Highway Robbery

Leaving the Pain Cave, after this morning’s workout, I ran into Car Dweller — the neighbor who likes to hang out in her car on the parking lot.

Asking what she and others did about paying rent yesterday, since the rent drop box is gone, she said she and others just walked into the office, handed off their money orders and checks.

So, for those that did not and/or could not sign up for Rent Café, the office will still let them walk their payments in BUT management is still tightening the noose, making it harder to pay rent outside of Rent Café.

What management did was to post a note that the "Office is unable to accept rent payments until the 1st of the month and IF PAYING WITH CHECK/MONEY ORDER , YOUR LAST DAY TO PAY RENT IS FRIDAY MAY 2nd!"

Not being able to drop your payment off earlier in the week, which is what I used to do so as not to forget and to work around office closures due to long lunches, absences and such, makes for a really tight window to catch someone in the office, drop your payment off, but I’m sure that’s management’s plan — to make it harder to avoid Rent Café.

Yesterday was my first month on Rent Café and I’m seriously thinking of opting out already, due to the $29.41 service fee.

"The service fee is collected by the Payment Agent, not the property management company, and will not display on your ledger. Service fee is non-refundable".

Whoever heard of a service fee that high?

Clearly highway robbery.

I don’t mind paying when I’m getting something for my money, but Rent Café is offering nothing of substance to me for the additional $352.92 a year. It’s just giving management less work to do and probably a kickback from the service fee.

What a rip off, but it is what it is.

Car Dweller also dropped some interesting tea about the resident that hates children, Ruthie in the blog.

Ruthie once got upset because the Baker's granddaughter was visiting and playing bingo with us, yelled at the child, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!".

I wasn't there that time, but was told, by the Baker no less, when I asked if anyone defended the child, that no one spoke up …… not even the Baker herself.

No surprise. Bunch of cowards. I'm still disappointed they didn't have my back when I had it out with the Black Witch.

On another occasion, when there was a child in the room, Ruthie stood up, said, "There's a child in here, so I'm leaving" and walked out.

As if any of us cared.

The tea on Ruthie is that management is trying to evict her.

She’s been living here longer than I have and, when I moved in, she was one of the three bullies that had a stranglehold on the place.

As far as I know, there are no bullies around now, and the previous bullies — Big Linda, Little Linda, Ruthie, are now toothless tigers.

The reason I’m told for Ruthie’s eviction is bedbugs. She’s somehow twice infested her unit, management doesn’t want it to spread (neither do I) and management is tired of having to bring in the expensive treatment to rid the unit of bedbugs.

If I were living in Ruthie’s building, I’d be very very afraid, as my understanding is bed bugs jump and once they’re in your place, you have to get rid of everything.

Car Dweller tells me she’s staying away from Ruthie because that unit is still infested …… "It’s bad" she says, which is why management wants Ruthie gone.

How does that happen?

How is there treatment …… twice, and still bedbugs in the unit?

Ruthie either did not get rid of the infested items or she’s continuing to bring infested items in — maybe from the garage that is full of treasures, i.e., junk she’s been holding onto for years.

Ruthie also has a boyfriend on the property …… Miracle Guy in the blog. Named thusly because he survived being shot on two separate occasions, attacked with a molotov cocktail, and stabbed in his younger years.

He and Ruthie go back/forth to each other’s unit, so I’ll be giving the boyfriend a wide berth as well.

I didn’t know to laugh or offer my condolences to Car Dweller when she complained that money has gotten so tight, because of the economy, that she’s had to take her husband back, let him move into her unit.

"I didn’t want to, but we’ve got to help each other these days and I've got two bedrooms", she says.

So, I guess he's relegated to the extra bedroom and won't be sleeping with her, LOL.

I hope it works out for Car Dweller, but the hypothesis that "two can live as cheaply as one" is likely not workable.