Misty
10-01-2006, 04:25 AM
In February, I took over the lease to my apartment after my 2 roommates moved out. I then had 2 new roommates move in, Joe and Dave. They were best friends and had been looking to room together.
From Day one Joe was a pain. He never gave me a security deposit (he said he would when he got his tax refund, but he never did). Every month I had to ask him for rent 2, 3 times at least. He laways had an excuse..."I get paid Friday", or "I'll have it tomorrow." Getting the money was always an ordeal. He always paid in cash, hundreds of dollars. He said he was uncomfortable leaving large amounts of cash out for me on the counter or fridge, so he would only give it to me in person. Fair enough, but he was never around. And when he was around, he had an excuse.
Also, since those two moved in, things have been disappearing. Dave said money has disappeared from his room on two occasions. Joe says $400 went missing from his wallet when it was in his room. My aerobed went missing from the storage space. I never had any money go missing, but then again I never keep large amounts of cash in the house. Again, things like this never happened when I lived with my old roommates; it only started when Joe and Dave moved in.
Anyway, in August I ask him for the rent. He says he left it on the kitchen counter. It's not there. He swears up and down he left it there, and then said he'd get the money somehow. He ended up giving me a partial rent payment. September 1 comes and he asked if he could give me a money order for the rent, including the balance from last month. I said fine. Three weeks later, still nothing. I finally asked him to move out.
Meanwhile, I had to pay his half of the rent and ultilities for September (see my other thread in in Off Topic, "Living With Friends"). I was pissed, because as Sept. 30 approached, his move-out date, he had made no attempt to pay me back even a token amount. I finally left him a note telling him to have the room empty and clean by Saturday, and leave me the keys. I also called him a freeloading leech among other things, and said if he had a shred of decency he would at least pay me the utilities for the month.
Well, Joe confronted me the next day, upset that I questioned his honor. I pointed out that I had to pay his half of everything, when all he ever gave me was excuses, so naturally I was a little fed up. I apologized for the harshness of the note, but I was at my wit's end, what with being out over $1,000 and all. He replied that he was distracted with things that were going on in his life, and he had been unhappy living here, which made paying rent something that ended up in the back of his mind. He then promised to settle up with me tonight (Sat).
Well, when I got home tonight, the house keys were there, but no money. Instead, he left a note:
"Funny thing is, I've wanted to move out since August, when the money I left on the counter mysteriously "disappeared". Dave is also missing $300, and someone went into my room and took $400 from my wallet. You can call me an asshole and question my integrity all you want, but we both know that's bullshit. The fact is, YOU took the money, and by my math I don't owe you anything!!!!!!!"
I am furious beyond words :pissed: :pissed: :pissed: I have been under so much stress because of all this. I have had to shell out money I couldn't afford, and find a new roommate. I finally did, thank god, but for awhile it looked as if I would have to pay double rent again for Oct. I have burst into tears on several occasions. I called him and left a nasty message on his voicemail, for all the good it will do.
His friend Dave is still living here. He has wisely stayed out of this mess. I have no beef with him, but I do plan on having a heart-to-heart talk with him, and find out how he feels and if he plans to stay. I also want to tell my side of the story; Joe is his friend, so no doubt his current opinion is quite biased.
I know this is long, and if you've made it this far, I thank you. If you've had a similar experience with roommates and theft, I'd love to hear what happened.
From Day one Joe was a pain. He never gave me a security deposit (he said he would when he got his tax refund, but he never did). Every month I had to ask him for rent 2, 3 times at least. He laways had an excuse..."I get paid Friday", or "I'll have it tomorrow." Getting the money was always an ordeal. He always paid in cash, hundreds of dollars. He said he was uncomfortable leaving large amounts of cash out for me on the counter or fridge, so he would only give it to me in person. Fair enough, but he was never around. And when he was around, he had an excuse.
Also, since those two moved in, things have been disappearing. Dave said money has disappeared from his room on two occasions. Joe says $400 went missing from his wallet when it was in his room. My aerobed went missing from the storage space. I never had any money go missing, but then again I never keep large amounts of cash in the house. Again, things like this never happened when I lived with my old roommates; it only started when Joe and Dave moved in.
Anyway, in August I ask him for the rent. He says he left it on the kitchen counter. It's not there. He swears up and down he left it there, and then said he'd get the money somehow. He ended up giving me a partial rent payment. September 1 comes and he asked if he could give me a money order for the rent, including the balance from last month. I said fine. Three weeks later, still nothing. I finally asked him to move out.
Meanwhile, I had to pay his half of the rent and ultilities for September (see my other thread in in Off Topic, "Living With Friends"). I was pissed, because as Sept. 30 approached, his move-out date, he had made no attempt to pay me back even a token amount. I finally left him a note telling him to have the room empty and clean by Saturday, and leave me the keys. I also called him a freeloading leech among other things, and said if he had a shred of decency he would at least pay me the utilities for the month.
Well, Joe confronted me the next day, upset that I questioned his honor. I pointed out that I had to pay his half of everything, when all he ever gave me was excuses, so naturally I was a little fed up. I apologized for the harshness of the note, but I was at my wit's end, what with being out over $1,000 and all. He replied that he was distracted with things that were going on in his life, and he had been unhappy living here, which made paying rent something that ended up in the back of his mind. He then promised to settle up with me tonight (Sat).
Well, when I got home tonight, the house keys were there, but no money. Instead, he left a note:
"Funny thing is, I've wanted to move out since August, when the money I left on the counter mysteriously "disappeared". Dave is also missing $300, and someone went into my room and took $400 from my wallet. You can call me an asshole and question my integrity all you want, but we both know that's bullshit. The fact is, YOU took the money, and by my math I don't owe you anything!!!!!!!"
I am furious beyond words :pissed: :pissed: :pissed: I have been under so much stress because of all this. I have had to shell out money I couldn't afford, and find a new roommate. I finally did, thank god, but for awhile it looked as if I would have to pay double rent again for Oct. I have burst into tears on several occasions. I called him and left a nasty message on his voicemail, for all the good it will do.
His friend Dave is still living here. He has wisely stayed out of this mess. I have no beef with him, but I do plan on having a heart-to-heart talk with him, and find out how he feels and if he plans to stay. I also want to tell my side of the story; Joe is his friend, so no doubt his current opinion is quite biased.
I know this is long, and if you've made it this far, I thank you. If you've had a similar experience with roommates and theft, I'd love to hear what happened.