my greatest hope was that I could ride this out and get through the next 6 weeks with all of my utilities intact.
Not the case.
With six weeks left to go, my house is now unihabitable. As of this moment, AM is refusing to do anything about it. Which leaves me moving back in with family while I figure out my next steps. However, I work from home and have had to travel back and forth this weekend to get things done.
There are a million scenarios that could play out here...
I could sue, refuse to pay rent, and he could start the process of eviction. ( I have his refusals in writing, so in a court battle- I would win)
I can go down to the water company and beg like an orphan.
AM could do the right thing and pay his bill, and I could agree to pay the next two months until my lease ends.
I could move my office to another location, find a place in SoCal and go ahead and relocate ASAP.
And so on...
Here's what I know...this experience has taught me that I never want to be homeless (or an attorney). I've learned that I drink a lot of water, and that baths are still my favorite thing. I've been reminded yet again how amazing my friends and family are...
And I've been shown for the gazillionth time that life is going to keep me on my toes. My challenge? Learn to dance like a ballerina.
A really, really thirsty ballerina...
Ridiculous!! Who does that? I would blast him all over the internet and with the BBB when you are done and include the address of the property!!
ReplyDeleteI kinda think you should sue him just there's something on record as to what kind of landlord he is, you know? Maybe keep someone else from being subjected to this.
ReplyDeleteWell, after spending the ENTIRE day at the utility company- we have resolution!! I am paying for the portion of time that I've lived in the house, and he's responsible for everything else. The utility manager was able to catch him lying and came down hard on him. It was awesome...but what a nightmare! At first the utility company tried to nail me for the back payments and things went WAY downhill, but I was able to find old emails from my landlord that proved my case...so they relented. Such a nightmare. I'm supposed to get water tonight...fingers crossed! My move to LA is back on track per the original plan. Here we go!!!
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