I admit this is my fault. I repeat the following is my fault. I do not want to be accused of self-pity.
My old roommate moves out in December 2006. I have nobody to move in, so GGM gives me this guy's name who was looking at his place. He is a graduate student who thought he was going to be done in December 2006, but his advisor pushed it back to May. I am a graduate student. Graduate students cannot be that bad. To seal the deal, I agree to share a storage unit. He leaves for Winter Break after he has almost completely filled up the storage unit. From the storage unit, I can tell the guy has money, a big TV, computer boxes galore, Preakness glasses, etc. I am not worried.
Well I do not hear from him all Christmas break. About the third week of January, I walk in and he is there. He says he left his charger in storage, so he couldn't call. Some of my old roommate's stuff is still in the room, because I did not know when he was moving in and hadn't moved it to storage. That all works out.
Well he does not pay me for four months. Finally I ask him for the rent. (I admit this is my fault.) He said he had to transfer some money. In a couple of weeks, I have a check for five months rent. We agree to do better next time, but I am happy that I got something. He does not finish in May.
Well we get to October, and neither of has done better. I confront him again. He says he has to transfer money. We get to November, he says it should be in a few days. The week before Thanksgiving he is packing a suitcase. I confront him again, and we agree that he'll pay when he gets back from break. I keep thinking that this guy has thousands of dollars worth of stuff in his room and storage unit; he will pay me. He might not have money, but his parents or someone in his family does.
November, December, and January come and go. I Email him. I call him. I call his department. I write a letter to his Aunt who had sent him a package. No luck. I go to the lawyer, and he tells me how to evict him. His "Aunt" who is not his real aunt cannot find him either. My wonderful girlfriend then gets his parent's number and finds out he is living in his parents' basement. I call them. I speak to the guy. He says he is coming back and will pay me right once he gets here.
Ten minutes later his mom calls me and tells me she is going to pay all his back rent. A week later, he is back. His rent is paid through March, and I am happy that I got something.
It will happen again, but at least I have his parent's number now.
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4 comments:
Trying to find the silver lining here, but does this mean he paid rent when he was only keeping his stuff there? The uncertainty had to be a real pain but its kind of like having the benefits of a roommate without having to share the apartment. I am trying to be less bitter and cynical... it's a work in progress.
Everything really did turn out well.
I really think the guy is a good guy, and I saw him working on his dissertation last night.
Here's to the girlfriend!
She is the best.
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