Not A Fairytale

Sometimes I share stories that are hard to believe. Some stories are so bizarre they surpass what any fiction writer can conjure up in a novel. Today is going to be one of those days so here we go.

Once upon a time there was a lovely sweet homeowner who had a beautiful finished basement. Some of her children had already left the nest and she decided to rent the basement for a few extra dollars that could come in handy. She figured there are always plenty of people around who need a relatively inexpensive and clean place to live in a great location with a wonderful landlord, so it would be a win-win situation for all.

Ober der mensch tracht un G-tt lacht. Because there was no kitchen in her basement, anyone renting it would have to be willing to manage with just a microwave and a toaster oven, but she figured with the price she was asking, together with the fact that it had a bedroom, living room, and full bath, someone needing to economize but wanting something updated and in good condition would still consider this a bargain. She restricted her phone calls to the places she felt would get her the type of tenant she was seeking.

She quickly got a call from an older woman who said she was a legal secretary who had been ill, but would be working part-time with temp agencies until she could get a permanent job. When she heard about the basement apartment from one of the organizations she contacted, she realized that this would be a wonderful interim inexpensive rental until she could get permanent work again.

Our sweet homeowner rented this woman the downstairs unit thinking it would be nice since, having a mature older lady would be a quiet and secure arrangement for them both.

The new tenant handed our sweet homeowner a month’s rent and one month’s security and moved merrily into her new apartment.

Everything went well for the first month. The new tenant kept the apartment in good condition and the sweet homeowner was pleased with her choice, thinking how nice and easy this arrangement turned out to be. The second month, when our sweet homeowner went to collect the rent, she started to realize that things were not as simple as she had assumed when the tenant told her she would not have the rent money for another two weeks until the money became available.

Our sweet homeowner was a little concerned, but when she got the money two weeks later, figured “I’m sure this was a fluke and next month will be better.” When the next month came and she asked for the rent, the tenant said, “Why are you bothering me for rent when I gave you money two weeks ago? Don’t you know how difficult it is to go out collecting money from all my sources to pay my rent? Now I only have a little money left over and I need it to have my hair done, since I have a date tonight.”

Our sweet landlord’s mouth dropped open. She could not believe how her tenant, who had been so nice before, was suddenly behaving off the wall.

She said, “What about your temp jobs?”

“Temp jobs!” said the tenant. “Do you know how far away those temp agencies are? How do you expect me to get to them when I have no car?”

“But I thought you already had things going and were just waiting for a permanent job,” said the landlord.

“Oh, I turned those down,” said the tenant. “Can you imagine, they wanted me to work for $10 an hour as a legal secretary?! I’d rather sit home.”

“But how are you going to live and pay your rent?” asked the landlord.

“Rent?!” said the tenant. “You want me to pay rent for this basement with no kitchen? Who would give you rent for this disgusting apartment? And you should be helping me until I find a job. It’s not a big deal.”

The landlord told her she would have to leave since she could not deal with this situation and it was completely different from what the tenant had told her prior to moving in. The tenant then told her, “You’ll have to take me to court which could take months and by then, who knows, maybe I’ll find a job.”

Needless to say, our sweet landlord now had a situation on her hands, one that necessitated calling her lawyer and having him take over. Those few extra dollars that she thought would come in handy had now turned into massive losses that would continue accumulating until the lawyer could get the tenant evicted.

The moral of the story is, whenever you find yourself in a situation where you want to rent out part of your house, whether a basement (which incidentally is not legally rentable) or an apartment in a two-family or multi-dwelling, take some serious time to investigate the person you are renting to. Get a credit report, check out their employment, even talk to the last landlord, if possible, since failing to research your tenant’s prior history could land you in a nightmarish scenario like this one, which took a long time and lots of money before our “sweet landlord” had her happily ever after. n

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, commercial, and management real estate in the Five Towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers can send their questions and scenarios by email to [email protected].