I am the Author of my Own Misery

[wayfaringwordhack]

...at least I hope I am.

I am very much dreading the "etat des lieux" tomorrow, the handing over of the keys, the verification of the inventory and the state in which we have left the apartment.

I always leave a place spotless. Spotless. I am not a tidy person, but when I leave a home, you could eat off the floors, the walls, out of the dishwasher*...  We have replaced what we have broken and have not damaged anything irreplaceable.

However, the lady who is coming to do the état des lieux has not been...friendly whenever we've spoken on the phone.

When we had to replace the broken induction stovetop and called to find out the procedure for insurance purposes, she was downright witchy, practically accusing us of trying to rip off the rental agency when all we were trying to do was follow the proper channels.

Then, the other day, in setting up the appointment for the "check out," she told me we were going to have to pay a plumber to do the annual maintenance for the heating. We lived here from March to 1 Oct and had no need of the heating. I asked her to discuss it with J, citing we had only been here six months.  She went ballistic and said we were going to HAVE TO pay so no need to discuss anything. To which I politely insisted she talk to J about it. 

When we moved in, the realtor (different agent) said the maintenance was our responsibility, at which time J asked for a receipt showing the last upkeep done on the boiler.  We never received anything.  

Anyhow, the witchy lady never called J. He called the agency instead and repeated the need to see a receipt for the last maintenance because, hey, why should we have to pay for something we never used? And the agency kept dragging it out, claiming to be waiting on the plumber to send them the last bill. Only the thing is: They handle this apartment for the owner. It is their responsibility to have all of these documents on hand, already.

Witchy lady finally called back, leaving a message, in which she said, "Lucky for you, the last maintenance was done in Sept 2010, so you don't have to do it." (Remember the maintenance is ANNUAL, so they dropped the ball in 2011.) Lucky for us? Why lucky for us?  If we had bowed to her attempts to cow me, then we would be stuck paying something that is not our business to be paying.  Luck plays no part in it. They messed up; they have to pony up. Who wants to bet they try to fob off the expense on the next renters?

All day today, I've been tormenting myself with scenarios of her trying to find something wrong with the apartment and succeeding, thereby getting to keep all or a part of our deposit.  I'm making myself miserable. I'm borrowing trouble from tomorrow, when perhaps there will be no trouble.  I know that, but I just can't stop. Stupid mental playback of misery!

OK, enough whinging. Time to get back to cleaning so as not to give witchy woman any ground...

____
* that might seem an odd thing to say, but have you ever cleaned a dishwasher filter? Nasty,greasy things...

Comments

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Ugh...I would not have called her a witch, but something that rhymes and starts with a b.

Hope everything goes well tomorrow.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I need the good vibes and wishes. >.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

She's crooked and most likely WILL try and stick it to you. For your protection I'd suggest taking pictures of the entire place inside and out with a current newspaper that shows the date so you have proof that you are leaving the place in clean/good condition.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Ha! We think alike. I was wondering if it would be super paranoid of me to film the place before she comes. >:)

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

Nope, not paranoid at all. Trust your gut and take lots and lots of piccies (don't forget the newspaper or she'll say the piccies were taken when you moved in). Good luck to you guys and bad luck to Ms. Crooked Agent Cow.

ETA: This was moved so it akshully, ya know, replied to the comment.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Hope it goes well!

[mindseas.livejournal.com]

It's too bad that some people make a career of spreading trouble. Here are my good vibes ))))). Trust in God and keep your powder dry.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'll never understand those kinds of people. How in the world does anyone get pleasure from making others miserable?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I do exactly the same thing: play the possibilities over in my head and get worked up over them. The best thing is to try to distract yourself--but it's hard when you're in the middle of the awful imaginings.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I don't know what is the reason we do this. Yes, it could help us to prepare for the worst, but I'm not sure the ulcer brought on by the worrying is really worth it. :P

[bkdunn.livejournal.com]

They have filters...?

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

They do indeed. :P

[sunflower-sky.livejournal.com]

Landlord issues suck. Last time we moved out of an apartment, we had arrived back from an insane trip to the US like a week earlier, we had a 5-month-old and a (very jet-lagged) 20-month old... when we moved out we scrubbed the floors, everything looked lovely. The landlady came into inspect, and when she was done she was like, "You can't be serious." We hadn't cleaned out the tracks the sliding door runs on; the grates on the stove had traces of grease; there was a buildup of lime in the toilet bowl pipe (very hard to clean; I tried...) which she claimed wasn't there when we moved in (and it WAS. I remember. I should have taken a picture). She even said she was sure she'd replaced the plastic toilet seat with a ceramic one and hinted that we had broken it and replaced it with the plastic one without telling her. (Trust me lady, our derrieres bear witness to the fact that there was no ceramic here...) "Our contract says you will leave the apartment the way you found it..." Yeah? With dust and building crap all over the laundry room, a roof that leaks very badly (which they still hadn't completely fixed in the two years we lived there), a faulty electrical system (no thanks to all the leakage), an air conditioner with the drainage installed wrong thus leaking all over the ceiling, and a rock in the drainpipe of the washing machine?

We were so desperate to get out of there and rid of her that we paid a cleaning lady to come the next day and take care of all her claims against us. Of course she called again a few days later hysterical about some kind of leak in the sink we had asked them to fix months ago.

I heard they had a very hard time getting renters after us, and we secretly wish they get really bad renters who complain about everything (like we should have...) and trash the place... just so they learn to appreciate how patient and undemanding we were with them! Normal renters would have moved out within a few months with the kind of issues we were having!

My dad told me they also had a very similar issue with the house we rented when we first moved to Israel. The guy told them they were slobs and he couldn't understand how they could live like this. Israelis tend to be meticulous about cleanliness, and we Americans are slobs in comparison...

We're not even going to try cleaning this place to the landlord's satisfaction this time around. We'll hire a cleaning lady.

We are dying to own our own place.

~D

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Landlord issues suck.

Indeed they do. You think you can trust people--and that they will trust you--but you just can't. That is sad. You always have to be thinking of covering your bases.

... just so they learn to appreciate how patient and undemanding we were with them!

Yep, a little hindsight gratefulness is definitely in order.

The one time I paid a cleaning lady was the one time I didn't get my full deposit back. o.O And because of "cleanliness" issues. In this case, the landlady told me not to worry about the walls (which had black traces when we moved in) because she was going to paint them. And why did she withhold the deposit? Because of the black on the walls. Argh.

We are dying to own our own place.

Yes, yes, yes!

[88greenthumb.livejournal.com]

Hope it went well.

(Hope you don't mind my adding you on my Friends' List. I've come across your comments at asakiyume's and judo100's)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Hello, and welcome to my LJ. Sorry I haven't answered earlier, but I've been busy with the move, the sick, and a sick daughter.

[dlandon.livejournal.com]

I second - take pictures. Lots of them. Also, next time take them upon moving in, too, and insist upon a full walk- through where you & the landlord note all problems (down to cracks in plaster and stains in sinks) and sign off on them. Unfortunately it sounds like you're right to be paranoid this time but I hope it goes well.

D

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

We did note all the problems, but this lady didn't refer to that document. For some of the stuff, if she tries to cite it as just cause for keeping the deposit, I know I'll be able to point to the doc and say, Nope, don't think so.

I did do my video but because I signed off on the state of the apartment without even reading it (ARGH, still kicking myself about that), I don't know if it will do any good if ever we have to dispute their word. :(

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Crossing my fingers for you!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I think it went ok, but we still haven't received the deposit back yet, so...

ETA and I think they have 2 months to send it to us. *sigh* we could be in for a long wait.