Some things are easier than you expect
Mar. 21st, 2006 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2When I decided to move in January, I wrote a letter to my then-landlords and included it with my rent check. I explained that I was moving out by the end of the month, and therefore was deducting last month's rent from my rent check. In this case, last month's rent had originally been paid more than twenty years ago, so I knew already that it wasn't the same amount as my current rent and so I had to make up the difference in a much smaller rent check.
My landlord called me in February to let me know that, as far as the new owners were concerned, he had still handed over the money that included last month's rent and the security deposit, and I should ask for it back from them. Even though I'd deducted last month's rent from my last rent check to him, the new owners had been given the money for last month's rent anyway and that money ought to go to me. He said that I should insist on it because I had really done them quite a favor by moving out on my own, that if they had been forced to evict me, they might have had to spend upwards of $2,000.00 or more to pay for my relocation.
Well, the specifics were a little fuzzy but the gist was, he was giving them my contact information, they were suppose to contact me about a few things, and I should ask for the money. That sounded like a good idea to me.
Weeks went by and I heard nothing from them. I was a little concerned because I'd left a lot of stuff in the apartment... a couch, a chair, a desk, some small tables and various other junk that I didn't want or need, or which didn't ever belong to me. I knew Tom was going to clean out some of it for Goodwill, but I also knew a lot of it was being left behind. Because of that, I really didn't think I deserved to get the security deposit back -- sure, they were going to tear the place down anyway, but I left quite a lot behind for them to deal with. And the fact that they hadn't contacted me made it seem as if they weren't eager to give me any money, that they were hoping they'd just never have to deal with me at all.
So I contacted my old landlord and got the number for the new owners, and who I should talk to. A week and a half went by while I failed to call. I was prepared for it to be a long conversation. I was prepared to have to lay out my arguments and maybe get a little nasty in order to make them pay up. In short, I kept avoiding calling because I wanted to have enough time on hand and to be mentally prepared.
So I finally called today. I said who I was, and that I was a former tenant of the property on Greenwood, and that the previous owners had given them last month's rent and since I'd moved out I thought it should be returned to me. The woman asked me if the previous owner had discussed the security deposit, and I said it was $150.00, but since I'd left some stuff behind I was really more concerned about the last month's rent.
And she asked me for my address, and said she'd mail it to me. Just like that. No arguments, no even attempting to determine that I was who I said I was. I mean, not that anyone else would know to call them and ask for that money, but essentially I called someone whom I've never met or talked to, and said you owe me money, and she said okay, where do I send it?
Of course, it remains to be seen if the money arrives and is the right amount, but basically it was so easy that I wondered if I shouldn't have asked for the security deposit too. They might have just handed it over. But eh, I'll be happy to get the money I asked for. ^_^
In other news, my car's tire has a nail in it of some kind. I saw it today. I really do need to get up early and hit Les Schwab tomorrow. I stopped to get air again tonight -- the tire was down around 25-28 pounds of pressure, from about 35 yesterday, so that's not going flat in one day but it's a very signifigant leak.
Today's link, courtesy of NPR's This American Life, is Gone and Forgotten, a web page dedicated to the many many superheroes who never made it to prime time, often because they were based on really really stupid ideas.
Well actually it's just about stupid comics, period, and many of those involve very well-known heroes who somehow survived years of true stupidity to emerge mostly unscathed...
My landlord called me in February to let me know that, as far as the new owners were concerned, he had still handed over the money that included last month's rent and the security deposit, and I should ask for it back from them. Even though I'd deducted last month's rent from my last rent check to him, the new owners had been given the money for last month's rent anyway and that money ought to go to me. He said that I should insist on it because I had really done them quite a favor by moving out on my own, that if they had been forced to evict me, they might have had to spend upwards of $2,000.00 or more to pay for my relocation.
Well, the specifics were a little fuzzy but the gist was, he was giving them my contact information, they were suppose to contact me about a few things, and I should ask for the money. That sounded like a good idea to me.
Weeks went by and I heard nothing from them. I was a little concerned because I'd left a lot of stuff in the apartment... a couch, a chair, a desk, some small tables and various other junk that I didn't want or need, or which didn't ever belong to me. I knew Tom was going to clean out some of it for Goodwill, but I also knew a lot of it was being left behind. Because of that, I really didn't think I deserved to get the security deposit back -- sure, they were going to tear the place down anyway, but I left quite a lot behind for them to deal with. And the fact that they hadn't contacted me made it seem as if they weren't eager to give me any money, that they were hoping they'd just never have to deal with me at all.
So I contacted my old landlord and got the number for the new owners, and who I should talk to. A week and a half went by while I failed to call. I was prepared for it to be a long conversation. I was prepared to have to lay out my arguments and maybe get a little nasty in order to make them pay up. In short, I kept avoiding calling because I wanted to have enough time on hand and to be mentally prepared.
So I finally called today. I said who I was, and that I was a former tenant of the property on Greenwood, and that the previous owners had given them last month's rent and since I'd moved out I thought it should be returned to me. The woman asked me if the previous owner had discussed the security deposit, and I said it was $150.00, but since I'd left some stuff behind I was really more concerned about the last month's rent.
And she asked me for my address, and said she'd mail it to me. Just like that. No arguments, no even attempting to determine that I was who I said I was. I mean, not that anyone else would know to call them and ask for that money, but essentially I called someone whom I've never met or talked to, and said you owe me money, and she said okay, where do I send it?
Of course, it remains to be seen if the money arrives and is the right amount, but basically it was so easy that I wondered if I shouldn't have asked for the security deposit too. They might have just handed it over. But eh, I'll be happy to get the money I asked for. ^_^
In other news, my car's tire has a nail in it of some kind. I saw it today. I really do need to get up early and hit Les Schwab tomorrow. I stopped to get air again tonight -- the tire was down around 25-28 pounds of pressure, from about 35 yesterday, so that's not going flat in one day but it's a very signifigant leak.
Today's link, courtesy of NPR's This American Life, is Gone and Forgotten, a web page dedicated to the many many superheroes who never made it to prime time, often because they were based on really really stupid ideas.
Well actually it's just about stupid comics, period, and many of those involve very well-known heroes who somehow survived years of true stupidity to emerge mostly unscathed...
