Yes, we have had some slick, fast talking people slip thru here. Some even have even been given glowing references from former landlords! Me thinks that landlord was gleefully popping the champagne at the hope of unloading that tenant onto someone else!
The deal with the electric company is: once a tenant moves out and cuts off the electric, the billing switches back to the apartment complex, then of course, when a new tenant comes in, they will turn the electric back on in their name.
Obviously, glitches have happened, as several tenants have never turned the electric on in their names.
We had a particularly nasty tenant, drank a lot, and was belligerent. Heck, his nickname was The Troll.
Face it, when someone is sneaking electric services, it is theft by deception.
We found out that he never turned the electric on in his name. We had words and flipped the switch that put him in the dark.
He broke into the machine room and turned it back on. Like we wouldn’t notice the lights and TV on? Oh, and he was stealing cable.
So one night, we got the complaints that The Troll was drunk and knocking on doors looking for food. That he hadn’t eaten all day and that he was hungry.
Really? Ya obviously had money for that 40 ya drank and smokes. Me thinks his priorities are backwards.
So we confronted him outside, told him that if he continues banging on doors that we would call the police. Then I asked how his electric was back on. He claimed he didn’t know, that it just came on . . . all by itself! Of course, it was magic.
He then threatened me with a restraining order. Okay, he was drunk, intimidating tenants and now threatening me. He needed a reality check.
Sad to say, they were absolutely no #$@ help whatsoever! They challenged our authority as apartment managers and demanded a business card to prove it. (BTW, ANYONE can make ANY business card claiming ANYTHING they want!! It doesn’t legitimatize a #$#$ thing!) We are on record with the Township and the Business Office, we have tenant records and all the keys to the building. We are the door that police knock on for information. And now you are turning on us?!
We are told that being drunk on private property is not a crime. We are told that since the Troll has friends among the tenants, he is not committing a crime banging on doors demanding food.
Talk about empowerment! The Troll was free to be drunk and obnoxious!
About the electric: they refuse to arrest him for ‘theft by deception,’ instead they demand that I leave the electric on and something bizarre about it being illegal to deny people that service.
So the power company is committing a crime each time they cut off a deadbeat?
Yep, they came and pulled the meter. That didn’t quite solve the problem as the Troll stole power cords and plugged them in each night. We stole them back. It was exhausting, as if I want to go in the alleyway every night to check his back windows for light.
All the hidden costs:
The Troll stole hundreds of $$ of electricity from the owners. The candles he later used ruined the new carpeting, plus the unimaginable fire hazard.
We had to pay for a licensed electrician and the power company to come back to reinstall the meter.
It is difficult and expensive to evict a tenant.
Good tenants had to endure his tantrums and his knuckle-dragging friends creeping around, climbing thru windows until late in the night.
It is hard to keep and attract good tenants when a troll like this has ‘rights’ and we had none.
I will always remember the name of the officer that threw us under the bus with this Troll.
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