My boyfriend, my son and I moved into our current apartment about four months ago.
Two floors above us lives “Dan”. Dan is, from what I can ascertain, some sort of friend/relation to the landlady, and in her (frequent) absence takes care of tenant issues. In the course of doing so, he has keys to all three of the apartments in the building - a fact which was unknown to us until…
We came home to Dan walking out of our apartment about three weeks ago. He said he heard out cat meowing and scratching at the door and was worried the cat was hurt or something, so he went in to check. Now, Dan seems like a pretty harmless guy, so we left it at that.
This past weekend, we were out of town for a long weekend. We arranged for my mother to feed the cat and our turtle while we were gone, but had forgotten about the newspaper delivery. My boyfriend left a note on Dan’s door asking him to bring the newspaper in off of the porch. Dan not only brought the papers inside the front door, he also let himself into our apartment, put the papers inside on our couch, and fed the turtle.
This past Monday afternoon, I decided to take out some frozen pork chops to thaw out for dinner. They weren’t in the freezer. I took everything out of the freezer, and also noticed two strip steaks missing. This reminded me that about six weeks ago I noticed two filet mignons missing from the freezer too, but promptly dismissed it. Let me stress: I know the pork chops and steaks were in there. I keep pretty good track of what’s left to make in the fridge for dinner, because I do the grocery shopping. Now, my freezer’s mostly full of chicken and ground beef - I don’t have fifty steaks at any given moment. All in all it was about $20 of meat gone - no small amount. And dammit, I was looking forward to those steaks!
Okay, so obviously I have my own suspicions. What do you think? Connected events? Merely coincidence? What’s more, the idea of Dan coming into our apartment at will makes me uneasy, to say the least. What should I do? There’s really no tactful way of approaching this. The only things I can think of are 1) talking to the landlady or 2) setting up a videocamera.
Of course, feel free to make substitutions – perhaps Dan might enjoy a poopsicle or a Good Tumor bar. (Is it your fault that you labeled it “Filet Mignon” by mistake?)
Blur, I had a whole collection of those books! IIRC, they were a Christmas present one year.
Gundy, check your local tenant/landlord laws. I know that around here, it’s illegal for a property manager to enter an apartment without the tenant’s permission. I would assume that the same would go for any assistant manager and that this is also illegal where you are.
Actually, more like ‘cheeseweasle’ as I am wont to call the two legged form of rat. This pest must be cured with a tempting set of porterhouse steaks under the watchful eye of a concealed video camera. The cretin must be stopped at once! Who knows what he is stealing from your home. Is he going to read your child’s diary or some weird sh!t like that?
Part of professional property management is the bonded trust that a keyholder will not disturb the occupant’s material possessions. To violate this bond shows a distinct lack of conscience and I would not trust this jerk as far as I could throw him.
blur, Sublight - I didn’t think anyone else read Encyclopedia Brown until I met my boyfriend…guess you guys are nerds too. NERDS! As soon as my son gets old enough, he’s getting the EB books too. Gotta raise 'em right.
Jeff Olsen - you’re right, in our area (Chicago) the landlord is not allowed on the premises without prior notification except in the event of an emergency…I was willing to give Dan the benefit of the doubt because he seems like a terribly nice person. I’m not so sure anymore.
Zenster - of course you’re right, but I’m worried about jumping to conclusions. I mean, this guy’s going to be our neighbor for at least another eight months, and I don’t foresee moving again for another couple of years unless things are really disastrous. So I want to be sure when I’m accusing people. I agree that a videocamera would be the smartest route, but we don’t have one - where are those X-10 popups when you need 'em? Maybe I can borrow one from someone…hmmm.
Why not change the locks, and forget to give the landlord a copy of the key?
If the law says the landlord isn’t allowed to enter the apartment without permission, well then surely you are within your rights to have the only key to door?
First, I am not a lawyer. And you probably should take a good long look at your lease before you do anything else, and possibly consult your area’s laws, if not a lawyer. That being said:
Change the locks now. Make duplicate keys for your landlady* and for “Dan”, but don’t volunteer that you have a set for Dannyboy unless your landlady asks. Tell your landlady that you changed the locks (again, don’t volunteer why) and give her her set of keys THAT HAVE BEEN SEALED IN SOME WAY. My favorite way is to put the keys in an envelope, label them “FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY”, sign the envelope, and then put duct tape over the overlapping paper edges, because if you know what you’re doing you can steam open envelopes and reseal them without traces. Opening a duct taped envelope WILL leave traces. If she asks for another set for Dan, then give her a very concerned look and tell her your story, saying that you hadn’t wanted to cause trouble, but you do not feel secure with Dan having keys, since apparently he helps himself to whatever goodies he finds. It’s quite possible that she doesn’t know about this. If she insists that Dan wouldn’t possibly do such a thing, and that Dan MUST have access, hand over the other set of keys, wrapped in the same way. For extra creativity, I’d advise putting the OLD set of keys in Dan’s envelope. I’d also tell both Landlady and Dan that you do NOT want either of them going into your apartment without your knowledge and permission.
Pay the rent in person for the next few months, and ask to see the envelope(s). If one or both envelopes are unsealed, ask why. And start looking for a new place. There’s no excuse for this.
Though I’d be tempted to put in some altered meat, too. Not rancid, that leaves a detectable aroma and flavor. If you can get hold of that dye that turns urine blue, that would be a favorite.
*In some areas, the landlady/landlord or an authorized agent of same is entitled to working keys to your apartment/house. YMMV.
As soon as my son gets old enough, he’s getting the EB books too. Gotta raise 'em right.