Thursday, March 23, 2017

F'ing squatters

I rented an apartment last month to a couple of older ladies. Lets call them Ann and Bev. Kids grown, but too young for social security. Ann had a new boy friend, Chuck, who promptly moved in which created tension, and Bev began wanting out. When her husband, Dave, appeared, they rented another place from me, and Ann and her bf kept place one.
Things didn't go smoothly, and in short order, I was contracted to change the locks, and the bf was now another ex. Ann got a restraining order and the whole shebang. That lasted about a week, and by the first of March, Chuck was back. Ann didn't have the whole months rent, but after discussion, I agreed to let her split the month and pay the second half late.
Later I heard through the rumor mill that Chuck had gotten ahold of her money and blew a big chunk on dope.
The agreed on date came and went. I checked by the place, and no sign of Ann. A couple days later I was over to do some yard cleaning There were several people going in and our, but no sign of Ann.
A couple of the neighbors approached me. They said that late night traffic in and out of the apartment was creating quite a nuisance. I've known many of them for years, I used to live in another house in on the block. I called Ann. Some guy answered, and after a bit passed the phone to Ann. he asked a lot of questions and was very protective.
Finally I got her on the phone and asked what was going on. Ann said that Chuck had beat her again, and she had decided to leave town. Said she packed only a small bag and left every thing else.
Did she give any one permission to move in?
No, she did not.
Was she abandoning the lease?
Yes she was.
Good luck collecting. Sigh.
I went by this morning and my lock was gone from the place. There was also a security camera mounted above the door. I beat on the door but got no answer. I called the police, and after an officer arrived, drilled the lock. Just my luck, first I shelled a bit, then the battery went dead. Finally, after I got another battery, a gal opened the door wondering what all the noise was. Never seen her before, and she claimed she was from Junction City. Told us she had come to town because she had a couple days off and wanted to party, but got stranded when her ride ditched.
We entered the apartment, and lo and behold, there was a guy in there. Not Chuck though, we'll call him Ed. There was also drug paraphernalia. Officer asked for ID, and Ed came back with a warrant for his arrest. Several of them in fact.
What was he doing there? When we first entered, he was all "You can't just barge into my apartment." but as soon as the officer noted the drugs, it became the girl's place. We got a lot of song and dance, but the long and short of it was that after Ann left, Chuck came by, realized she had split, and offered his drug dealer use of the place in exchange for dope.
By the time I got a lock smith out, it was noon. I needed a few things and headed to Home Depot. They were having contractor appreciation day, Free food, so I grabbed a plate. I sat down with several local contractors who also have apartments. I mentioned the incident, and dang if they all hadn't had similar experiences with Chuck. One had taken four months to get him gone because that apartment was leased to a gal who ended up in jail. She gave the key to a friend who let Ed in. They couldn't just get him tossed as a squatter and had to evict him, and he managed to make issues that caused it to drag out.
Did he learn anything? I will bet you that he will continue to be a problem for the community until he either gets killed by a rival drug dealer, or goes to prison.
BTW, guess the race.

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