Am I Being Lied To or Does This Sound Plausible to You?

[Dan Gould]

To qualify for the mortgage on the new house we had to show the existing mortgage on our townhouse covered by a tenant-occupant.  We found a tenant who actually works for Susan's boss and reports to Susan and thought this was a perfect solution - we wouldn't have to worry about an unknown person living in our house.  We knew that the rent was going to be a stretch for her but she clearly wanted to improve her living arrangements and happily signed the lease.

Now, getting her rental check has been a nightmare. First one was due in April and showed up middle of the month. She lied about the status of the check because on one day she said "Oh it should have been there today" and the very next day it showed up, overnight delivery, postmarked on the day it was "supposed" to have already arrived.

So now we're three weeks into May and the stories continue. She said her purse was stolen with her checkbook and she was working with the bank so she could get us paid. Then she tells us again the check should have arrived and she'll ask her daughter to make sure she mailed it. Now we get to the crux of the matter: her latest claim is that her bank has frozen her accounts after the theft of her purse/checkbook and she is forced to make a "hardship" withdrawal from her retirement account in order to get us our May rent. Why she told us that a check had been mailed is a mystery, other than the conclusion that she's a congenital liar.

But I find her claim about the bank very difficult to believe. Would a bank freeze someone's account in the event of a theft of debit card and checkbook? Or would they close that account and move the money and issue new checks and debit card? This woman has no credibility left because of her prior lies, but I am wondering if anyone sees anything remotely plausible in her tale of woe.

We are really caught between a rock and a hard place because of recent expenses in the new house and not having money in hand for the mortgage on the old house. We've demanded that her 'hardship' withdrawal be sufficient to pay us June rent at the same time because I've made it clear to my wife that if she doesn't get current, and stay current, I want her out of our house.

 

Your thoughts are welcome.

[Chuck Nessa]

She sounds like a complete flake but our daughter had her bank frozen for a couple of weeks (IIRC) under similar circumstances.

[JSngry]

Shit happens to people, and maybe the stolen/frozen thing is true, but the credibility was greatly diminished by the behavior prior to that.

At this point, it's not about "character" as it is simple business. Not sure what the terms of the lease are, but if you have the flexibility to demand some kind of auto-pay arrangement with clearly defined terms and conditions for both parties, I would look to go in that direction. And if the tenant cannot handle that and continues to not pay the rent in  a reasonably on-time manner and with a credible delineation of where dat money is, then you gotta consider looking at the lease and seeing what your options are.

Since there is a personal element in the mix here, though, it's not unfair to ask Susan to have a heart to heart with her outside of work and just say hey, wtf? are you gonna be straight with me about what's going on or are we gonna have to get papers up on this, I can fuck you up on this and I WILL fuck you up on this if you can't be straight up about your condition, why the rent NEVER be on time and then smells funny when it finally does get here? Doesn't matter if she's a lowlife, or got a lowlife on the side, you don't need to know every detail, just why the rent always be funny, what you do with your life is your business, but what you do with MY rent is MY business, so, you got something you gonna tell me?

I'm all for working with people in tough times, but I need honesty about it, if you're fucked, let me know. If you're fucked and you gonna lie, then you're gonna be fucked some more. Like the song says, if you don't want, you don't have to get in trouble, let that liar pass on by.

[Dan Gould]

You've nailed it Jim. She doesn't seem to realize that telling us stories that make me think each day "the check is in the box" and then it's not, making me more and more infuriated - she's destroyed her credibility which makes her tale of woe harder to buy despite Chuck giving some credence based on what his daughter went thru. I don't know if Sue will have that hear to heart but either she's going to have to do that or we're just going to put the thing on the market as short sale and get it gone.

And here's the ironic thing - this woman first asked for my account details to just deposit rent into my account. I said no, mail a check. Think I'm going to give a liar my account details now? 

[JSngry]

Maybe she's not a liar, maybe she's just a flake, like Chuck said, and maybe she did get her stuff jacked. Totally possible.

But also totally irrelevant to y'all's landlord/tenant business, which is ideally built upon a certain degree of mutual trust and understanding. for me myself, I could handle her admitting that she was a disorganized individual who fucks up on timeliness. Hell, I was that person once, until I realized that it was not a sustainable lifestyle once kids and such came into the picture. But I never lied about it, don't have the stomach for liars...bullshitters yes, liars no. But your kid missing a field trip because you forgot to return the consent form and expense fee in time, and sorry, no exceptions, that is fucked up and hurts deeply. At some point, it becomes clear that the only way to not have that problem is to stop having that problem.

What we all need to understand is that slack can be a beautiful thing, but slack is not extended unilaterally nor should it ever be expected to be.

[robertoart]

So she's got a job and she still can't pay the rent on time? Somethings fishy. It won't get better. Maybe go through a Real Estate agent and be more assured of a reliable tenant. 

[catesta]

I've had a few rental properties over the years. Best decision I ever made was to hire a property management company. Yeah, it took a chunk out of the monthly rent but in the end it was well worth it because they handled all the hard part like screening tenants and dunning late rent etc. Aside from some commercial properties I'm in with a group I'm happy to be done with all that shit.

Sometimes flake = liar too.

[jlhoots]

I had a friend many years ago who went around & collected rents with an armed bodyguard.

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Hm, doesn't sound good. I have worked helping people who are in debt for some time and most of them were behind on their rent. Although there is a certain group of people, usually people who are chaotic and who don't see the overall picture of their finances and those get into trouble repeatedly; it can also be due to other personal circumstances in which all of us could end up just like that when we loose our job f or when we get ill f.e. I know the reason might not make a difference to you, since you need the money of course to pay your own bills. I hope her excuses were true but I don't have a good feeling about it either. Better be honest before getting into more trouble and not bury your head into the sand like we say over here.

[Tim McG]

I serve on our Homeowners Association Board of Directors and we hear all sorts of excuses why people can't pay their HOA dues in a timely fashion. We will give them a couple late pay opportunities, but when it becomes chronic then we take them to task.

Just my two cents.

[mr jazz]

I'm the president of our HOA in Delaware. This is the most thankless job I have ever had. I tell the owners you have to: Follow our rules and pay your dues on time as we are NOT a charity or a bank. We have the best collection attorney in the state, we will get our money and you will pay all fees. This seems to be working. 

[Guy Berger]

Dan, sorry you had to deal with this.  This is why I'm intensely skeptical about "investment" in real estate.  (Which was obviously not your motive here - just a general comment.)

[Dan Gould]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts.  Unfortunately its not realistic to pay a management company to handle the situation. If we do have to get rid of her and don't decide to get the property  up as a short-sale we would definitely hire an agent to find a new tenant and be sure of their reliability. At this point we are trying to be patient and believe that she is indeed getting the withdrawal from her retirement account and will pay May and June very shortly.

It's not like she can continue to report to Sue as her immediate supervisor and keep living rent free in our house. Something will give, and very soon.

[JSngry]

Never underestimate the human capacity to live multiple lives simultaneously. Never.

[Jazzmoose]

6 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

It's not like she can continue to report to Sue as her immediate supervisor and keep living rent free in our house.

She can if you let her.

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, Jazzmoose said:

She can if you let her.

And we will never let her.

If we are not paid by the end of next week we will move to evict her, sue her for back rent, and advise her employer of her actions and he can choose whether to terminate her or not. 

[Dan Gould]

Well I think we have our answer. I've been lied to.

Today's whopper:

She got the money from her retirement account. But her daughter "overdrew" the account and paid for "tuition" and other things and she can't pay.

Sue spoke to her boss who encouraged us to allow her to stay, get as much money as we can out of her, let the mortgage go and pocket that money and get a short-sale out of it.

I said absolutely not I want her out of our house as quickly as possible. When Sue delineated what would happen to her credit with a mortgage delinquency I told her the alternative is to give this woman seven days to pay May rent and until July 1 to pay June and July. 

We are not sure if we will simply start the eviction process or give her this opportunity (to continue to string us along).

It's really unbelievable how this has happened because when we found this renter we thought we were in a position to have someone we 'know' in our house, someone who would pay the rent promptly because she works under Sue.  And now this has happened.

[Larry Kart]

Don't know if it's been mentioned here before, but I'm betting that she's also an under-wraps addict -- drugs or alcohol -- and any money she has goes down that rabbit hole first and foremost. Good luck, Dan, and don't give in an inch. Also, take care to the degree that you can that in the final stages of this she doesn't pillage or trash your place.

[JSngry]

She herself might not be an addict, but she might be enabling one. That's always sad, but it is what it is.

[HutchFan]

Sorry to hear about all this, Dan.  I hope all's squared away for you soon.

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I'm really sorry to hear this, Dan. Being lied to and had this happen is terrible, but when it is someone you know, that makes it even more tough to deal with. I hope better times will be coming to you soon.