Horrible Renters

[ErikAndrews]

I live in Arizona but was traveling abroad last summer. I needed to have someone staying in my apartment to pay me a little rent and take care of my cat. Because I had a renter bail on my a few days before I was supposed to leave I had to scramble to find someone else last minute. I ended up finding someone on Craigslist which I know can be shady but I was desperate (it would have been expensive to rearrange everything and I had already put my time in at work so postponing my trip wasn't a good option). So I found this couple that seemed great, I left them instructions, gave them my keys and left the country.
While I was gone they communicated well, held up their end of the deal and sent me cat photos so I would know that things were being taken care of. I thought they were awesome. Until I came home.
I'll be brief but my apartment was disgusting. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned all summer, the carpet was so bad that it had to be professionally cleaned for $100. The worst of it was that they had put a lot of my property into a storage unit without asking me or telling me and there was a monsoon over the summer that flooded the unit and ruined about $1000 worth of my property.
The guy said he was sorry and that he would replace everything. That was last August its now June and he has replaced nothing. He usually ignores me when I contact him about this and when he does talk to me he just makes excuses and acts like I'm bothering them for contacting him asking why he hasn't taken care of this. Its been a mess.
I would take him to court but there was not contract or anything because I'm not really supposed to sublet this apartment so we had to do an under the table deal, I know that's stupid but again I was desperate. Also it might be hard to prove the worth of what was destroyed because it was mostly books and comic books. Is this worth going to court over or will it be a waste of time? I've also considered reporting it as a theft since I haven't seen any proof that everything was destroyed, they wont tell me the name of the storage unit, and even if the thing did flood they still took my property out of my apartment without my permission or knowledge, that sounds like theft to me. any thoughts? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[LdiJ]

I live in Arizona but was traveling abroad last summer. I needed to have someone staying in my apartment to pay me a little rent and take care of my cat. Because I had a renter bail on my a few days before I was supposed to leave I had to scramble to find someone else last minute. I ended up finding someone on Craigslist which I know can be shady but I was desperate (it would have been expensive to rearrange everything and I had already put my time in at work so postponing my trip wasn't a good option). So I found this couple that seemed great, I left them instructions, gave them my keys and left the country.
While I was gone they communicated well, held up their end of the deal and sent me cat photos so I would know that things were being taken care of. I thought they were awesome. Until I came home.
I'll be brief but my apartment was disgusting. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned all summer, the carpet was so bad that it had to be professionally cleaned for $100. The worst of it was that they had put a lot of my property into a storage unit without asking me or telling me and there was a monsoon over the summer that flooded the unit and ruined about $1000 worth of my property.
The guy said he was sorry and that he would replace everything. That was last August its now June and he has replaced nothing. He usually ignores me when I contact him about this and when he does talk to me he just makes excuses and acts like I'm the asshole for contacting him asking why he hasn't taken care of this. Its been a mess.
I would take him to court but there was not contract or anything because I'm not really supposed to sublet this apartment so we had to do an under the table deal, I know that's stupid but again I was desperate. Also it might be hard to prove the worth of what was destroyed because it was mostly books and comic books. Is this worth going to court over or will it be a waste of time? I've also considered reporting it as a theft since I haven't seen any proof that everything was destroyed, they wont tell me the name of the storage unit, and even if the thing did flood they still took my property out of my apartment without my permission or knowledge, that sounds like theft to me. any thoughts? Any help would be appreciated.

My honest advice would be to chalk it up to experience and let it go. Even if you were to get a judgment against them you would still have to collect from them yourself, and I suspect that these people are experienced in doing what they do. Do not use someone off of Craig's list again. Find a professional house sitter from a respected agency or get family or friends to take the cat and check your place from time to time.

 

[not2cleverRed]

I would take him to court but there was not contract or anything because I'm not really supposed to sublet this apartment so we had to do an under the table deal, I know that's stupid but again I was desperate. Also it might be hard to prove the worth of what was destroyed because it was mostly books and comic books. Is this worth going to court over or will it be a waste of time? I've also considered reporting it as a theft since I haven't seen any proof that everything was destroyed, they wont tell me the name of the storage unit, and even if the thing did flood they still took my property out of my apartment without my permission or knowledge, that sounds like theft to me. any thoughts? Any help would be appreciated.

Sounds like a scam to me.

I'd say file a police report, because scammers continue scamming, and it may help someone catch up to them someday...

You could sue for the return or replacement of the items no longer in your apartment, if you have proof that you owned them and their value.

I suppose you could contact your renter's insurance for advice, if you have it.

 

[ErikAndrews]

My honest advice would be to chalk it up to experience and let it go. Even if you were to get a judgment against them you would still have to collect from them yourself, and I suspect that these people are experienced in doing what they do. Do not use someone off of Craig's list again. Find a professional house sitter from a respected agency or get family or friends to take the cat and check your place from time to time.

I would have liked to have a professional house sitter but house sitters cost money and renters pay money. :/

 

[HRZ]

Absent negligence on thier part about how goods were stored I think you'd have a rough time on those damages...or do you mean stuff just disappeared? look up if theft by deception might apply to disappearing goods...some comic books can be quite valuable

 

[ErikAndrews]

Absent negligence on thier part about how goods were stored I think you'd have a rough time on those damages...or do you mean stuff just disappeared? look up if theft by deception might apply to disappearing goods...some comic books can be quite valuable

My comic books weren't worth that much individually, there was just a lot of them. I have been collecting books and comic books for years and I'm obviously angry that these people would take them out of my apartment without my permission. They said they had put it in a friend's storage unit and that it flooded. I know there was a big monsoon last summer so that's definitely possible but I haven't actually seen the unit or my damaged property and they wont tell me the name of the storage unit. Honestly I think they're just irresponsible and they just don't care about other people. I will look into theft by deception, thanks that's actually helpful. I don't want them to get away with this, I bent over backwards to make sure they had the best experience possible and they've treated me like garbage.

 

[Zigner]

Please edit the foul language out of your post.

 

[LdiJ]

My comic books weren't worth that much individually, there was just a lot of them. I have been collecting books and comic books for years and I'm obviously angry that these people would take them out of my apartment without my permission. They said they had put it in a friend's storage unit and that it flooded. I know there was a big monsoon last summer so that's definitely possible but I haven't actually seen the unit or my damaged property and they wont tell me the name of the storage unit. Honestly I think they're just irresponsible and they just don't care about other people. I will look into theft by deception, thanks that's actually helpful. I don't want them to get away with this, I bent over backwards to make sure they had the best experience possible and they've treated me like garbage.

This may sound like a weird question, but how were your books and comic books stored? Is it at all reasonable that they would have needed the space that the books and comic books took up, or did you have the properly shelved etc...and if so, do you have any pics or anything of their storage?

The reason I am asking is that I am looking to realistic credibility that they needed to store the books and comic books because they needed the space. You have a stronger argument for theft by deception if they clearly did not need the space because all of your books and comic books were stored on bookshelves, rather than in boxes taking up every bit of storage in the apartment.

 

[ErikAndrews]

This may sound like a weird question, but how were your books and comic books stored? Is it at all reasonable that they would have needed the space that the books and comic books took up, or did you have the properly shelved etc...and if so, do you have any pics or anything of their storage?

The reason I am asking is that I am looking to realistic credibility that they needed to store the books and comic books because they needed the space. You have a stronger argument for theft by deception if they clearly did not need the space because all of your books and comic books were stored on bookshelves, rather than in boxes taking up every bit of storage in the apartment.

Everything in my apartment was clean and organized when I left. All of my books/comic books were neatly put away on shelves. Also I asked them when I met them if they wanted me to move anything out before they moved in to make room for their stuff and they said no.

 

[LdiJ]

Everything in my apartment was clean and organized when I left. All of my books/comic books were neatly put away on shelves. Also I asked them when I met them if they wanted me to move anything out before they moved in to make room for their stuff and they said no.

Ok, then my guess is that they sold your stuff. Probably for peanuts, but sold it nonetheless. I suspect that the whole "storage" bit is nothing more than a story. It wouldn't have been a bigger pain in the butt to just leave your books and comic books where they were, rather than transfer them to storage.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Ok, then my guess is that they sold your stuff. Probably for peanuts, but sold it nonetheless. I suspect that the whole "storage" bit is nothing more than a story. It wouldn't have been a bigger pain in the butt to just leave your books and comic books where they were, rather than transfer them to storage.

That's what I've been suspecting as well.

 

[ErikAndrews]

That thought has definitely crossed my mind. The only reason I think they maybe didn't steal it is because two bikes also went into storage and so did my TV. The bikes came back in tact and the TV was destroyed but they gave me a TV of theirs that is newer and a little bigger. Either way they still took things from me. Should I file a police report?

 

[quincy]

... Should I file a police report?

Yes.

 

[LdiJ]

That thought has definitely crossed my mind. The only reason I think they maybe didn't steal it is because two bikes also went into storage and so did my TV. The bikes came back in tact and the TV was destroyed but they gave me a TV of theirs that is newer and a little bigger. Either way they still took things from me. Should I file a police report?

Ok, that does change the picture a bit. It still doesn't make sense that they moved the books and comics into storage, but the fact that you got back the potentially more valuable items (or a replacement) does tend to make the story look different.

 

[ErikAndrews]

That thought has definitely crossed my mind. The only reason I think they maybe didn't steal it is because two bikes also went into storage and so did my TV. The bikes came back in tact and the TV was destroyed but they gave me a TV of theirs that is newer and a little bigger. Either way they still took things from me. Should I file a police report?

Ok, that does change the picture a bit. It still doesn't make sense that they moved the books and comics into storage, but the fact that you got back the potentially more valuable items (or a replacement) does tend to make the story look different.

Yeah, I should have said that before. I've been dealing with these people for almost a year trying to get them to pay me and there have been a lot of details, I forgot about the bikes.