My 80 year old mother moved into an apartment a few blocks from us so that we could give more attention to helping her with everyday chores like laundry, house cleaning, dinner and a host of other duties. Two months before the end of her lease she fell and broke her hip. After surgery we were told she needed constant care that we could not provide as my wife and I both work.
We notified the landlord and his wife and completely moved my mothers belongings into storage along with scouring the apartment so that it could be rented out again and the landlord would not lose any money in the process. We worked very hard and very fast considering the little free time we had to accomplish the task at hand and to ensure that the security deposit would be returned, which they said they would do.
New tenants moved in even before the end of the month, causing no loss of income for the landlord. The apartment was returned to the landlord in much better and cleaner shape than it was when rented out to my mother and that came at a cost to us because, to meet our goal we had to recruit the help of others and pay out of pocket for it.Let me add that the wall to wall carpet was shampooed and looked and smelled great when we left.
A month and a half went by and there was no contact from the landlord, or the return of the security deposit to my 80 year old mother as promised. So I sent a letter informing him that we were still waiting and wanted to know why we hadn’t received our money back. By the way, it was my fiance and I who paid my mothers security deposit in the first place to help her out, so we have a vested interest in getting it back. The landlord doesn’t know that though and believes he is only stealing from an 80 year old widow who suffers from “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and a broken hip”. What a peach of a guy. You have to wonder how these people treat their own mother.
So, his wife calls me and informs me that even though they lost no money, not one penny, she was only going to return 300 of the 750 dollars they received. She informed me that she thought this was fair, because my mother left early, even if it was because of her health that she couldn’t stay, and it didn’t matter that they lost no money. Her lawyer told her that she didn’t have to return any of the money, but she feels bad and wants to be fair. So what do I want to do?, she asks me. She’s another peach. Must have been obvious as to what I wanted to do because then I get a call from her husband.
He leaves a message saying that he spoke to his lawyer and is sending a check which is already in the mail. That leads one to believe it would be a check for $750.00 right? Wrong, he sends a check for 500 dollars. And this is where it really starts to get good and you can see the deceit driven by greed come out even more. They won’t be happy until they steal what they believe is my mothers money. In with the check is a make shift phony receipt for 150 dollars to have the rugs in three rooms shampooed because my mothers cat went to the bathroom on them and they smelled. I can assure you that never happened, the cat never went anywhere outside of the litter box. Also, the rugs were thoroughly shampooed by us prior to our turning the keys back over to them. We turned the place back over to the landlord on a Saturday evening and the new tenants were moving in on Sunday which we witnessed ourselves as well as speaking to them. That means the people moved in before my mothers right to the property was even over, she had two more full days to leave. And the landlord did not have the time to get the rugs shampooed before the new tenants moved in. The phony receipt that he sent was dated 5/14 which means the new tenants were living there when he sent someone over to shampoo the rugs.
Not 15 minutes after receiving the letter and receipt from him I was standing on the back porch of the property in question speaking to the new tenants. They both said without hesitation that no one ever came to shampoo the rugs on the 14th or any other day since they had moved in. They will be subpoenaed to testify in court, which means they will have to be there or be held in contempt of court. I know that the truth will come out even if they were to change their story, which I do not believe they will. They seem like good and decent people, not cut from the same mold that the landlord and his wife are. But here is how I am so sure the landlords lies and phony receipt will be exposed even if the tenants change their story.
I had on one of my body worn hidden cameras. A wrist watch with audio capability to be exact. And before anyone says it is illegal to record someone without their knowledge, please read the following paragraph from our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Can I get audio in my hidden camera? No you cannot. According to United States federal laws, audio should not be used in a surreptitious manner. One example of surreptitious interception is audio in a hidden camera. This includes pinhole board cameras and all covert or hidden cameras. Audio in a hidden camera or board camera is only available to law enforcement agencies, with the exception of body worn cameras. Title 18, Section 2512.
Can you feel me people?!! One of the very hidden cameras I sell to others to help protect them, their loved ones and their property is helping me to expose the lies, deceitfulness and greed of a landlord and his wife who seem hell bent on keeping money they have no real right or justification to keep. The audio and video from the watch hidden camera with DVR and audio came out clear as a bell and I couldn’t be happier with the results. There is more to the story, (they want to keep another hundred dollars because he claims my mothers cat attacked him and he needed medical attention), however, there was no receipt for that. But I will save it for another time since this is getting a little long. Check back soon since we post everyday.
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