*@&*#*($!....What would you do in this situation?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I went tonight to meet some people from another message board that I post at that I’d never met. We met at a bar and had dinner and I get a phone call…

It’s the guy that rents my garage apartment. He keeps his tools in a garage that is adjacent to my house, the first floor of his apt., and he says that someone has stolen his expensive hand saw. He goes on to say that it was a gift from his kids and has sentimental value and it cant be replaced etc. etc. I managed to calm him down and said I would be home as soon as I could to assess the situation, thus successfully ruining my evening.

I got back here and called him up and we went into the downstairs garage…he pointed out where the saw was and said now it was gone! He went on to say that he was pissed at me because I had people over and the neighbors had been over and, (his words) “Goddammit I told you Ashton, Goddammit I told you”.

I have a few problems here, and I need some suggestive advice.

Problem A:
The guy is a carpenter and is doing some home improvement work for me. He is enclosing a patio breezeway with walls and windows and has gotten everything framed and outlined so far. For the last two weeks he has delayed doing the paneling or installing the doors and windows. I have asked him twice this week when he will continue the work and he hasn’t had an answer either time. He pointed out to me that he couldn’t finish the panelling because now he doesn’t have the proper tools to do it and has nothing to cut the panels with. The timing seems suspicious to me.

Problem B:
The garage in question as I type this and when the item supposedly went missing has in it over $75,000.00 worth of tools, electronics, and miscellaneous items. It has a full home entertainment center with tv, vcr, etc. The tools in the garage are all his but he is a carpenter and has a huge assortment of table saws, hand tools, electric saws, etc. In addition, right by the door of the garage is a portable AIWA stereo that probably cost at least $500.00, it’s a beautiful bookshelf system and easy as hell to take out of there.

Problem C:
He pointed out to me when I went into the garage that two video game systems were missing, a N64 and a SNES, he also pointed out that about 15 games were missing. But that nothing else was gone. The game systems and games belong to me, but they were in cabinets and not viewable without looking for them.

Problem D:
I live in a very nice neighborhood…every home houses upper-middle class families that have lived here for 10 years or more…
I also live in a rural area, not easily accessible and far from the city. Therefore its not likely a random burglary.

My synopsis:
I think that the guy doesn’t want to finish the job and hid the saw and video games. He is somewhat emotional already as it is. He just went through a nasty divorce and lost everything including custody of his kids. He seems to calm about it to have actually lost such a valuable sentimental item and the whole story doesn’t make sense.

He’s gone from accusing my friends, to accusing neigbors that borrowed a few of my picnic tables over Memorial Day, to now asking who has keys to the place!

I’m stuck here. I don’t believe that the guy had his saw stolen. I already view him as a somewhat questionable guy but he is quiet and pays his bills on time.

Given all the evidence and what I’ve presented. What do you guys think, and what do you suggest?

He hasn’t asked for retribution yet, but he’s kinda giving off the “hesitant to ask vibe” that thats what he’s waiting for me to do. I already told him I would change all the locks and deadbolts tommorow so he feels secure that only he and I have keys to the garage and his apartment, and he kind of scoffed at that, but what more can I do?

Ideas guys? Right now I’m pissed and fuming that I’m a suspect in the theft of a $300 circular saw.

-SS

2

Sounds like you’re dead on in assuming there’s something fishy going on … has he called police, insurance people, etc, or just bitched to you?

3

Tell him to get bent – hes trying to snowball ya

4

[sarcasm]
I think that he has a point. I mean, what the hell are you thinking inviting guests into your own home? Are you daft, man? The sooner you realize that people suck, and limit your contact with them, the better.[/sarcasm]

Just out of curiosity, but how much is the saw valued at? Granted, the whole sentimental part is tough to calculate, but it would have to be a pretty special saw for a robber to take it over a VCR or boom box.

5

A saw with sentimental value? Puhleeze. If it’s that important to him, insist that he have a police report filed. Tell him you’ll submit the report to your homeowners insurance company for possible reimbursement.

Then offer to rent him a saw temporarily so that he can finish the patio breezeway.

6

Been there, my friend. My dad befriended the shady next door neighbor. When our regular dog-sitter couldn’t make it, Dad suggested asking Rocky to housesit for 2 weeks while we went on vacation.

We came back and Rocky said that someone had broken in, pulled all teh books out of the bookcase, and “rifled through your things.” But they had left the TV/VCR/stereo system/CDs alone. Rocky claimed he had, out of the kindness of his heart, put the books back on the bookcase. Upon inspection, my mother discovered he had apparently replaced the dust, too.

He took the necklace my mother was given on her 16th birthday from my grandmother, a single pearl with a tiny diamond from Tiffany’s. He took my father’s gold pocketwatch. He took my grandmother’s fur coat. And a lot of other stuff.

We reported it to the police. We got back everything except the pocketwatch and the coat. The man died soon after, and my mother ran around the house, in non-too-Christian behavior singing “Ding dong, the Rocky’s Dead!”

Go to the cops. Now. In person, if possible. If he harrasses you, tell him that it’s his own godammed fault for not having renter’s insurance. And report the whole thing to your insurance company. Try getting the guy out of the apartment ASAP. The fact that he knew how many video games were stolen, that they belonged to you, and that they were hidden from sight means that either A.) he took them or B.) he had been snooping previously, saw the games, remembered how many there were, and while investigating upon finding his saw missing, remembered them. Not bloody likely. Keep us informed! Good luck.

7

Sky, get rid of this guy right away. Hire someone else to finish the work.

You’re his landlord, not his keeper. You’re not responsible for his stuff. If he’s not happy with that, he can report the “theft” to the cops.

But he’s got to go. Now.

8

Call the police. Thats what they are there for. The police will start to ask questions, and if you suspect something is wrong, they just might be able to catch him in a double story. If he starts acting all weird, kick him out right there on the spot while the cops are watching. Make sure that the police see all of the work done too…cops are GREAT to have as witness if something gets out of hand. That guy will think twice about doing something stupid if the cops have been walking all around.

There are plenty of carpenters out there that will be able to finish the work in a timely manner. It might cost more, but chalk it up to preventative actions. This could get messy and expensive quick. If he’s a little loose around the edges, you might want to have some security system installed when he leaves. Definitely change all the locks again.

9

I called my grandfather and my dad for advice. They both said it’s not my problem, and not legally covered by my insurance. They said that I need to tell the guy to file a police report and that I need to do the same for the games that were taken. They both also told me that given the circumstances they also suspect foul play, and that I should suggest to the police that the situation seems suspicious and let them come to their own conclusions.
At this point its just a matter of making the phone calls and sitting back to see what happens. As far as the construction, unfortunately I was an idiot and the contract was verbal. As far as payment, it was handled seperate from his rent and utilities and he has already paid for this months rent…

I have no idea what the motivation is, but I definitely think he “stole” his own saw.

-SS

10

You checked the local pawn shops yet?

The games and the saw are highly hockable items…

-David

11

Sounds a little hinky to me. I’m not a real confrontational person, but this is something I think you are going to have to approach him about. The good news is you can just tell him that since he feels that the place isn’t secure, he should probably move to somewhere he feels safer. Ya know, just for his peace of mind…

12

I DEFINATELY wouldn’t confront him. As someone whose dealt with horrid neighbors, the ONLY thing that helps is to get the cops to witness them being obnoxious. Have the cops come over, show them around, tell them the whole story (somewhere he can’t listen in,) and have them talk to him. If they can get him to file it as a claim, and they can later prove he stole the stuff himself, he has just submitted a false claim. Talking to the guy might make him angry, and you won’t be able to prove anything he says.

13

I would definitely call the police. It sounds like this fellow has something up his sleeve. Being that you also have items that belong to you in the storage, that might be cause for concern.

14

An oral agreement is worth the paper its written on…

It’s been covered on the judge programs; you aren’t responsible for his ‘lost’ items. He should have got rental insurance. That’s the law, which you should remind him of.

15

Since the games were yours, file a police report for your items & “suggest” to the police that they speak with him because he also has a “missing” item. If he makes an issue of you calling the cops, he’s probably got something to hide. If not, at least you’ve filed a claim for something you’ve actually lost.

16

Take him to Judge Judy. :smiley:

17

If his saw was -so- important, why was it not locked up?

18

'If his saw was -so- important, why was it not locked up? ’

Cause no one saw it.

19

This story is vaguely familiar to me - my parents were amateur landlords for a while too.

  1. Listen to Delta. Talk to your insurance company, and get the police involved. At the very least they can keep a closer eye on the bastard.

  2. Get a contractor to come out and estimate the rest of the job. Have him or her also tell you how long the work should take, going at a slow pace, medium pace, quick pace.

  3. Evaluate whether spending that amount of time and money is preferable to putting up with this tenant from hell. Probably so.

  4. Serve him with a 30-day notice to get out. Add that he can finish the work within the 30 days and you’ll pay him fair market value for the labor, which should help him lay down a deposit on a new place. He can borrow a saw or rent one, the money you’ll pay him should more than accomodate that.

  5. Once he’s out, change the locks and install perimeter sensor lights, and an alarm if you choose.

Just a thought.