I need to find a new house. We have been told to vacate, given until the 27th of July to do so. Two stories as to why this is so, and which one to beleive? Maybe a merging of them both, or a third altogether different, that I have no idea about.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...
Late in 2012 my flatmate T tells the rest of us he is thinking about getting a cat, and that he spoke to the real estate agent and we can have pets. This is good. I start thinking about what kind of cat I would get if I could have one, it seems like a nice comprimise animal for me. Not too much maintenance and yet still companionable, the oppisite of any pet that is kept in an aquarium/terarium or cage. Sometime in late December, early January T got himself a cat. He named in Newman, like from Sienfield.
Everything with the cat is hunky dory, I like cats, and slowly the cat is learning to like me, it is a shy cat. Then in late Febuary or early March T goes to Japan for a holiday. This is kind of strange as T has no discernable income, but I am not his keeper. Also in early March, we recieve a letter about an house inspection by the realtor. Its dated for the 4th of May. About a week later we recieve another, dated for the 25th of March.
Between these two letters happens the debarcle of the missing rent money, although I get the impression that myself, the landlord and realtor were the only ones who saw it as such. T has just come back from Japan. He is in charge of paying the lump rent, the rest of us simply pay it to him and he pays it to them. This time, I recieve a automated text message, "We have not recieved the rent for your property". I go to T, he assures me, he has spoken with the realtor, and it is a problem with his bank account being frozen because of his trip to Japan. I continue getting automated reminders each day, T assures me it is a problem between Ebay and his bank that has frozen his account.
At this time, T has become an entrepreneur, buying and selling goods from Ebay to ensure his income. He is recieving packages and items every other day. Although his apparently adled mind cannot remember what he has ordered, he assures me, it is going well, he is making alot. His bank account is playing up due to this continued in and out through Paypal. That is why his account is frozen and the rent has gone into limbo between his account and the realtor. Yet he recieves more and more packages from Ebay. Our house is littered with mounds of packing material and unused boxes.
I get annoyed, I think he has used the money to fund his buying and onselling goals. I complain as much to many friends and family. They agree, out of solidarity or because T seems unreliable, I cant tell. I resolve that I will not pay rent through T next month if this months money does not turn up. My friends and family tell me this is a good idea. Although it nags at me that I cannot do this without causing friction with the people I live with, how will I approach it? I send my more valuable and bulky possesions, like my sound system, to my parents. In case of drama, I dont want them damaged, In case of eviction, I dont want to cart them around. A few days before the inspection, the text message changes, "Your rent was $1000 short".
The realtor comes for a regular inspection. I am home, so is T. The realtor chats to me as she looks around the property, she notes it is in good condition, although a little messy with so many empty boxes lying around. She talks to me about the rent. She says only half went through. I tell her that T has said his account is playing up, and that he has told me it will go through. It has been 3 weeks since the rent was due. She says, "So you have a cat?" I say, "Yes, T got one after you said it was ok." She says "You're not allowed to have pets, the landlords brother drove past and saw it." T joins the conversation. He assures her he is giving the cat to his parents and that the other half of the rent will go through in the next day or two. "It must have got lost in between the banks, like it happens sometimes." I think to myself, then repeat allowd to my friends, banks don't deliver half transactions on seperate days.
Later, T sends a msg, "Please give me next months rent so we can pay in advance as an apology for this month." I resolve to say to the others "Why dont we organise someone else to pay, since T is having difficulty with his bank." By the time I talk to the others they have already transfered their money, further, they are not concermed. Potentially they see why I am saying this, but they dont agree, I am concerned this damages their esteem of me. So, having resolved not to pay through T, I relent, and go with the crowd, although having rocked the boat enough that the captian may have noticed anyway. Furthermore, T sends an email reminding us to allow him to be the point of contact with the realtor in all things, and that the behaviour of the landlords brother violates our privacy. Yes it is a breach, no, pointing it out is not going to save us.
A month goes by, the 23rd of April, a msg. "Reminder of house inspection". I think I must have misremembered the date of the second inspection. I tell T he has to hide his cat, and clean up its stuff, he says not to worry, it'll be fine. I say no, sort it out, send the cat to your mothers, do something! His response was a heated, calm the fuck down, and to storm off. 25th April, a different realtor and the landlord arrives, kids in tow, letting themselves in. It is early, I just finished with the shower and was eating breakfast. I had wanted to miss them altogether. I dont like lying for other people, it seems too easy to be caught out for something I would not do. T has removed the cat food and litter tray, but left the cat toys outside. The realtor talks to me while the landlord waits just around the corner. He tells me we shouldnt have a cat, and he thinks we still have a cat. I say T said he gave it to his mother, and the toys are leftovers. I wish I had been earlier getting up, so I had time to think about hiding the toys. The realtor says they sent their notice by registered post, but T had claimed by phone when asked, that it had never arrived. I say, "No I didnt know about this inspection, but I got the text message two days ago". The realtor says, "No it was a notice to vacate. The cat constituted a breach of rent." I am stunned. What do I say? I clarify details with him. We have till the 27th of July. They leave. I go to the gym. I dont see any of my housemates for the rest of the day. The following day I talk to J, he says how shit it is we get kicked out because they are selling the house.
End of the story so far.
So story one: (Realtor version) We had a cat, not allowed to have a cat, we got kicked out.
Story two: (T's version) They want to sell the house, we got kicked out.
Now to me, the fact that I know that T is duplicitous in relation to his relationships, and that he was deliberatly misleading us about permission to have pets makes me not believe him first off. The fact that the realtor shifted the first inspection to an earlier date could be indicative that the owner, having heard about the cat, was furious and wanted the realtor to check into it. The realtor then did the slow, long date approach, and the landlord, still angry, called them out and made them hurry up, so they changed the date to March. The registered letter was for the 27th July, which is 124 days after the inspection. The realtor said legal notice is 120 days, but they usually give a few days leeway ontop of that. That sounds like having recieved confirmation of the cat being here, the landlord pressed the realtor to issue the notice to vacate almost immeadiately. So I may almost believe the second realtor when he said to em that it was because of the cat.
However, despite T being a demonstrated liar (there are other issues with his character, I am not basing it all on this one disception), it is also possible that the landlord simply used the cat as an excuse to expediate the eviction process to get the house on the market. Why would a second inspection be required if she already believed there was a cat, and that it had been verified by the first inspection, and a notive to vacate had already been sent? Where would T get the idea that they wanted to sell if there was nothing to it? It is stange to me, that despite the seemingly clear narrative from the preceeding story, and my own observation of the moral fortitude of T, that I still cannot bring myself to totally disbelieve him.
The impossible dream is that one day I might divest the charisma and personality of people I interact with from the situations in which I find myself, so that I may clearly and with confidence, choose how I believe on a matter, and what I am going to do about it.
On the same note, I now need to find a cheap place, hopefully near a cheap 24 hour access gym, without a minimum stay requirement, that is also conveniantly located near to uni. I really hope I finish my masters, it will be such a waste if I dont, and Im not sure how to make a clean break from a failure to complete, and how to transition my life and self conception from such a failure. I thought today, its better to hand in a thesis that is so shit I fail, than to fail from lack of completion. At least one is a proper ending.
