Posted by:
dogzilla
(
)
Date: April 25, 2013 09:03AM
I am very suspicious of any landlord who would allow strangers into your home and here's why. (Not mormon related; feel free to skip this post.)
Many years ago, I lived in this little apartment. Every six months or so, the building would be sold and I'd receive notice as to where to pay the rent from that point on. With each change of ownership also came: A new property manager/landlord, a new bug spray guy, a new AC filter changer guy, a new maintenance guy. In the two years I lived in this place, ownership had changed hands no less than four times. I'd see some dude walking around the property with a toolbox and would have to ASSUME, "Oh, that must be the new maintenance guy." These contractors/vendors were never introduced to tenants or identified in anyway, like with IDs or nametags or anything.
Near the end of my lease, I decided the complex was getting a bit ghetto-y and repairs and maintenance weren't being done in a timely manner, so I found a house to rent. I paid up the rent for the month and moved out by mid-month. I went back about a week after the move and scrubbed the place top to bottom. I even cleaned out the fridge and the oven. A friend came over to help me and as we left, I commented about the stupidity of locking an empty apartment.
Another week later, I made an appointment with the property manager to do a walk through and sign off on the paperwork so I could get my deposit back. I unlocked the door and the minute we walked in, she said, "Where's the stove?" and I said, "Where's the fridge?"
Someone had use a KEY, went into my old apartment and took the only two things that could be taken: those two appliances. We called the police and made statements. She had to hold the deposit. A few weeks later, I got a letter in the mail informing me that, not only was I not going to get a penny of my deposit back, but I now owed the owner another $800 to replace those two appliances.
I reviewed my lease. There was not a word in there about whose responsibility the appliances were. I called my renter's insurance company and asked if they covered such things -- I even had the police report. My insurance company informed me that the owner's property insurance should cover that, because renter's insurance covers the contents of a rental that belong to ME and the appliances were clearly not mine. The property manager and I had made it clear to the police that I had locked the door before leaving -- it wasn't like I was negligent and left the front door wide open.
Long story slightly shorter, I had to sue the owner to get my deposit back. We settled out of court, but I did get it back, plus legal expenses, plus a little peace of mind money. The reason they wouldn't go to court is because I provided documentation showing how many different people who were all unknown to me, had access to my apartment, WITH KEYS, given the frequent changes in ownership. All of those owners trusted all their bug men and AC guys and maintenance men, but someone had a key, stole two appliances and left me holding the bag.
So when I read the OP's story, this situation was the first thing I thought of. It's really naive on this landlord's part to assume that, even if the people he let in were mormons, they are trustworthy. That is a security breach and you are now not safe. Because any con artist/psychopath/sociopath could obviously charm the keys out of the landlord and vandalize, steal, or home invade you. You think people can be trusted and then your kitchen appliances disappear. Worse could have happened. Because I had that experience, I would have called the police. Yes, even over a stupid plate of cookies. It does seem like excessive overkill, but I once thought it ridiculous to lock an "empty" apartment. Not so ridiculous now.
Or. You could go to home depot, get a kit, and change out the locks, so only you will have keys to your place. I might do that and explain why I couldn't trust the landlord to respect my security, privacy, and safety. You can always keep the old ones and change 'em back when you move out.