So.... it's summer time at the Jersey Shore... recent heat wave has turned my yard into yellow death mode. Looks like I'm gonna loose a couple young trees even
AC busted in my car so that has made trips to and from work the extent of my travel most days
Fun stuff...
Okay, the vent (upside / resolution);
Back story:
A few years before joining TB, the wife and I (with her folks) made an investment out of a pair of 1940 houses on the same 100x100 corner lot in the residential area my wife was raised and in-laws still live. I fixed the bigger one up (bigger by over 50%) and rented it out... moving into the smaller one (one bedroom). It was mostly good other than the tenant's ability to break most everything and being a bit cramped in this little house. The tenants we've had since the beginning have always had issues with keeping up with rent and we had them to court over it about 5 years ago. They had been mostly good people and we worked with them for the most part.
Current vent:
They chose to stop paying rent the end of last year without telling us because of repairs needed (keep in mind I am ALWAYS fixing stuff there and instead of 2 adults + 3 children it's grown to be 5 adults + 2 children since the 2 oldest are in their 20s now and the son has his baby and baby momma moved in).
Come to find out, they didn't tell us exactly how rotted a couple windows had become. We replaced the 2 worst ones and still no rent
My wife and I had discussed the idea of terminating their lease (month to month) with a couple months notice back in the Fall of 2009 so we could move to the bigger place (I can get more rent for this smaller house than we charge currently for the bigger one... and we could use the space).
So we were pushed to play hardball.... in early 2010 we retained a lawyer to start eviction. Letters sent, letters replied, drama added (now they say the house has toxic mold which it doesn't and other new issues that are mostly their own responsibility).
Well we finally had court on Monday.... and the verdict is:
#1 we were awarded about 80% of the back rent plus lawyer fees (enough for a couple new boutique basses!) with payments due in 30 days or wages will be garnished.
#2 they have 60 days to vacate the dwelling (by Sept 12th)
so within 3 months I am moving from a one bedroom to a three bedroom home. Going from electric to propane heat/hotwater. Gaining a 'music' room AND a workshop (master bedroom is 3/4 of an oversize one car garage I converted, the remaining 1/4 will be my smallish tube amp building workshop)!
I'm already budgeted to cover stuff without the rent (plus I'll be getting the little monthly amount from the ex-tenant) so I'll be able to take my time getting the little house ready to rent... I'll be converting it to be a VERY SMALL 3 bedroom over the winter and put it on the market early 2011.
My OT Summertime Blog / Vent Thread 
R' or 2 out of the OT crowd.
