Conflict

Conflict is not something that can be avoided. It comes up when two people don’t agree with each other. Right now, as I mentioned in my previous blog, I’m in conflict with my landlord. There are different parts of me all saying to act different ways, and I’m just trying to figure out what’s the best thing to do.

The Conflict

The problem is, from my point of view. I also want to do this in a way where I’m not completely being disrespectful and dragging my landlord’s name through the mud. I’ll admit, it is tempting. For that reason, I will not divulge his name in this blog. The conflict started when he came to discuss what the rent would be going up to. He told me and it was completely out of my price range. That being said, he was offering discounts to people who resigned early. The problem was that the discount was still higher than I could afford. I had 24 hours to resign or lose out on the discount. I panicked, resigned, and in less than 12 hours later asked to cancel. Looking at my finances, I knew there was no way I could afford that on my own. I told him this.

His Response

He told me too bad, I resigned and unless they could find someone to take over the lease, I was stuck with it. I reached out to others to see if this was true. One of my friends, who is a landlord, suggested going to the tenant board and seeing what they suggest. They told me I was in my right to cancel my lease and he could not make me stay. I sent an email to the landlord and property manager stating that I would be moving out at the end of my lease. The property manager said he could easily take my name off the lease because I had just signed it. No problem. My landlord is still acting like I resigned. He also gave a list of things that needed to be done before I moved out.

Wait, what?

Now, anyone who is a decent human being knows that you clean the place before you hand over your keys. This makes sense. The one thing that really threw me for a loop was the list included duct cleaning. Now, I’ve lived in many different places. Not once was I ever required to do that. I mentioned it and he said that it is required. Friends recommended that I check my lease to see if it was in there. I don’t have the original copy, so I asked my former roommate to see if she had it. At the time of this blog, I have not heard back yet. Have any of you ever had to do that for a rental?

Conflict Responses

So, with all the stress of this, I have different ways I could respond. I could say forget it, give up my security deposit and leave. Another option is to just do everything he asks and hope he gives me my deposit back. To be clear, if it is in the original documents that we signed when we moved in, I’ll pay to clean the ducts. If it isn’t, I don’t want to throw my money away for something that is not my responsibility. I also do not want to spend more money than my deposit, just to get my deposit back. That also makes no sense. Some people say, don’t burn bridges. Honestly, I never plan to rent from him again after this experience.

What to do

I’ll wait to see if it’s actually in the requirements. If not, I will explain that it was never there, so I will not be wasting my money looking after something that is his responsibility. I do not want to hold bitterness in my heart towards him. That will only hurt me, not him. I will clean the place, as anyone should. However, I will not spend more money than I will get back, just to try and get my deposit back. Especially because my cats did scratch something up that I can’t repair. I know I will lose some of my deposit because of that. When I leave, I’ll make sure the house isn’t trashed. But I have no desire to go above and beyond for him. Not after the treatment I’ve gotten.

Let’s wrap it up

I’ve talked to others and they have also been mistreated. The former property manager, the one we had when we moved in, has also confirmed mistreatment. He has given anyone who moves out a really hard time, which is unfortunate. Many of the people renting from him do not like him. I hope he opens his eyes and sees what is happening before it seriously hurts him. He could lose a lot of tenants if he isn’t careful. So, I will do what I need to, and I will move on. I’ll do my short time living at the hotel to help pay off debt, and then find a place that I can afford. Who knows, I could have extra income from blogging by then. Anything can happen if I try.