Unable to Move Fast Enough - The Truth

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was taking the day off for moving. I did take that day off and spent the entire day and well into the night moving things from one place to another. However, most of my time was not spent at my dwelling - thus I am NOT moved out. And today, I'm SUPPOSED to be moved out. BUT...I haven't had the time off or the resources to make the move.

My landlord needs to be understanding about this inability for me to complete the move. Why? I've been working 7 days and 3 nights a week for the past several weeks. I say 3 nights...some weeks it has been 5 nights a week, not counting my parental duties. I was sick and had to force myself to take that day off three weeks ago...I took another day off two weeks ago, and I have had NO DAYS OFF otherwise since April.

Have I mentioned what the landlord did to me? How about this story - which is the truth, by the way.

Last fall, the landlord informs me that he has been given the green light to have the duplex he owns - and in which I occupy one-half with my daughter - worked upon because of a government grant to check for lead paint and, if it exists in the 80-year-old house, have it removed. So...we start moving things around...and eventually (been there nearly 10 years with three people and two animals over much of that time) get things moved so the crews can come in to inspect the place. The windows and doors were found to have lead - and the grant program covers the cost of window and door cleanup.

But, the catch was...we would not be allowed to live in the dwelling during the cleanup process.

The delays --- after all, it IS a GOVERNMENT PROGRAM --- were immediate and long-term. I bought hundreds of dollars worth of plastic totes and GIGANTIC storage bags so we could store everything in the basement where the least amount of work was necessary. But, the delays were many. Pretty much, I had a bed, a dresser, and a table upstairs starting in February --- several weeks after the first inspectors had come into the dwelling to see what lead may need to be cleaned up.

Okay --- the landlord --- J. Duane Sanderson of Flora Place --- was somewhat communicative with me and my ex over the issues of when the work was supposed to take place. He gave me possible dates when the work would start. And they didn't materialize. In fact, the original timetable was for the crews to come in and do the inspections in the early winter (I'm glad they didn't...it gave me time to get more cleaned up and processed...after all, I lived there for ten years) - but it became 2008 before the crews were there for the INITIAL cleanup. And, then, the delays continued. Before long, it was mid-March and I was living out of boxes and totes. The inspectors had come...the initial cleanup had come...but the actual WORK was delayed. And the landlord did not know when it was to occur. Until the end of March, when I received notice that the crews would be coming in the first week of April.

Keep in mind that I started a new job in mid-March...at KZQZ...and we're trying to put together a radio station and get it on the air in time for an April 1st showing. THINK FOR ONE MINUTE how hard it would be to concentrate on a new job and trying to live in a dwelling in which you would NOT BE ALLOWED to live for an alleged short-period of time...it would be just the several days that it would take to take out the windows and doors, strip the doors and put up temporary doors, put in new windows...and poof, all would be great and I could move back in to my residence with "as minimal problem as possible".

LANDLORD PROMISES:
Duane calls me and says at the end of March - knowing that I am living out of boxes and barely living in the upstairs (I had a mattress in my bedroom...everything else including food not in the fridge was moved into the basement by this point) - that at some point when the contractors are working, he's going to have the kitchen cabinets replaced and the kitchen plumbing updated (this is now the second time he's said this...having said it in late 2007. The KITCHEN PLUMBING, by the way, had been something which needed addressing for six years. During those six years or more, we turned the HOT WATER on and off with pliers. The faucet needed updates, but he seemed very willing to put off doing the major plumbing overhaul that the duplex needs). Oh, and he'd like to sand and resurface the hardwood floors...since it's been ten years since he'd had a chance to do so. I agreed that it would be nice to have those updates.

SO...
It's the 1st of April...KZQZ kicks off...I am living at a friend's house because it was offered and my friend needed a house-sitter while out of town on business. Seems okay. But --- the WORK CREWS DIDN'T SHOW UP THE FIRST WEEK OF APRIL 2008. At all.

How would I know this? Well, I had the opportunity to check it almost daily, for one. And, the landlord didn't call me with any updates on how things were progressing. That was another thing and not altogether difficult to believe.

The SECOND WEEK OF APRIL begins...still no workers on Monday. Still no work. I'm still living outside my dwelling. And I'm growing impatient because I am missing my child. Okay, personal story time - my ex moved only blocks away from my residence last autumn and our daughter was splitting time between the two homes - and although I didn't stay a long way away during the "cleanup", because my daughter is school-aged and I was living 2 miles away during the cleanup, I didn't get to see her often enough. I would come over in the morning and see her off on her bus to school - but that was not an every day event because I was also spending more time at KZQZ.

THE middle of the SECOND WEEK OF APRIL...the landlord called me up and was having his worker sand and surface the wooden floors. He again says that he's going to have the kitchen cabinets updated and is going to get the kitchen faucet and sink updated with new plumbing.

Later in the week, I come past to see the wooden floors...I had actually come over during the first day of the work on the floors and talked with Duane and his worker. All seemed okay, except the government workers still hadn't shown up to do work on the windows and doors. But, it seems they're going to be over by the end of the week to start. And it begins to feel like there was going to be an end in sight.

BUT...when the work crews come over this time...they didn't get a very good start. I am very fortunate that my ex and I have good communication and that she has been available to open up the duplex so that these workers could come in to do the work. Well, that's because THE LANDLORD did NOT show up to let these contract workers in and out. During the time they worked, I was able to meet them a couple of times. They were nice men - very courteous and pleasant. I'm not a construction expert, but I had the feeling that others would get this done quicker and better. Again, I feel fortunate that my ex showed up...because she ended up showing up most of three weeks because the work was not passed by the inspectors, the landlord, even by me. It wasn't very professional. It wasn't handled professionally. The landlord was unhappy. Now, truth be told --- his own worker and he had already painted in the bathroom...it's not pleasant, but was a slight improvement over the peeling paint on the ceiling. Now, the contractor crew had done some painting. Instead of stripping the front door, they simply scraped the paint off the EDGES of the door. It was UGLY. And that's why we were unhappy. The crews were summoned by the lead paint inspectors to come back and refinish things. Finally, the landlord actually came over to witness the crews work. And, finally they were finished with the work.

OKAY - it's at this point that I should interject that I've been living OUTSIDE MY HOUSE FOR 5 weeks by the time they are allegedly finished. BUT NOBODY HAS TOLD ME THAT IT HAS PASSED INSPECTION BY THE LEAD INSPECTORS. That's right. All of the month of April, I lived elsewhere. Although I had taken the occasional shower at my house, I didn't live in my apartment --- and still have not --- since the end of March.

When my friends and co-workers found out in May that I had not been allowed in my own home for a five-week period, most of them were outraged. I was trying to be indifferent, but after SEVERAL different people said the same thing (from different circles who didn't know the others who had told me) --- "you shouldn't have to pay for April. You didn't live there, and the landlord didn't even finish the job he promised."

AHHH YEAH....the PLUMBING AND THE CABINETS --- he STILL HAS NOT DONE THE WORK to them. He's the one who made the promise that they'd be done. Duane Sanderson is the person who MADE THE PROMISE THAT THE CABINETS AND PLUMBING would be completed.

I've never stopped him.

But...I paid him May's rent on-time...with a $25 late fee for April. Then, at the end of May, I paid him $100 for APRIL with a letter informing him that I had been told by so many people that I should pay him NOTHING for April, since I was inconvenienced to the point of being unable to reside in my own place. I paid him the $100 because my stuff was stored in the basement of the house...and I felt I could at least give him that because it was there. However, IF I had known it was going to be more than five weeks before I could move back in, I would have MOVED ALL OF MY BELONGINGS to storage and saved myself a large hassle.

His response is atypical of someone who feels he is entitled to everyone else's money and time. Duane Sanderson responded by delivering an eviction notice asking me to have everything moved by July 3rd, 2008.

TODAY, I am supposed to have all of my belongings out of the dwelling.

But, I have worked 7 days a week and three to five nights a week for the past 12 weeks - except for my one sick day and my day off to try to move things (I mentioned I was moving all day - I was moving things for my parents from one storage facility to another but ran out of time to get more than 10 percent of my things moved).

If anyone wants to help me out...I could really use both manpower and (honestly) money. Although I am working so much, the truth is that at the radio station I have not earned much money. I have been saving up money to pay my rent, my monthly bills, and save up enough to rent a large truck so I can move things to a storage facility.

IF ANYONE can help me out this weekend - specfically on Saturday afternoon and evening - I would greatly appreciate it. I can't pay you like I would a moving company...but I can get you food and drinks and heaps of thanks. AND if it would be helpful, I could say something on the radio for you. Yes, I like to give of myself to others (see reference in yesterday's blog).

If you can help me...(and this would include legal help, as I need an attorney or two)...please email me.

Thanks.

There's more to the story...but for now, I have to call the landlord and tell him that I won't be out until probably the 13th or 14th. By then, I should have had enough time off in the mornings and the weekends to get the move completed. I hope I have enough money to pay for the rental truck I'll have to get for the remainder of the move.

Johnny Rabbitt Junior