MissJacksonCA
12-Jul-2007, 08:21 AM
http://realestate.aol.com/article/_a/return-from-vacation-if-you-dare/20070710180209990001
We used a housesitter once... never will again. It was some guy from the local Amber Tree Nursery who planted some trees for us. My mom thought he was cute and therefore trustworthy. Ironically the trees he planted died and she wound up suing the nursery for his incompetence. But I digress... just before leaving for our summer in Canada our usually unfriendly neighbor became concerned when the city planner came out to survey the land and show us exactly where our property line was. Lo and behold his sidewalk and part of his patio was on our property so he came over to 'talk' and begged us not to put a fence up around our home because it would ruin his propertys view and make it seem much smaller. We agreed.
So we're gathering up the pets to go to Canada and one of them refuses to come and so my mom leaves specific instructions for the guy and many bags of pet food to feed to the cat. She agrees to pay him a five hundred dollars for the first month and when she gets back another five hundred. He could use any room in the house except for the master bedroom (which was mine) and he was supposed to mow the lawn, keep the pool clean, and forward any bills to us in Canada. Before we leave we ask our newly friendly neighbor to keep an eye on the guy and to contact us if there's any problems. And off we go.
We never received a bill in the mail during the summer. We called the neighbor who said all was fine. We come back and it was obvious all was not fine. The entire garage was full of trash bags chock full of beer bottles and stinky garbage and bugs who were interested in what was in those bags. The cat must've been feeding himself because he was fatter than usual but oddly enough none of his food had been opened. The mail in the mailbox was overflowing and there was tons of opened mail for us on the kitchen counter. On the floor there was muddy footprints which were trailed all over the white carpet and up to the second floor where incredibly enough there were muddy footprints on my bed. There were cigarette butts everywhere broken dishes, rotting food, and every single belonging and shoe and article of clothing I had was scattered all over my closet. Someone had gone through every purse I had, every photo album, every schoolbook. My fur coat was missing, several pairs of shoes, and a designer dress. Jewelry I prized was missing and so was our big screen TV and my stereo system. From my bedroom I could see into the pool which had turned the scariest shade of greenish brown I had ever seen. The backyard was a lovely mess in itself. Nothing had been mowed, watered, or anything. We even wound up having to buy a new fridge because somehow he blew the circuit breaker belonging to the fridge and left stuff rotting in there and there was an odd assortment of bugs infesting it.
The fun didn't really stop there... he pulled into the street obviously not knowing we'd be back that day and then pulled a u-ey so fast outta there he obviously knew he fuct up real bad. We found his pile of clothes and belongings in my room which judging by the smell was where he decided to sleep and packed them neatly into a box... we called the police to report the vandalism and took pictures and wound up suing him. Before we got to court I was in school one day when this big fat ugly chick sat down and said her friend was waiting to be paid. I was like who are you and what friend? Apparently her friend was this guy and I told her hell would freeze over before he gets a dime and he best watch himself because we're going to nail his ass to a wall. A few days later I was given a ride home by someone I never brought to my house and she was like wait a sec? Is that your house? And i'm like yeah why? Duuude we went to the best party ever there! Eventually she testified in court to us about what she saw go on there.
When we asked our illustrious neighbor wtf? He had nothing to say besides oops I didn't know. I must've been outta town. The very next day we put in a very very VERY high fence cutting off his walkway and taking away half of his patio. It didn't make us feel a lot better but it sure was great to at least get some payback.
We used a housesitter once... never will again. It was some guy from the local Amber Tree Nursery who planted some trees for us. My mom thought he was cute and therefore trustworthy. Ironically the trees he planted died and she wound up suing the nursery for his incompetence. But I digress... just before leaving for our summer in Canada our usually unfriendly neighbor became concerned when the city planner came out to survey the land and show us exactly where our property line was. Lo and behold his sidewalk and part of his patio was on our property so he came over to 'talk' and begged us not to put a fence up around our home because it would ruin his propertys view and make it seem much smaller. We agreed.
So we're gathering up the pets to go to Canada and one of them refuses to come and so my mom leaves specific instructions for the guy and many bags of pet food to feed to the cat. She agrees to pay him a five hundred dollars for the first month and when she gets back another five hundred. He could use any room in the house except for the master bedroom (which was mine) and he was supposed to mow the lawn, keep the pool clean, and forward any bills to us in Canada. Before we leave we ask our newly friendly neighbor to keep an eye on the guy and to contact us if there's any problems. And off we go.
We never received a bill in the mail during the summer. We called the neighbor who said all was fine. We come back and it was obvious all was not fine. The entire garage was full of trash bags chock full of beer bottles and stinky garbage and bugs who were interested in what was in those bags. The cat must've been feeding himself because he was fatter than usual but oddly enough none of his food had been opened. The mail in the mailbox was overflowing and there was tons of opened mail for us on the kitchen counter. On the floor there was muddy footprints which were trailed all over the white carpet and up to the second floor where incredibly enough there were muddy footprints on my bed. There were cigarette butts everywhere broken dishes, rotting food, and every single belonging and shoe and article of clothing I had was scattered all over my closet. Someone had gone through every purse I had, every photo album, every schoolbook. My fur coat was missing, several pairs of shoes, and a designer dress. Jewelry I prized was missing and so was our big screen TV and my stereo system. From my bedroom I could see into the pool which had turned the scariest shade of greenish brown I had ever seen. The backyard was a lovely mess in itself. Nothing had been mowed, watered, or anything. We even wound up having to buy a new fridge because somehow he blew the circuit breaker belonging to the fridge and left stuff rotting in there and there was an odd assortment of bugs infesting it.
The fun didn't really stop there... he pulled into the street obviously not knowing we'd be back that day and then pulled a u-ey so fast outta there he obviously knew he fuct up real bad. We found his pile of clothes and belongings in my room which judging by the smell was where he decided to sleep and packed them neatly into a box... we called the police to report the vandalism and took pictures and wound up suing him. Before we got to court I was in school one day when this big fat ugly chick sat down and said her friend was waiting to be paid. I was like who are you and what friend? Apparently her friend was this guy and I told her hell would freeze over before he gets a dime and he best watch himself because we're going to nail his ass to a wall. A few days later I was given a ride home by someone I never brought to my house and she was like wait a sec? Is that your house? And i'm like yeah why? Duuude we went to the best party ever there! Eventually she testified in court to us about what she saw go on there.
When we asked our illustrious neighbor wtf? He had nothing to say besides oops I didn't know. I must've been outta town. The very next day we put in a very very VERY high fence cutting off his walkway and taking away half of his patio. It didn't make us feel a lot better but it sure was great to at least get some payback.