In May, we found out that our landlord, Mark, had passed away from pneumonia. A few days after learning the news of his death, we were contacted by his accountant, Philip Bernardi, who explained to us that Mark had no close friends or immediate family. His sister was going to take over the estate, but would manage things from Denver, Colorado. Additionally, we were instructed to continue to live as we did prior to Mark's death, contacting Bernardi with any building problems and continuing to send our rent to Mark's house. Rachel and I were given no other instructions and didn't hear from again.
Within the same week, the weather went from being beautiful spring days to the heat wave from hell. Diddy came over to help install the two window air conditioners we had. Moments after she left, practically the entire apartment lost power. Upon investigation, Rachel discovered that the the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen were all hooked up to the same fuse. Apparently back in July 2010, the electrician rewired the fuses in preparation of a circuit breaker, but never finished the job. Therefore, 75% of our apartment is one fuse, while the dining room, which consists of one light switch and one outlet is on one fuse. Doesn't make much sense does it.
I emailed and called the accountant, who gave me the same line that Mark had given me numerous times about the electricity, that he would have it taken care of within the week. Yeah right, we're still waiting on that to happen.
In the meantime, Rachel and I did as we were instructed, sending both April and May's rent to Mark's address. When it came time to pay June's rent, we were not sure what to do, seeing that the rent check sent for the prior two months still had not been deposited. After transferring the funds to my new Rent/Bills account, the rent for April and May came back to our apartment, with a return to sender sticker on it. We tried to contact the accountant, but had no luck.
We went about our business, forgetting about the separate account. Again, when July's rent was due, we once again transferred the money into the separate account, watching the amount increase into the thousands. It definitely made the two of us feel much richer, even if we would eventually have to pay the rent.
In the middle of July, we finally receive contact from the estate, through the estate lawyer, Brian Duffield. Mark's sister was never head of the estate, instead, a mysterious father surfaced from thin air to take control of Mark's assets. In the entire time I knew Mark, he never once mentioned his father, so I'm assuming that the two of them were not close. In a certified letter, Duffield states that he has the rent from April, but not for May, June, or July. The check he had in possession for April's rent had already been cancelled in May, so we actually owed him four months of rent.
Rachel and I wrote a letter to him, requesting information on our security deposit, the confirmation that the utilities had been paid, and questions about our lease, which expired in July. We prepared our letter, along with all of the rent we owed, including August, and sent it via certified male on August 3rd. Two days later, we receive a second letter from Duffield, demanding the rent money and threatening eviction. The letter requested all of the money be paid by the tenth or he would begin filing eviction paperwork, though at the bottom of the letter, in fine print, there was a disclaimer that we had 30 days to dispute the amount.
A little fucked up isn't it.
The letter was post marked also on the third, so we quickly realized that he should have received our letter on the same day. Rachel and I were fuming, complete with steam coming out of our ears. After calming down, and letting the redness in my ears settle, Rachel emails Duffield a very nasty email addressing the letter we received.
Last week, we received a letter about our security deposit. Mark had not had our money in a separate account, it had been lumped in with all of his personal finances. The lawyer is in the process of straightening this out with a bank, though he needs personal information from us, though I'm not completely sure why.
In the meantime, Rachel and I have been searching for a house to move into, before the building is sold and we are forced to sign a new lease. The Langmore is currently going for $495,000, which is a disgusting price, since the building is horrible shape. A few of the problems consist of: poor electrical work, a basement that floods in the slightest storm, a porch that has weak and cracked boards, walls that leak water for no reason, and windows that leak. Those are just the problems in our apartment, imagine the problems in the other four apartments that I'm not even aware of.
Rachel and I are hoping to be in a house in the very near future, though we have temporarily placed the house hunt on hold for the next few weeks to finish planning for our nuptials.
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