ThinkingSapienWell damn. Gave dad’s roommate a 60 day notice to vacate. 30 days in they moved a lot of things out at midnight and wasn’t heard from for about a week. I installed a security camera in an area of the house void of their stuff thinking they may only show up to pack and have no need to be in there. They have come and settled back into the house. Now I have to get the camera disconnected so that it isn’t a wire tap.
When I unexpectedly encountered the roommate on the camera, they were shit-talking about what an evil person I am on thr phone. The person also complained about the condition of the house, such as it being hot from there being no AC. I don't understand why the person didnt just move if they found it unacceptable.
a bit less than 2 weeks left. The roommate (let's call them a squatter) hasn't been in the house for 2 weeks. But has stopped by every day to feed the stray cats.
I entered their room. They left a fan on, and dad got an over-due notice on his electricity. I refuse to pay it for him, but I will help minimize his expenses.
The room reminded me of "hoarders."
The squatter is kind of moving things. I can see it on the security camera. But the squatter is being inefficient and doing a lot of pacing.
Two days until the deadline. The squatter says that belongs will be removed by the deadline. I don't believe it. I've got paperwork ready to file. If I see significant effort to remove belongings, then it may be worth delaying filing so that I don't have to deal with the belongings.
One day left. The squatter is moving stuff. Started at 6pm according to the security camera. I’ll evaluate progress in the AM. If it looks significant, I will allow more time to move if requested.
Sigh. This just happened 4 minutes ago.
I check the security cameras and see the person is moving things out. I delay my plans to drop off construction materials there.
Dad calls me to tell me he gave the squatter a 2 week extension. The person said they got a promotion and are being sent out of the country for a week. I think it is a lie, and this deadline date has been known for 65 days.
Dad has no agreement in written form for this two week extension. Dad did not define a specific date for the two week expiration. Dad has obligated himself to a somewhat ambiguous timeline. I hate this happened in my absence. I’m no legal professional, but dad is in my opinion near legally illiterate.
Went to dad's house around midnight. There is a power meter on the circuit leading to the squatters room. I monitor that room because the squatter was burning a megawatt hour+ every month.
The squatter had placed a couple of dead bolts on the door and not left a key. No problem. I went in another way.
There was a fan blowing on the highest setting. What a waste with no one being there. I walked over too it and found myself standing in a puddle of water.
The squatter had a fridge in there. I am guessing it was defrosting because the freezer door was open. In the puddle of water was an extension cable with multiple outlets and multiple things plugged in. There was no circuit breaker or GFI.
My dad had wanted to come in, I immediately sent him out. Barefoot in a puddle of water with electricity is not safe.
I disrupted power and mopped the floor.
There are two doors that lead into the squatters room. This is one. One might wonder why this pot and box are here. That is an excellent thing on which to have questions!
The person's dog chewed the door away. They repaired it with card board and duct tape. They also replaced the door knob with a dead lock.
Let's experiment! I'm going to take out the old door and replace it with a new, homemade door. I'm not a carpenter. But I assembled a basic door from construction lumber. these are the wood pieces before assembling.
I assembled it at my dad's house last night. I still need to sand it and stain it. I hope to install it later this week.
My sander arrives today! I plan to do some finishing work on the door. I already have my hardware for getting it hung. But I have to hold off on applying it until after the sanding and staining. I'm still undecided on a color.
I went to install the door hardware on the door. Decided to hang this as a barn door. I got an open-box hardware kit from Amazon. Bad move. When I opened it to install it, the main piece was missing! Now I have to order a new one. New box this time.
This is going to get disgusting.
There was a ton of animal fur in the track on which the window slides. I went into the room with some tools to dig it out. Some dirt was coming out, too. I got a damp napkin to wipe it out. That moisture activated a smell. It smelled like shit! Now I dont feel so silly wearing a hazmat suit in that room!
I told dad. He says it probably was shit and told me of a previous incident.
He poured some water into the bathroom sink. It wouldn't drain. He looks in the drain and sees something. Is it hair/fur? He jams in his tool for getting hair out of a pipe. What comes back up is a cat turd.
"Oh, did pookey go in the sink? Im sorry!"
What cat do you know that positions its anus directly over a drain? I think that person was disposing of cat poop in the sink.
My only regret is I didnt get involved earlier to kick this person's arse out.
As mentioned, Im going cheap. I fastened some 2 by 4s together, and this will be the replacement door. I have an event scheduled today and done expect to make much more progress with this today. I may stop by this evening to wipe away whatever stain did not absorb and to mark the locations of the studs on the wall for hanging a rail.
The surprises never end! I found a bag of cat shit! Among the renters belongings was a bag with cat litter wish shit still in it. There is also a bag of filthy filthy sheets. As far as I am concerned, they are trash. If it were September, this would go straight to the fire. But a ban burn is still in effect.
I'm convinced my dad let someone in here who was living on the street. It looks like a homeless encampment in this room.
The squatter is there with a friend. The first 20 minutes of time was spent talking shit about me and my dad before they went outside for 20 minutes to talk more shit and then left for a while.
The squatter's friend is there now. I don't know where the squatter is. Could be there, could be elsewhere.
There are security cameras in the house. That are conspicuously placed. Yet, somehow the squatter hasn't noticed them! I need to turn on the feature to make the camera's announce themselves.
The squatter is upset about me removing the fence slats that were placed on the deck. Let me back up. The old deck was unsafe. Dad tore it down and put up a frame for a new deck.
The squatter came along and placed fence slats on it....
Fence slates as the boards that you walk on are unsafe. They are not thick and don't support much weight. Also, these fence slates were never weather treated and were begining to rot. There are places one would fall through if they stepped.
I ripped these up. Thankfully the framing underneath is mostly fine.
The squatter feels I needlessly ripped up their good work.
Oh, he squatter is also upset that I "broke into" the room. "How do I know he didn't take my stuff!"
The only thing missing from the house that the squatter had placed in there is the bag of cat shit and some rotting food. I left the dead maggots. Do you think they will still be there when I get back?
The squatter is gone. The entry code for the door is expired. The last interaction was a multi-paragraph emotional dump.
Post-squatter life, I’ve ordered materials tom Home Depot to start repairs. I had them scheduled for delivery today. But it may ran. That would damage the drywall. So Wednesday it is!
It never ends. The ex-squatter didn't show up Sunday to retrieve items. Without announcement, the person showed up today. The person now claims there is a computer missing.
Dad left the house against my instructions to go places. I had to rush over to receive delivery of the materials. Brought some materials end and raced off to work. When he got home, I asked him over the security cam to bring the remaining things to the room needing repairs. He's refusing, and is moving to the garage. sigh.
It's been a few weeks. The squatter has stopped showing up. I think we are in the clear.
Dad's utility prices have dropped dramatically. Now, onto the next steps.
I need to work on him not burning mo ey on saving everyone e, and I need to figure out the .minimum set of repairs to do on the house to preserve it.