Steve Skojec

I need to vent.

What follows is exactly that. Now is the time to go if you’d rather look at the insanely popular (but strikingly unfunny) phenomenon known as LOLcats or read about how Russia is gearing up for the new Cold War by taking the provocative first step of banning our chicken.

You’ve been warned.

So, we sent the terms of the agreement and buyout amount we could scrape together to the landlord two days ago, and asked for an immediate response.

We have yet to hear anything back, which I find stunningly rude. Not even an email saying, “I’m considering your terms.” Nothing. Bear in mind, all of this negotiation still has a landlord-stated lease termination date of September 15th, now just about 2 weeks away.

It’s gotten really, really frustrating. The only thing this guy has ever been punctual about is cashing our checks. When we have asked for things to get fixed, he either promises to do it and doesn’t (always verbally, of course, responding to emails with a phone call so, I assume, there is no record of his response) or delays quite a long time before actually doing what he says. I have a laundry list, which I won’t bore you with here.

What’s most puzzling about all of this is that he seemed like a genuinely decent guy when we met him, and was responsive to our needs in the beginning, then gradually began procrastinating more and more. We chalked it up to his busy schedule, and cut him some slack. I even went out of my way to help him try to resolve a customer service complaint with a supplier he works with of which my father is the sales manager of the flagship store. We were apologetic every time he had to come fix something, and there were lots of somethings, as the house is fifty years old and has plenty of quirks.

Then, in a dispute over who was responsible for fixing a backed-up septic line (the lease said the tenant was obligated to “clear all drains and toilets” and in his mind, this meant it was our responsibility; in our mind, that was crazy-talk) he perceived that my wife took a “disrespectful tone” with him in a phone call, when she offered to deduct the cost of the plumber from the rent. (At the time, she was quickly and forcefully told that she was “not authorized!” to do so.)

Everything has gone downhill from there. We’ve apologized for any unintended offense, but we won’t cave in on the nature of the dispute, and have since talked to several plumbers about whether our negligence could have caused the problem (it couldn’t) even if we WERE responsible for the septic system. The likely culprit is that roots have penetrated the pipe, as the septic line clog occurred directly beneath some shrubbery that has grown thick with wild grapevines, which root very aggressively. This is a common problem, but he was never willing to even entertain the possibility or show evidence that the pipe was in good working order and had been inspected in the last few years. He just wanted to point the finger at our kids, and assume they must have “flushed something down the toilet” that was somehow small enough to clear the interior plumbing while miraculously forming a total blockage in the larger diameter main septic line.

In the midst of our back-and-forth on that, we came to the conclusion that we needed to be let out of our lease because of a change in our income and the aforementioned usage of heating oil by the home’s boiler, which was misrepresented to us as being a modest amount by the landlord before we signed the lease, but which amounted in fact to about $600 a month once we moved in, even keeping the thermostat below 65 degrees. We tried to warn him before we were in danger of nonpayment so that the problem could be avoided altogether.

Our situation was unforeseen, but is nonetheless real, and now, we’re being taken advantage of, and I’m pretty ticked off about it. I don’t want this to wind up in court, but I have a feeling it’s going to be that way, because I cannot get reasonable accommodation from him. We’ve offered a buyout of 2 months rent because we simply can’t give 3, but that’s apparently not good enough. Nor is it convenient, it seems, for him to give us a quick response despite that we have to find a place, pack up and move out a family of five while I am working and my wife is 4 months pregnant (and already hurting from it) and we have only 2 weeks to do all of it - because of the deadline that HE set.

I am incredulous at how we are being treated. It’s exploitative, in my opinion, and I only hope that if it comes to it, a judge will see it that way. With no provision in the lease for termination, everything is subject to our negotiation, and I feel that what he is attempting to get out of us, considering that our reasons are financial, is predatory.

For my part, I just want to put it all behind us and move on. We’ve found a far more affordable place to rent that’s very close to work and is managed by a professional company rather than an independent landlord. It’s smaller, but still big enough, has a basement play/homeschool area and a decently large yard with trees for the kids to play in. And all told, it will drop our monthly expenses by about $1,000 a month this winter over staying put. It’s almost the perfect answer.

I have asked for the help of St. Joseph, St. Jude, St. Rita, St. Anthony, St. Nicholas, Our Lady of Good Remedy, St. Thomas More, and anybody else I can think of who is applicable to the case. (Feel free to suggest more)

On that note, thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers. This is a trying time, but I am managing in large part due to the graces we are receiving.

I am also eternally grateful because several extremely generous individuals have sent us money. I will not name names, despite wanting to give them credit for their generosity, but they are not the credit-seeking type. Nonetheless, they have gone a long way toward helping us to make this happen in the short time we have. Please pray for them as well, and thank God on my behalf that I have the friendship of such good people, some of whom I have never even met in person.

I was chatting with a friend of mine who has already run the gauntlet of post-graduate theology, and told him it makes me wonder if going back to school is meant to be. Classes start Tuesday and tuition needs to be paid up-front for the semester. There is no financial aid available, and I’m looking into personal loan options, but nothing is certain. When adding up all of our costs for the move out, move in, and school for just this semester, we’re approaching five figures that need to get paid in less than a month.  On the surface, it all seems so impossible.

But my friend responded without hesitation, “God will provide the ram. Just make sure you get to the top of the hill.” Those words have been echoing in my mind ever since.

So I’m doing my best to do what I am worst at: abandonment. If this is all meant to happen, it will. If God is willing to keep us out of court, perhaps our landlord will have a change of heart and accept our offer. If I am supposed to go to school, the tuition will show up. If another path is what He wants, then it will become evident in short order. I just need to trust that whatever happens, if I have done my best, I may be at peace with whatever He allows.  Easier said than done, but still necessary.

OK. Enough venting. Time to get back to making this happen.