Roommate Trouble, 2011 Edition.

[Android Kaeli]

While doing certified letters is a great way to cover one's behind, the person recieving the letter can also refuse to sign for it as I've refused to sign for a certified letter before without any problems. I don't know how it works on the other end or if the post office keeps records of it being refused.

Again, if I weren't in certain circumstances and didn't have my cat [of whom probably has two to three years more], I'd put in my application to move on down.

[charred]

Undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail is forwarded, returned to sender, or treated as dead mail as authorized for the particular mail class. An mailer endorsement is used to instruct the Postal Service regarding the mailpiece's appropriate disposition upon determining that it is UAA. On First-Class Mail® service, the following endorsements may be used as an updating method to meet the move update standard:

Return Service Requested. If UAA, the mailpiece is returned with the new address or reason for nondelivery; no charge.

Temp-Return Service Requested. If UAA and a temporary change-of-address has been filed, the mailpiece is forwarded at no charge. No separate notice of a new temporary change-of-address is provided.

Address Service Requested.

Months 1 - 12: the mailpiece is forwarded; no charge; a separate notice of the new address is provided; an address correction fee is charged.
Months 13 - 18: the mailpiece is returned with the new address attached; no charge.
After month 18 or if undeliverable: the mailpiece is returned with reason for nondelivery attached; no charge.


http://www.usps.com/ncsc/addressservices/moveupdate/ace.htm

[Aethian]

I do not know her new address, but a little googling has told me that if I simply stamp and address an envelope to her at this address with the words "address service requested" the post office will provide me with her new address. I have no idea if this is true or not.

This is true and will cost you the stamp and .50 when you get a POSTCARD showing the empty letter with the forwarding request. Have you gotten a forwarding confirmation letter? It would have her name or current occupant on it.

So I would send your nicely worded letter certified return receipt, with the words "Address Service Requested" UNDER your return address. Not only will you get the green card but you'll also get the postcard. But only if she has changed her address.

Edited to remove the paragraph this has replaced.

[Jester]

...if you do send the address service letter, send it certified, so you KNOW she got it and she can't claim it was lost.

Okay, I'm confused. I thought if I sent the empty envelope with this address and "address service requested" it would just come back to me, no? My goal is to get her address, not merely to send her a letter requesting payment, but so *I* have the address, for such things as serving her a summons, etc. Am I misunderstanding the process? And is there a way simply to find out her new address via the post office?

Certified means she signs for it, and you've got proof you politely requested payment of moneys owed to you.

I don't need the address service to send her a certified letter...I can just send it to this address and allow the post office to forward it to her new address, no?

I am considering calling or texting her to again ask for payment of bills, and again do it politely.

ETA: keep the texts and call times from your phone bill, too.

Impossible, as I don't get an itemized bill, having an all-inclusive plan. But I can "lock" text messages so they don't get automatically deleted after a certain time period, and am currently going through my phone and locking every text between us dating back to the day she first started this ball rolling. Sadly, this does not include her argument about her being a legal resident due to the address change, but since any judge should know that law, and since I have mail addressed to her that was clearly forwarded by a change of address, I am not too worried about it.

[Sapphire Silk]

Lupo's got the nail on the head.

If she updates her address with the post office, then an "address service request" will get your mail to her. Certified mail definately the way to go. Ditto on keeping all other communications.

Court will be a pain, but if you win (and it sounds like you have a good case) then you can get court costs out of her. Don't know if you can get punitive damages for this. Since she didn't pay a deposit, you might be able to force that out of her to cover cleaning costs for the new roomie. Maybe.

But you'll feel better for holding her feet to the fire. That would make it worth it to me

[lupo pazzesco]

From what I understand, in small claims court (though of course, it may differ from state to state) if the judge finds in your favor then yes, she will be on the hook for court costs. And yes, I believe she did bite herself in the ass legally, by fighting you and saying she lived there legally, so you can use it against her, I believe.

Unfortunately, I haven't got much else to say to that, other than nail her proverbial ass to the wall, and if you do send the address service letter, send it certified, so you KNOW she got it and she can't claim it was lost. Certified means she signs for it, and you've got proof you politely requested payment of moneys owed to you.

ETA: keep the texts and call times from your phone bill, too. She may try to claim she never heard from you/you never contacted her so she owes you nothing/you never mentioned it to her.

[Jester]

Motherfucker.

The bitch has not responded to either my polite text message or my polite voice mail requesting the money she owes for utilities for her one month staying here. What a crock of shit. It's one thing to dick us over and give us almost no notice, but fucking pay your bills like the responsible adult you are.

I do not know her new address, but a little googling has told me that if I simply stamp and address an envelope to her at this address with the words "address service requested" the post office will provide me with her new address. I have no idea if this is true or not.

I have considered taking her to small claims court as well, if she doesn't pony up the dough she owes me. A little research has told me that the court fee for such a move would be $80, about half of what she owes me, which seems a bit steep. I want to go to the court tomorrow before work and find out if, if I win the case, she can be forced to pay that fee as well as paying what she owes me.

Amusingly, I can use one of her earlier ploys against her. She claimed that I could not force her to leave as this was her legal address, as proven by the fact that she changed her address and was receiving mail here. Well, she has still received some mail here, has made no attempt to collect it from me, and clearly has her name and this address on it. Making her the legal resident for the month she was here....and thus subject to owing 1/3 of the bills as we agreed on. I have no doubt she will try to come up with some reason to not pay this, either to me or to the judge, but we'll see where this goes.

Any advice would be welcome here.

In other news, thought I had found a great new roommate, but like many, he has fallen off the face of the earth, and has not returned my last call to him, which I find odd. What the fuck is going on here?

I put up a new ad online today, and have already received a call from one young lady who wants to come look at the room later today. We'll see how that goes.

Add to all this the fact that I need to get shit done for my upcoming vacation, and I am fucking stressing.

Now I need lunch. Meh.

[Jester]

No updates. No drama from ex-roommate. Tomorrow I will know what the utilities are and thus what she owes. Knowing how she's been, I am going to make sure I have copies of the bills so I can itemize everything, down to the penny. Puke.

The two people who called over the weekend to check out the place have vanished from the planet, having not called to ask me to reschedule, tell me they're not interested for some reason, or explained why they seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth.

Two new calls today, which went to my voice mail, as I was at work, and while I am given a lot of leeway, answering my cell while behind the bar would definitely be frowned upon.. Being the considerate sort, I called them during a lull in the action at work to let them know that I would be working for several more hours, and would call them once I finished, somewhere near 6 or 7. Both times, my calls went unanswered and I left voice mails to the effect of what I had been going to tell them directly. Neither called back. Called them both after I finally finished work around 7:30. Both calls went to voice mail. I left cheerful messages for both.

Haven't heard a peep.

Perhaps Becks is right. Maybe the room really IS cursed.

Bleah. This shit sucks. Definitely putting a damper on my Cinco de Mayo.

[telecom_goddess]

Hell I'd move down there if I didnt have the kids, and my job, and responsibilities...sigh.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

*waits as the effect of her actions kick in*

[Jester]

Update: She's gone. She left the keys. No trouble there. Amusingly, as much as she bitched about us, she left a bag or two of trash behind. Whatever. Somehow, that's fitting. Now, the only dealing I have to have with her is collection of her one month of utility bills, and then I can wipe that ugly chapter out of my life. I do hope she doesn't stiff me on those bills.

Still have not found a new roommate. I hate this shit.

[Blade_Raver]

So.. it's been more than 7 days. Any updates?

[Jester]

so what you are telling me is there is no real proof she lives with you aside from the keys and from her stuff being there...

if she didn't sign anything then she has no proof. I say evict her then.

There is also the fact that she has changed her address and has received mail at this address.

Yes, I think that's crazy. Yes, the cop thought it was crazy. And yes, technically speaking, that's enough.

Not to mention the already-stated fact that she is planning on leaving anyway at the end of the month, so eviction procedures would be a moot point.

Given that I know nothing about situations like this, I just have a question that popped up when you said you wouldn't take the time out of your day to start eviction proceedings, Jester.

What about your roomate, Mr. Anti-Social? Or does he work a daytime job, too?

Mr. Anti-Social is, as the name I've chosen for him, not a real people person. He is also not the primary leaseholder, nor as vindictive as me. He wants her out as much as possible, but is far too lazy to bother going to court to start procedures that, as I have stated, would be moot.

Plus, he tends to be nocturnal and sleep through the day. So yeah, he has a day job: being unconscious.

The roommate hunt continues, with two prospectives coming to view the place sometime this week. Both have hectic schedules, one involving a brand new job (he just moved down here), so we're going to work something out. Amusingly, one is someone I worked with many years ago, though we did not realize that at first over the phone until she mentioned the place in question. At first she did not believe me, thought I must have thought she was someone else, until I correctly told her what the name she goes by is short for, which is very much not a common name. (Including her, the total number of people I've met with that name is....one.)

I'm just hoping she is not as much of a train wreck (drugs and booze) as she was back in the day. It's certainly a possibility. We'll see.

In other related news, the Manipulative Diva is playing nice, as am I, to get things rolling in the right direction, but I so want that bitch OUT of here. If she thinks my current civility means I am going to forgive and forget, she truly does not know a thing about me.

[lupo pazzesco]

Given that I know nothing about situations like this, I just have a question that popped up when you said you wouldn't take the time out of your day to start eviction proceedings, Jester.

What about your roomate, Mr. Anti-Social? Or does he work a daytime job, too?

Just curious.

so what you are telling me is there is no real proof she lives with you aside from the keys and from her stuff being there...

if she didn't sign anything then she has no proof. I say evict her then.

Jester's already said he spoke with a cop. Someone who knows Florida state laws, so I'm betting there's some technicality wherein she can claim he's stolen her stuff or other stupid shit like that, maybe. I don't know. But reading through the thread, I would think that would have been Jester's first action, if it were an option. Well, that among....other things to let her know just how very, um, unappreciative he is of her shenanigans.

[gremcint]

so what you are telling me is there is no real proof she lives with you aside from the keys and from her stuff being there...

if she didn't sign anything then she has no proof. I say evict her then.