All Forum Posts by: Alex Johnson

@Cliff H.

Cliff - Appreciate the response man. I will probably message you tomorrow as well to get some more insight. I’m not saying this situation is worse than others - I’m saying its EXTREMELY uncomfortable since we also LIVE here, directly above her, sharing all common areas and entryways. Its impossible to avoid her, and she is threatening us and having constant episodes late at night when we are trying to sleep. The financial loss sucks, but what really sucks is buying an 800K house for the first time, moving in all excited, an then one month later having someone like this move in and completely ruin everything. Its at the point where legit none of my family or friends even want to come here, the whole energy of the house is tense and awful. Its an old house with thin walls. If I was just a landlord and did not also live here, it would not be half as bad. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for an owner-occupied situation like mine, I would like to think I have more rights than someone who does not also live in the home. I’m just still new to this and drinking out of a firehouse trying to learn how to deal with expert manipulator. You are right though... its definitely not about to get easier... and I have a feeling she will be down there for quite some time. I hate the idea of giving her a deal since she has made our lives hell, but at this point we need to do anything we can.

@Julia Jabronski

Wow , thank you for scaring the hell out of me with that story from Hawaii as I am 10 feet above her trying to get ready to sleep.... lol. I don’t think its quite THAT bad, but I do sleep away from home a lot more often on the weekends since this has taken place. This is every landlords worst nightmare. I was warned about things like this, but never in my wildest dreams thought a situation this crazy would happen in the area I am in... by someone like this..

@Kevin Ryan

Kevin - Yeah we have been told it might make sense to do “cash for keys” or work out some sort of an agreement like this. At this point, we would do anything to just have her out of our lives. I think we are going to write a letter asking her for the rent, and if not... coming up with some sort of an agreement like this. For some reason though, my gut feeling says it would take a LOT to get her out... especially since she knows she can just squat right now as long as she wants since there is not much we can currently do about it. We will definitely try this, but if she declines the offer, I’m hoping it doesnt blow up later in our face when we try to continue the eviction process.

@Theresa Harris

Yeah good point. The cameras are only in common areas, not anywhere intrusive. But we do check the basement one often because we are terrified of her doing something to the hot water heater, furnace, etc. Her laundry machines are in the basement, but we are very close to just locking her out of there regardless since she hasnt paid rent anyways. Not sure if we can get in trouble for that... but we are very nervous about her damaging our utilities. She has already tampered with them on several occasions.

@Theresa Harris

Theresa - we tried this. The cops filed a police report, but they cannot arrest her unless we physically get threatened. If its just blank threats on a camera, all they will do is talk to her and tell her to stop. Or if its bad enough, maybe take her away for a day or so (which has not happened yet). We cannot get a restraining order, only a harassment protection order since she is our tenant. Most of the time in MA these do not get the tenant out, just basically forces them to stop harassing us.... but the courts are closed, and without being able to physically show a judge these videos - its going to be hard to get approval on that. I also am nervous to “poke the bear” if I cannot physically get her out... since it seems like we are stuck with her for 5 more months in the same house.

@Julia Jabronski

Julia - I know what you are saying, but I dont even think her age or gender matters at the moment. I think she is protected in MA regardless, and with the coronavirus it makes the eviction process EXTREMELY drawn out and delayed. Normally we would go through this process and she would likely be out... but right now we are in limbo and stuck between a rock and a hard place. We also both work out of home offices that we need to access to work. We cannot afford to relocate and risk not being able to work... then not being able to pay our mortgage (which is already more difficult to pay due to no rent for an extended period of time).

@Jill F.

These are all excellent points and ideas! We will definitely utilize these. Her credit score isn’t a full 800, but was in the mid / high 700s. Either way, still good, and I can imagine she would’t want it trashed. She has always been strange and harasses us, but over the past month she has been spiraling, and things like credit scores don’t really seem to matter to her right now... it is a very strange situation. Thank you for the insight!

@Mary Mitchell

Thanks Mary - Yeah contacting an emergency contact is a great idea. We used agents, so they probably have the original application with that information. We will definitely do that if we can get the info.

We also already talked to the mental health professional at the police station (who is very familiar with her apparently...). There is nothing they can do really unless she threatens us and we get the police there immediately... but that will not actually cause an eviction. It just seems like there is no quick way to get her out, especially with the coronavirus situation. We basically just need to try our best to walk on eggshells while we go through a very long, delayed eviction process.

@Sue K.

I knew a few of these types of responses would come in, but I didn’t want to write a novel explaining every single thing that she has done. We have video footage of death threats, proof from department of public works, plumbers, board of health, and other contractors backing every single thing up I have stated.

We of course will screen better next time, but first we need to get her out, which seems impossible right now. Just wondering if anyone has any insight on what they would do in our exact position, assuming everything we are stating is true (rather than assuming it is not true).

Regardless, I will check out that book, thanks for the response.

@Marlen Weber thanks for the response! I agree, I think we will eventually be able to evict her, but who knows when... and how difficult it will be to get all the rent she stiffed us on (+ legal fees, etc). It is also very uncomfortable and nerve-racking having her in the home, which is why we are desperate to find a way to expedite this!