Too old to drive and be a landlord

[Ingrid Nagy]

Last week I was working for an atty assisting him with a condo conversion of a 26 unit bldg. He warned me that the fella was 83 yrs old and to brace myself for what I would see. First thing that hit me when I rang the bell to the rooming house where he lived was a big sign that read "You can reach the landlord only between 4-5 pm - bang hard on the door - or call ________ - this is the ONLY time you can contact me. If you have an emergency, make sure you bring a Policeman".

Johnnie took me into his basement dungeon where he both lived and worked. Task at hand was to compile a tenant list - unit, rent, lease term, age of tenant. It took ONE hour for him to find his files in every room of the place so I could create the half-assed list. End result after that one hour - 8 apts rented to others, 2 "rented" to friends for free, adn 16 EMPTY. He had never heard of a lease expiration. Cats kept running in and out of the place.

When I finally left he couldn't find his checkbook to pay me. The entire thing was so comical I told him it was on me - he could keep the $$ but he finally dug up the cash instead and asked me if I would come back if he needed me. OMG!!! As I walked to my car I couldn't help but notice the 5 spackle buckets of whole and broken turqoise blue 4x4 bathroom wall tiles that he was saving....I could just imagine what the units looked like.

It was the funniest thing EVER and I kept saying to myself, please shoot me if this ever happens to me...........................