Breaking the lease.
On the 13th of May, I had received an e-mail from the company that owned our apartment about Snuggles. I'm assuming Maritza probably saw him hanging out around our door the day she stopped by, because I was awake and consciously ignoring her while she knocked on our door to meet us after he had already been let outside. I have no idea why Gary found it necessary to snitch on us.
BSG Management: Dear...Tenants:
While in town Wednesday, May 7th, 2014, Ms Brown observed a cat coming out of your apartment. Mr. Gary confirmed this cat has been observed in your apartment. Please note Item #3 of your lease, pasted below and initialed by you.
There is a required$100.00 non-refundable deposit for cats. In addition, and you need to get certification from your veterinarian that your cat is free of fleas on any other insects that are common on animals. At that time, and only then, can there be discussion regarding the cat remaining in the apartment permanently. The only reason we're allowing you to keep the cat, pending the required verification, is that you've been very good tenants so far. Please provide us with the necessary information before the end of this month.If the information is not received by that time, you will have to remove the cat from the apartment.
I ignored it for ten days. Once we officially decided we were going to try and break free from our lease, I simply responded, We would prefer to be evicted over this.
Saturday, May 24th
As a result of our incessant harassment, which became clearly necessary to get any kind of response out of her, Maritza finally caved in and agreed to let us out of our lease, but not without a slew of stipulations...
Maritza: Good morning,
I have received serious tickets for texing or on the phone while driving. I respectfully asked you to stop texing me yesterday and you continued. I also told you that we were still in collaboration on the lease termination.
After visiting your apartment yesterday and after being a landlord for over 30 years, our experience has been that an apartment that appears to be unkept, seriously untidy deters good tenants. While one that is organized, clean organized attracts more desirable tenants. That's one of the reason that we included the inspection clause in the lease.
We will not start eviction proceedings for the cat, there will be a non refundable charge of $100 for the cat, which is our condition for pets, when we agree to and since you've made it clear that you intend to move its a useless exercise. Additionally the cost to evict is one that results in a money judgement and an order of eviction totalling $400 from the servicing company that we use, Ideal Legal Office located on jay street.
to agree to allow you out of your lease and for us to attract a desirable tenant, we need you to organize the apartment, have a clean kitchen, no dishes in the sink, floors swept and mopped all clothes in the bedrooms placed in bags or boxes, stage the entire apartment so that it is clean and desirable. Then take several pictures of each room for us to post on craigslist and we will try to fast track posting the unit for rent. However, there will be a $25.00 fee for us to give to the administrator to do so. So, in total when you pay June's rent include an additional $125.00 to cover the now authorized cat, which had you disclosed the pet request, we would have requested the veterinarian's medical examination report which we attach to the lease and request regular visits every 4 months. Those are our terms when we find someone that we perceive to be desirable tenants with good rent history.
Our lease does not allow you to use your rent security because that is returned after you move out and no damages left behind and the unit is broom swept and mopped.
As shown, she typed as if she was drunk, so we still had questions. I tried to text her just to get the most important detail out of the way...
Me (4:22): Just to be clear, what is the total amount of money owed you by the time we leave?
Me (5:44): Just to be clear, what is the total amount of money owed you by the time we leave?
Maritza (6:19): Please I asked you to email us. You will see your june statement. Pls read email it was very clear. I am in a meeting the office will respond to you on this matter going forward. Again please read email. And have a wonderful weekend
The last week of the month was mostly spent preparing to move. We wanted to make sure we did everything she wanted us to do and in the way she wanted us to just to avoid future complications. Unfortunately, just communicating with her made the whole process way harder than it had to be. At this point, we both hated the woman, so we tried to remain as formal and professional as one could while aggressively harassing her into doing her goddamn job as a landlady and property owner. In my twenty-six years on this planet, one important thing I've learned as an adult is that you have to bother people in power with the fierceness of a boss just to get them to do what they're supposed to already be doing; you must literally annoy them into wanting to do their job just to get you to leave them alone. E-mail exchanges became constant and disorienting. I couldn't believe these people were allowed to control the living situations of entire families.
Monday, May 26th
BSG Management: Mr. Dunn & Ms. McClellan, should you remain in the unit after July 1, 2014 you will need to obtain documentation from the and Veterinarian that all required shots have been received, and it is ticks free.
Please note also that you will be required to show the apartment to any prospective tenant sent by BSG. Your cooperation is
anticipated.
It was comical that after half a year of dealing with us, neither of them had a handle on either of our names.
Maritza: Per the agreement letting you out of your lease is subject to the terms and condition I Maritza provided. I need to receive photos of the apartment staged in the manner I stated in the email so that it can be rented by the 1st. Failure to provide the apt staged nullifies
Me: This entire week will be spent moving our belongings out of the apartment entirely and cleaning it to be staged. We will provide photos by the end of the week after we complete those tasks.
Would you prefer we take pictures with some of our furniture inside the place, or would pictures of it after it is cleaned and completely emptied be preferred? Let us know and we will accommodate the request.
Maritza: it is apparent that was your plan to move out, however, the lease has not been terminated, until we get the unit rented, so make sure that you pay june's rent, delaying the staging only delays renting, there will not be anymore emails onthis matter.
send the pictures and ensure june rent is paid.
Me: We are obviously going to pay June's rent. There is no reason to assume we wouldn't. We agreed to what is being asked in exchange for an early termination of the lease.
You did not answer my question, though. Would you like the pictures to be of the apartment once it's completely emptied and cleaned, or with some of our furniture still inside of it? If you want pictures of it before it is emptied, I could get them to you sooner, but it is up to you. Let us know.
Maritza: Please hurry and send photos then so we can fast track showing. Did you put out garbage as requested so county waste could have picked up this morning
Me: Okay, since you are not answering my question, I am going to go ahead and take pictures today with our furniture still inside of the apartment. The apartment will be completely empty by this weekend.
Maritza: Send pictures asap but clean no clothes on the floor. Because if I get a call random which we do I can schedule. Did you clear everything off the porch. That was condition for today because garbage pick up was this morning
I honestly couldn't tell if she was just mildly stupid or if she was acting incompetent to make everything more difficult for us. We swept and boxed up everything we could and I took a bunch of pictures from every angle imaginable. I didn't want any potential complaint to slow us down, especially since she kept adding more things to the agreement as she went on. After e-mailing her the pictures, I hadn't gotten a response for an entire day.
Tuesday, May 27th
The three days following her son being taken, Jess's mental state crumbled dramatically, and I was the net she expected to catch the falling rocks. I tried to keep her at arm's length, but it was hard in such a tiny apartment. Things had gotten so complicated and I had so many conflicting emotions that were at war with my common sense and self-respect. All that was on top of the pressure of having to jump through the hoops and fill in all the blank of breaking our lease and preparing to move to another state. Jess continued to alternate sporadically between begging for forgiveness and insisting that she was owed it; she'd throw extreme temper tantrums and then have the nerve to ask if she could join us in watching TV; she'd storm out of the house in the middle of the night only to return shortly after and start rummaging through the fridge and eating my food as if she owned the place; she'd go on about how much she hated herself and deserved to die, but then blame her behavior and decisions on mental illness and accuse me of callousness for not being more "understanding". She was pushing me closer and closer to the edge, but I couldn't just toss her out. I still loved her, or at least felt connected to her in a way that I couldn't dismiss.
Then she let something slip that she'd been keeping from me: she had somewhere else to go. The night we left the police station, they had given her a card with a number on it. She was offered to call it any time if she needed immediate alternative shelter. She'd kept this from me because she wanted to stay with me. She could have been selfless, but she chose not to be, and instead put me through hell, disregarding my need for space, time, and peace. I was furious when I found out about this. I cannot tolerate lies, even lies by omission. I started telling her to call it and leave, but she crossed her arms and sternly refused to like a young child saying she won't go to her room. She assured me very defiantly and confidently that she wasn't going anywhere. On her last night in the apartment before things reached their boiling point, the screaming had gotten as loud as our lungs would allow, her banging around like a storm got as severe as it could without things being smashed, and threats of suicide had become redundant. I was honestly becoming scared of the girl. Matt and Tia could only sit back and watch in horror. I was ashamed of myself in front of them for weakly submitting to everything she threw at me and riddled with guilt for forcing them into the uncomfortable situation of being bystanders to the abusive relationship I had found myself in. I begged her to call the number and leave, but she sat on my mattress and rejected my pleas.
So I called the number and spoke to a man about what my options were. Because she had been there for thirty days, I technically couldn't kick her out, and I didn't want to unless I knew she had a safe place to go. I told him she was constantly threatening suicide and being verbally abusive. He asked to talk to her and I watched her lie to him, saying I was making stuff up just to get her out of the house. In the end, he told me the only way I could get rid of her was to call the cops and tell them about the suicidal threats. "I don't want to call the cops on her; she's not a criminal," I told him. Things calmed down after that and she stayed in the room like a child who had been grounded. A few hours went by, Tia fell asleep, and I stayed in the living room, watching TV and trying to soak up as many seconds of silent relaxation as I could. She slithered out and put on her sweet and loving show, though, and begged for forgiveness. When I wasn't willing to give it to her, she returned to the demon woman she was capable of transforming into on a whim and the eruptions began again. She insisted she was going to kill herself and slammed the bedroom door behind her. I could hear loud rustling and expected the worst. Part of me deep down wanted to ignore the sounds and the warnings and just let her kill herself, honestly.
Instead, I got my cellphone ready to take a picture of whatever she was more than likely doing in there and opened the door. I found her in my closet with a belt tied tight around the pole, ready to hang herself. When she saw my phone, she attacked me and tried to wrestle it out of my hand, but I managed to snap a shot of the situation. I did this because she told me loud and clear that she would lie if I called anyone. Having no other option, I dialed 911. This wasn't out of spite, but out of genuine concern for her well-being and a total loss of preparation for these sorts of issues. The operator was nice and calming. Jess sat on the bed with a villainous, shit-eating grin on her face. She asked to speak with Jess, who immediately told her I was lying because I wanted her out of the house and had set up the closet for a fake picture. Suddenly, six cops were barging through my door. I was wearing my "FUCK COPS" shirt, of all things. One of them who I recognized from past altercations said, "Nice shirt." I looked at him, shrugged, and said, "Yeah, you guys are apparently the only way I can get a suicidal person brought to a hospital." The one lady cop was the only one acting professional and asked me questions while the rest of them listened to Jess lie. Four of them loaded out, one of them saying, "I need to get outta here... it's hard to breathe," as the rest of them chuckled. I wasn't sure what that meant. After she was taken to the car, a few of them came back. A young cop asked me, "Does your shirt say 'FUCK COPS'?" It clearly did in giant, white letters. I let out a confident, "Yup!" He nodded and said, "That's legit."
I got a call from a doctor at the hospital early the next morning. He said they were definitely worried about Jess and that they were going to keep her for a few days. I was extremely relieved, not only because I could rest assured that she was safe, but because she wouldn't be around as another obstacle in the way of us moving out. Next, I got a call from Jon, her CPS caseworker. She was missing her court date regarding her son that morning because she was in the hospital. This probably wasn't going to look very good to the courts and they were going to have to reschedule it to the next month. I had to keep my eyes on the prize, though, so I resumed business.
Thursday, May 29th
Me: Are the photos okay??
Maritza: I'm sorry I just haven't been available today. I haven't had a chance to open the email that you sent that I open it when I get to my home office
I didn't hear from her again that day.
Me (12:32): Could you please confirm you received and viewed the pictures of the back porch and that they are satisfactory?
Maritza (12:45): I did respond they look good there is something on the far corner x far corner of the porch what is that and did you find a container in the front
Me (12:48): I did not get a response from you. It is some leftover insulation and a rusty pipe of some sort. I don't know where they came from. Yes, we used a bin from the front.
We wouldn't hear from anyone until the 3rd of the following month after we'd already moved out of the state.
BSG Management: Dear...Tenants:
While in town Wednesday, May 7th, 2014, Ms Brown observed a cat coming out of your apartment. Mr. Gary confirmed this cat has been observed in your apartment. Please note Item #3 of your lease, pasted below and initialed by you.
There is a required$100.00 non-refundable deposit for cats. In addition, and you need to get certification from your veterinarian that your cat is free of fleas on any other insects that are common on animals. At that time, and only then, can there be discussion regarding the cat remaining in the apartment permanently. The only reason we're allowing you to keep the cat, pending the required verification, is that you've been very good tenants so far. Please provide us with the necessary information before the end of this month.If the information is not received by that time, you will have to remove the cat from the apartment.
I ignored it for ten days. Once we officially decided we were going to try and break free from our lease, I simply responded, We would prefer to be evicted over this.
Saturday, May 24th
As a result of our incessant harassment, which became clearly necessary to get any kind of response out of her, Maritza finally caved in and agreed to let us out of our lease, but not without a slew of stipulations...
Maritza: Good morning,
I have received serious tickets for texing or on the phone while driving. I respectfully asked you to stop texing me yesterday and you continued. I also told you that we were still in collaboration on the lease termination.
After visiting your apartment yesterday and after being a landlord for over 30 years, our experience has been that an apartment that appears to be unkept, seriously untidy deters good tenants. While one that is organized, clean organized attracts more desirable tenants. That's one of the reason that we included the inspection clause in the lease.
We will not start eviction proceedings for the cat, there will be a non refundable charge of $100 for the cat, which is our condition for pets, when we agree to and since you've made it clear that you intend to move its a useless exercise. Additionally the cost to evict is one that results in a money judgement and an order of eviction totalling $400 from the servicing company that we use, Ideal Legal Office located on jay street.
to agree to allow you out of your lease and for us to attract a desirable tenant, we need you to organize the apartment, have a clean kitchen, no dishes in the sink, floors swept and mopped all clothes in the bedrooms placed in bags or boxes, stage the entire apartment so that it is clean and desirable. Then take several pictures of each room for us to post on craigslist and we will try to fast track posting the unit for rent. However, there will be a $25.00 fee for us to give to the administrator to do so. So, in total when you pay June's rent include an additional $125.00 to cover the now authorized cat, which had you disclosed the pet request, we would have requested the veterinarian's medical examination report which we attach to the lease and request regular visits every 4 months. Those are our terms when we find someone that we perceive to be desirable tenants with good rent history.
Our lease does not allow you to use your rent security because that is returned after you move out and no damages left behind and the unit is broom swept and mopped.
As shown, she typed as if she was drunk, so we still had questions. I tried to text her just to get the most important detail out of the way...
Me (4:22): Just to be clear, what is the total amount of money owed you by the time we leave?
Me (5:44): Just to be clear, what is the total amount of money owed you by the time we leave?
Maritza (6:19): Please I asked you to email us. You will see your june statement. Pls read email it was very clear. I am in a meeting the office will respond to you on this matter going forward. Again please read email. And have a wonderful weekend
The last week of the month was mostly spent preparing to move. We wanted to make sure we did everything she wanted us to do and in the way she wanted us to just to avoid future complications. Unfortunately, just communicating with her made the whole process way harder than it had to be. At this point, we both hated the woman, so we tried to remain as formal and professional as one could while aggressively harassing her into doing her goddamn job as a landlady and property owner. In my twenty-six years on this planet, one important thing I've learned as an adult is that you have to bother people in power with the fierceness of a boss just to get them to do what they're supposed to already be doing; you must literally annoy them into wanting to do their job just to get you to leave them alone. E-mail exchanges became constant and disorienting. I couldn't believe these people were allowed to control the living situations of entire families.
Monday, May 26th
BSG Management: Mr. Dunn & Ms. McClellan, should you remain in the unit after July 1, 2014 you will need to obtain documentation from the and Veterinarian that all required shots have been received, and it is ticks free.
Please note also that you will be required to show the apartment to any prospective tenant sent by BSG. Your cooperation is
anticipated.
It was comical that after half a year of dealing with us, neither of them had a handle on either of our names.
Maritza: Per the agreement letting you out of your lease is subject to the terms and condition I Maritza provided. I need to receive photos of the apartment staged in the manner I stated in the email so that it can be rented by the 1st. Failure to provide the apt staged nullifies
Me: This entire week will be spent moving our belongings out of the apartment entirely and cleaning it to be staged. We will provide photos by the end of the week after we complete those tasks.
Would you prefer we take pictures with some of our furniture inside the place, or would pictures of it after it is cleaned and completely emptied be preferred? Let us know and we will accommodate the request.
Maritza: it is apparent that was your plan to move out, however, the lease has not been terminated, until we get the unit rented, so make sure that you pay june's rent, delaying the staging only delays renting, there will not be anymore emails onthis matter.
send the pictures and ensure june rent is paid.
Me: We are obviously going to pay June's rent. There is no reason to assume we wouldn't. We agreed to what is being asked in exchange for an early termination of the lease.
You did not answer my question, though. Would you like the pictures to be of the apartment once it's completely emptied and cleaned, or with some of our furniture still inside of it? If you want pictures of it before it is emptied, I could get them to you sooner, but it is up to you. Let us know.
Maritza: Please hurry and send photos then so we can fast track showing. Did you put out garbage as requested so county waste could have picked up this morning
Me: Okay, since you are not answering my question, I am going to go ahead and take pictures today with our furniture still inside of the apartment. The apartment will be completely empty by this weekend.
Maritza: Send pictures asap but clean no clothes on the floor. Because if I get a call random which we do I can schedule. Did you clear everything off the porch. That was condition for today because garbage pick up was this morning
I honestly couldn't tell if she was just mildly stupid or if she was acting incompetent to make everything more difficult for us. We swept and boxed up everything we could and I took a bunch of pictures from every angle imaginable. I didn't want any potential complaint to slow us down, especially since she kept adding more things to the agreement as she went on. After e-mailing her the pictures, I hadn't gotten a response for an entire day.
Tuesday, May 27th
The three days following her son being taken, Jess's mental state crumbled dramatically, and I was the net she expected to catch the falling rocks. I tried to keep her at arm's length, but it was hard in such a tiny apartment. Things had gotten so complicated and I had so many conflicting emotions that were at war with my common sense and self-respect. All that was on top of the pressure of having to jump through the hoops and fill in all the blank of breaking our lease and preparing to move to another state. Jess continued to alternate sporadically between begging for forgiveness and insisting that she was owed it; she'd throw extreme temper tantrums and then have the nerve to ask if she could join us in watching TV; she'd storm out of the house in the middle of the night only to return shortly after and start rummaging through the fridge and eating my food as if she owned the place; she'd go on about how much she hated herself and deserved to die, but then blame her behavior and decisions on mental illness and accuse me of callousness for not being more "understanding". She was pushing me closer and closer to the edge, but I couldn't just toss her out. I still loved her, or at least felt connected to her in a way that I couldn't dismiss.
Then she let something slip that she'd been keeping from me: she had somewhere else to go. The night we left the police station, they had given her a card with a number on it. She was offered to call it any time if she needed immediate alternative shelter. She'd kept this from me because she wanted to stay with me. She could have been selfless, but she chose not to be, and instead put me through hell, disregarding my need for space, time, and peace. I was furious when I found out about this. I cannot tolerate lies, even lies by omission. I started telling her to call it and leave, but she crossed her arms and sternly refused to like a young child saying she won't go to her room. She assured me very defiantly and confidently that she wasn't going anywhere. On her last night in the apartment before things reached their boiling point, the screaming had gotten as loud as our lungs would allow, her banging around like a storm got as severe as it could without things being smashed, and threats of suicide had become redundant. I was honestly becoming scared of the girl. Matt and Tia could only sit back and watch in horror. I was ashamed of myself in front of them for weakly submitting to everything she threw at me and riddled with guilt for forcing them into the uncomfortable situation of being bystanders to the abusive relationship I had found myself in. I begged her to call the number and leave, but she sat on my mattress and rejected my pleas.
So I called the number and spoke to a man about what my options were. Because she had been there for thirty days, I technically couldn't kick her out, and I didn't want to unless I knew she had a safe place to go. I told him she was constantly threatening suicide and being verbally abusive. He asked to talk to her and I watched her lie to him, saying I was making stuff up just to get her out of the house. In the end, he told me the only way I could get rid of her was to call the cops and tell them about the suicidal threats. "I don't want to call the cops on her; she's not a criminal," I told him. Things calmed down after that and she stayed in the room like a child who had been grounded. A few hours went by, Tia fell asleep, and I stayed in the living room, watching TV and trying to soak up as many seconds of silent relaxation as I could. She slithered out and put on her sweet and loving show, though, and begged for forgiveness. When I wasn't willing to give it to her, she returned to the demon woman she was capable of transforming into on a whim and the eruptions began again. She insisted she was going to kill herself and slammed the bedroom door behind her. I could hear loud rustling and expected the worst. Part of me deep down wanted to ignore the sounds and the warnings and just let her kill herself, honestly.
Instead, I got my cellphone ready to take a picture of whatever she was more than likely doing in there and opened the door. I found her in my closet with a belt tied tight around the pole, ready to hang herself. When she saw my phone, she attacked me and tried to wrestle it out of my hand, but I managed to snap a shot of the situation. I did this because she told me loud and clear that she would lie if I called anyone. Having no other option, I dialed 911. This wasn't out of spite, but out of genuine concern for her well-being and a total loss of preparation for these sorts of issues. The operator was nice and calming. Jess sat on the bed with a villainous, shit-eating grin on her face. She asked to speak with Jess, who immediately told her I was lying because I wanted her out of the house and had set up the closet for a fake picture. Suddenly, six cops were barging through my door. I was wearing my "FUCK COPS" shirt, of all things. One of them who I recognized from past altercations said, "Nice shirt." I looked at him, shrugged, and said, "Yeah, you guys are apparently the only way I can get a suicidal person brought to a hospital." The one lady cop was the only one acting professional and asked me questions while the rest of them listened to Jess lie. Four of them loaded out, one of them saying, "I need to get outta here... it's hard to breathe," as the rest of them chuckled. I wasn't sure what that meant. After she was taken to the car, a few of them came back. A young cop asked me, "Does your shirt say 'FUCK COPS'?" It clearly did in giant, white letters. I let out a confident, "Yup!" He nodded and said, "That's legit."
I got a call from a doctor at the hospital early the next morning. He said they were definitely worried about Jess and that they were going to keep her for a few days. I was extremely relieved, not only because I could rest assured that she was safe, but because she wouldn't be around as another obstacle in the way of us moving out. Next, I got a call from Jon, her CPS caseworker. She was missing her court date regarding her son that morning because she was in the hospital. This probably wasn't going to look very good to the courts and they were going to have to reschedule it to the next month. I had to keep my eyes on the prize, though, so I resumed business.
Thursday, May 29th
Me: Are the photos okay??
Maritza: I'm sorry I just haven't been available today. I haven't had a chance to open the email that you sent that I open it when I get to my home office
I didn't hear from her again that day.
Me (12:32): Could you please confirm you received and viewed the pictures of the back porch and that they are satisfactory?
Maritza (12:45): I did respond they look good there is something on the far corner x far corner of the porch what is that and did you find a container in the front
Me (12:48): I did not get a response from you. It is some leftover insulation and a rusty pipe of some sort. I don't know where they came from. Yes, we used a bin from the front.
We wouldn't hear from anyone until the 3rd of the following month after we'd already moved out of the state.