kicked out.

So the whole time I have been living in California, I had been renting a house behind my fiancées parents house. The man I was renting from started out friendly enough. Claimed he was giving me a deal and that I could stay there as long as I needed to.

good, as was well. let’s travel back to the night before I left Michigan. He calls me to tell me that there are no dogs allowed in the home. Big problem, Mac needs a home just as bad as I do. The funny part here, which should have been my warning, is that according to my fiancee, the people that were renting the house just a week prior had a dog In there. I had my truck fully loaded and planned on making up in a couple hours to start the trek.

I was very confused and stressed, but after some talking the homeowner relented and agreed to let Mac live there with me as long as the house was cleaned professionally. I also know that this is his property and if he didn’t want Mac there, that is his right. However, telling me the night before is kind of a mean move.

Now we were all in agreement and my mother and I drove out to move me in. The house was quite frankly, gross. Hair from dogs and people everywhere, old food in the kitchen, aging used soaps in the shower. I am by no means a picky person, I have slept in worse places. But making a big deal about Mac being in the house when it is already a mess, that’s where I was upset. No problem, we clean it.

All goes well for a couple weeks. The homeowner then tells me that I need to be out by the 4th of July. Which was fine with me, I was in the process of buying a house anyways.

Forward to April. The power company knocks on the door, tells me that there is something wrong with where the cable runs into the house and it needs to be addressed. I gave the power company the number of the homeowner who should handle it. Now last month I was in the house and the power flickers, then goes off. I go outside to see electrical arcs coming from that cable running into the house, the roof was on fire. I call the fire department and they come take care of it. Thankfully no major damage was caused. Apparently a bird caused the fire. I am not aware if this was a combination of the issue with how the cable ran into the house and the bird, or just the bird. however, the homeowner never addressed the issue brought up by the power company.

I called the homeowner mid fire and he seemed to be, maybe concerned? He lives 15 mins from the house, and never even came to see if the house was fine or if Mac and I were okay. Sure, I can understand he may have been busy, but it was a little jarring.

Now last week he calls me out of the blue, says he has a friend that he wants a friend of his to move into the house and when I can be out by. I was planning on being out by the Fourth of July, as agreed. I had planned to build a small little apartment in the basement of my in-laws house. I hadn’t started on it, since I had about a month to do it. The homeowner tells me its fine, I can have a roommate for awhile. I thought, I agreed to rent this house for me, not with a stranger. This news really angered me, I did not want anything to do with this home anymore. Thinking it’s okay to basically push me out for a friend of his at such short notice is quite telling of the person he is.

Again, it is his property to do what he wishes with. So he tells me he is bringing the man over to meet me and see the house. They come in and the homeowner is talking about getting a cleaning person in there, this is 4 days before I need to be out. I tell him that this is unpractical. The homeowner then says that the new guys can just stay in a room or two until the house is cleaned. The house was cleaner then than it may have ever been. This is where I will be venting a little bit.. But to force me out, and then try and make me pay for the house to be cleaned is a little insulting. I paid weekly on Fridays, and was moving out on a Sunday, I assumed that he wouldn’t make me pay since the situation has been a bit one-sided for him. He then tells me that he is working on a move out price…

So I rush and construct an apartment in the house next door, which I am actually quite proud of. My fiancée works her butt off to clean the house, she put much more effort in than I was planning on. and I move out a day early. Still had to pay for the weekend.

I am not sure if I ever really needed to be out by July for the supposed family that is visiting, or if he has plans to rent the house to his friend instead. I think that this may shine light on a bigger issue in a community like mine. Vacation rentals cause harm. This house is mostly unoccupied. The town has a housing shortage, people that live and work here can’t find places to live, driving money out of the community. Instead this man gets to rent this house to visitors at his discretion, taking money out of the town even further. I know that this person owns the house, likely worked hard to buy the house, but the problems this creates for communities is jarring.

I am sorry about this rant post.