The Money Pit

Grab a cozy blanket, settle into your favorite spot on the couch and get comfortable because this is going to be a LONG story:

Several years ago we were a happy little family. Our first child was born just one year after we got married. The husband and I bought a modest little starter house in a totally nondescript sprawling subdivision. You probably have such a neighborhood near you: row after row of very similar little houses with vinyl siding on tiny lots.

We were happy in our little house with our sweet baby. The husband worked the typical 9-5 and I ran a small daycare out of the house during the day. I really appreciated being able to bring in a modest income while still being home with the baby and avoiding needing daycare. For what it's worth I have nothing against using childcare, but I was a new mommy who really didn't want to leave her baby and in this town my earning potential was so low that childcare would take most of my paycheck. And, of course there was the fact that this little baby was attached to my boob nearly 24/7 for his first two years. I doubt most employers would want to hire me with a baby permanently attached to my chest, so the home daycare it was.

All was well until my father-in-law (Papaw) had two strokes in a short period of time. It was clear that he could no longer live alone and he came to live with us: my husband's mother had died years before and they have no other living family (that's what happens when you come from a long line of only children on both the maternal and paternal side.)

Suddenly our little house was impossibly crowded and we needed to find a new home that could accommodate all of us plus a home daycare. We had two dogs plus my father-in-law's yappy little incontinent mutt. When we had to move Papaw out of his house every single possession he owned came to our house. We had two entire households worth of stuff plus a daycare in a small space. In short, there was no way that we could put our house on the market and keep it in showable condition with us still living there so we made the decision to move to our new house and then put the old house on the market once we'd moved. We had a small chunk of money leftover from the sale of Papaw's house to help cover the expenses of having two houses for a few months.

Unfortunately, immediately after purchasing our new home the bottom fell out of the housing market. It soon became apparent that we would not be able to sell the old house as we had anticipated so we decided to rent it for a while until the market improved.

This is when the renters from hell entered our lives. The husband, hereafter known as Jim Bob, had been doing some work on a neighbor's home and inquired about renting our house. He and his wife had four young children. Much later we would come to learn that Jim Bob's wife had only been 14 years old when their first child was born (Jim Bob had been about 20-21 years old at the time. How he managed to avoid jail or her daddy's shotgun is beyond me.) Despite the odds they were still together 10 year and 4 children later.

When Jim Bob approached us about renting the house we were sympathetic to him: he explained that he was on housing assistance and couldn't find a house in a good area. His children were living in project housing, going to a rough school and hanging with rough kids. He wanted something better for them, he was desperate to get them into a better environment.

Bleeding hearts that we are we agreed to let them lease the house. We would rent it to them for the cost of our mortgage payment. We weren't looking at getting rich, we just wanted to cover our expenses on the house. Seemed like a win-win situation for all involved, right?

The day they moved in the suddenly didn't have a deposit for us as promised. Totally in a pinch we agreed that they could pay us half of the deposit after his next pay period and the other half the second month. It never happened- every month there was another reason why they didn't have the money.

As time went by things began to deteriorate: I was getting phone calls from our former neighbors complaining that their children were bullies who ran wild while terrorizing the neighborhood kids. They stopped paying us their portion of the rent (Section 8 covered most of their rent but they still owed us a small co-pay each month.) Per Section 8 regulations we were required to include the utilities in their rent. Each month their utilities got higher and higher. Who cares that you blast the air at Artic temperatures all summer long and then crank the heat all winter long while you keep the windows open if you're not the one paying the bills? It wasn't long before we were losing money each month.

We also had complaints that they had another family living in the garage, but they denied it. Every time my husband and I stopped by the house was always FULL of people, but they always claimed that the extra people were just visitors.

When their lease ran out a few months ago we decided not to renew it and told them they would need to leave. As the time drew near they begged for another month because they had been unable to locate a new home yet so we reluctantly agreed to give them a little more time. I was afraid that our only other option would have been to go to court to get them forcibly evicted and that would have taken even more time/money.

They finally left a few weeks ago and as you've probably guessed the place is a wreck. Flooring ruined. Front and back screen doors ripped off of the hinges, overgrown yard, and a broken garage door. The front door is dented and the door frame is splintered, it appears that they tried to bust open the door at one point. Interior doors are broken and there are holes in the walls. Not only are the walls filthy dirty, but they've also somehow managed get what appears to be blood and food splattered on the ceilings.

We've just now started the process of getting the house cleaned. We still can't sell the house without owing someone money so we're going to rent it again. This time around though you can bet that we won't be such pushover landlords- we've learned our lesson the hard way.

I've been spending time meeting with various painters and repairmen getting quotes and estimates. In the next few weeks we will be dumping an ungodly amount of money into the place in an effort to get it back in reasonable shape. Since we plan on renting it again we're not going for perfect, we're just aiming for clean and decent.

Just thinking of how much money we're losing on this money pit makes me sick to the stomach. We don't really have any recourse right now, can't even take Jim Bob to court. Besides, even if we got a judgment against him we would never be able to collect money. He hasn't worked in a couple of years now and the court can't garnish your wages if you don't have a paycheck...

In the meantime all I can really do is pick up extra shifts at work for the overtime pay. I've been averaging about 65 hours a week for the past couple of weeks and have already signed up for extra shifts for all of next month as well. All of those hours makes for a tired mama and a bitchy wife, but at least I'm grateful that the overtime is available when situations like these arise.