The (Apartment) Hunt Begins (Again)…

About 16 months ago, as I continued to search for Fort Worth apartments while still living in New York, I asked a good friend to personally check out places that appealed to me on Craigslist.

Most of them were rejected for a variety of reasons that have a lot to do with me being picky, and knowing exactly what I wanted. Finally, she looked at one and called me: “Send them a check now!”

When I finally got here after my cross-country drive, I walked into my new apartment, and knew immediately that she had been right. I was instantly in love with the place. Whereas my NYC basement apartment in Queens was still charming to me, it was small, had low ceilings, one tiny window (hence dark), and the exact opposite of this place.

This apartment is large, has high ceilings, lots of big windows, and is probably one of my favorite places to have ever lived.

And now, out of the blue, I’m being forced to move. Last yesterday afternoon came an email from my landlord (who live next door) explaining that when they bought this place eight months ago from my original landlords, the ultimate goal was to convert the three apartments into this house back into one house so his aging parents could move in.

From the email: “I am, therefore, giving you this 30-day written termination notice under paragraph 1A of your respective leases, both of which reverted to month-to-month at the end of the initial one-year term.  Thirty days from today is March 12.”

Now, there’s a chance they may read this. And I’m not overly concerned with that, but the treatment of myself and the other tenant of this building is very upsetting to me, and very bush league.

1. Yes, the lease says 30 days. I get that. But at least be human about things and understand that moving within 30 days on sudden notice isn’t easy. Finding a place, packing, and moving take time, especially when you’re working two jobs.

2. And this is the part that REALLY pisses me off – if this was your plan from the get-go, then why not say something to your tenants. Or, even a few months ago say “hey, at some point we’re going to give you 30 days notice because of such and such…”

It would have, at least, mentally prepared me for the email, and not been so shocking.

3. Everything the landlords have done over the last 8 months now makes sense. From taking my giant backyard and chopping into a ribbon so they could add the rest to their original backyard, with no notice that they were doing such a thing; from never renting the upstairs apartment out and doing all sorts of secretive work on it at all hours; to not renewing our leases when they recently expired.

It all makes sense, and to me, they are all cheap, low moves. It strikes me as sneaky and conniving, and in all the apartments I’ve lived in, I’ve never had landlord that I felt were trying to be sneaky, and trying to put one over on me.

This landlord did. And again, I’m not overly concerned that they might read this. Before I moved out, I was going to tell them how I felt anyway.

I doubt I’ll find an apartment as nice as this. My immediate goal is to stay in this neighborhood that I have grown to love, and the search begins today.

Advertisement