Posted by Kristine-CA on August 01, 2008 at 22:08:45:
Hi JT. My story took place way out in the country, in the Los Padres
National Forest. No crime, no trespassing. Nothing ever happened up
there. The only reason we ran back to the house, using a flashlight
was because the landlord didn’t like when used the driveway at night
because the headlights went into his house. We went in and out of the
property many times without headlights, to be considerate, etc. So,
that night he saw us leave, he missed us coming back up the driveway
with flashlights, managed to see flashlights at the house, then missed
us going down the driveway. Obviously because he was busy looking
for his gun.
Yea, we can’t really pre-screen our landlords or neighbors. But I think
landlords with guns can interfere with the quiet enjoyment part of
renting. Kristine
Posted by Kristine-CA on August 01, 2008 at 15:16:15:
Landlords are just people. Trouble is that you can’t qualify them the
same way they qualify the tenants. We had a landlord once who lived
in a house on the same property. His house was about 75 ft away.
One night, he heard us leave and then he thought saw what he thought
was flashing lights at our house. We had left but one of us had run
back up the road to get something out of the house, using a flashlight.
Next morning he comes and tells us that he thought someone was
breaking into the house and that he had come over with his pistol to
check it out. We told him that it was our flashlight that he saw, but I
could tell that wouldn’t deter him in the future. We were amazed that
he could be that paranoid AND that he uses a gun under those
circumstances. We always paid the rent, so we never had to find out
what his issues were around that topic.
But how do you screen for that, as a tenant? Kristine
Like almost 40 yrs ago, my next door neighbor, on warm summer nights, would sit in his garage in a lawn chair… WITH A SHOTGUN LAYING ACROSS THE ARMS OF THE CHAIR… He had some screen that he would pull down so no one could see him but he could see out… It was kind of like a duck blind, but he was hunting humans… anyone that would trespass on his property, and this was out in the country; no crime issues.
We couldn’t or didn’t screen for the next door neighbor before buying the house, but maybe we should have… We would think twice about going his direction after dark… Should have known, his nickname was “Skid-Row”… something wasn’t right there…
A little different than the topic of landlords, but the mention of the neighbor brought it back to mind…
He was pretty much of a nutcase… but I meant that in a NICE WAY…
Posted by michaela-CA on August 01, 2008 at 15:45:11:
kristine,
maybe it’s just me, but I would also be on alert, if I had seen my neighbors leave and then see a flashlight around the house. maybe it’s because of the neighborhoods I’ve lived in, which were always in the process of gentrification. That means, that you have yuppies mixed in with crackheads and prostitutes. So, break-ins happened. But I guess I would be considered paranoid as well then
I feel your pain, but that specific story does not strike me as that unusual. Seeing a flashlight in a house where I knew the occupants had just left would immediately make me very, very suspicious. And, I would never check that type of situation out myself without protection.
