I have put off telling the ups and downs of our apartment story for the simple reason that it is long, frustrating (to me) and still ongoing - albeit it is calm for the moment. Although, over the last few weeks, I have had lots of practice dealing with 'good' and 'bad' news; enough practice make me re-evaluate my ideas of perspective and ability to react well....
Anyway, here is a sequence of events about our apartment:
Act One:
- I moved into my new apartment on July 1st after living in my previous one for over 7 years (I wanted a 'new' lifestyle and place to match).
- I basically fell in love with it due to the redone bathroom which included jacuzzi and large shower, in addition to the nice decorating of the place.
- The landlord (Jerry) told Jo and I that he had to move to TPE for work. We knocked down his original asking price and signed a contract for a year.
- We started to move in on June 28th.
- On June 29th, I found a note on the door - it looked official and I asked our guard about it as well as Jo.
- It was a Bank Forclosure Notice, saying that the bank was going to take the apartment if they did not get their mortgage.
- I immediately called Jerry and asked "what the heck??"
- He said not to worry - he would handle it.
- Ok, he seemed sincere - we let him handle it (our first mistake).
- Jerry called back, saying things were set with the bank, and we could move in as scheduled.
- We moved in and enjoyed about 2 weeks of getting used to the new apartment.
- Midway through July, bills came for the previous months and it turns out that Jerry had not paid electricity, gas or water for about 3 months. The bill we got was basically a warning that things would start being shut off soon.
- Ok, I try to call to check up, but can not reach him anywhere.
- Ok, I pay for the bills and subtract it from the rent due in August. That is fair.
- I call to tell him this, but again, no one. Messages are not replied to. Hmmmm...
- We are getting used to the place and the surrounding area. It is quite nice.
- We keep getting credit card letters and cell phone bills for Jerry, but do not open them since that is his mail.
- August goes by without much incident
- It is damn hot in Taiwan though and we are spoiled from the nice AC we have installed here.
- More bills and letter come for Jerry, and again we try to contact, but no response. All cell phones have been cut off.
- September comes and almost goes without incident...however, this is where it gets interesting.
- After the Sept 1st rent was paid by bank transfer, I decided to wait on the Oct rent to at least get in touch with Jerry - since I wanted to confirm a few things about the apartment and also to have a working contact number for him.
- On Sept 28th, a bank official comes to our apartment while we were out and tells the guard that this is Jerry's final warning before the house is forclosed.
- We return from eating Japanese food (good, by the way!), and go "WHAT???!!!"
- On Sept 29th, Jo calls the bank guy and explains our situation. We find out that Jerry has basically lied to us and has not paid the bank 1 cent from June on. So when we moved in, he knew what was going to happen, but was just trying to get some cash from us.
- Oh, we paid 2 months deposit in addition to our July rent.
- We also learn that the bank will start the process of forclosing in mid November, but it will probably be bought in December, so at this time, we had a month and a half to move out.
- I decided right then and there that I was not going to pay Jerry anymore since he already had 2 months of my money and it would work out to almost not beinig screwed "too" much.
- We also decided to act as if this was a vacation house and since we had to move out soon anyway, we would let him deal with bills....so we left lots of lights on, on purpose and had AC 24/7. Granted, this was immature, but it sure felt good....
- I get a call on Oct. 2nd, and it is Jerry. He casually asks for the rent (due on Oct 1st) and I say well, first explain the situation. He stammers but then assures us that he will handle everything and take care of the bank.
- We wait a day or two, and Jerry calls back saying that he has taken care of the bank and that I can go ahead and pay the rent.
- I still feel leery and tell him that I will pay him if I can speak to a bank official saying he has taken care of everything.
- He said he was meeting the bank at 3:30, so I said just have them call after or during the meeting.
- Jo and I wait.
- At 8:15 pm I get a call from a Mr. Chang, saying that he is a bank official in charge of Jerry's case. My eyebrow does a little dance and after talking a little bit, I hand the phone to Jo.
- Jo asks a few questions and it becomes apparent that the situation is a little strange and then Jo closes my phone.
- I ask her if she hung up on him since he was being rude, and she said no, it was HE who hung up on her!
- Obviously Jerry called one of his buddies to pose as a bank person.
- Great.
- Jerry calls over the next two days (about 10 times) and I ignore him. I mean really...
- Then I get another call from a number I am not sure of and pick it up thinking it was someone else. Jerry must have used another person's phone.
- I basically tell him that I don't trust him anymore, will move out at the end of November and that he is not seeing a dime.
- Jo also talks to him to help clarify things and they hang up.
- We wait another day or two and by now, we are busy making arrangements for our wedding at the court.
- I get a message on Tuesday Oct 10th saying that Jerry has an urgetn matter to discuss. We roll our eyes, but call anyway.
- I let Jo talk to him, and she says that Jerry will sell his house to a relative, who will then take care of the forclosure status. Can we all meet to discuss this tomorrow, he asks?
- We say no, we have 'plans' (our wedding), but on Thursday will be ok.
- So we plan to meet on Thursday.
- After hanging up, Jo and I discuss what may happen. She mentions that our contract may then be honored by law, since if he will buy it and deal with the bank then we have the right to stay until June.
- Really? Great, I think....
- We meet Mr. Chen, a relative of Jerry, who actually seems like a pretty good guy (but we are leery).
- We then find out that he will not buy it, per se, but in fact let it go through foreclosure to then bid on it himself.
- Oh, and can we move out in 2 weeks? This is because he says the bank officials will make things hard on us if we choose to stay til November.
- My face is contorting and I am pissed....but we can not do anything. He is not buying it, so our contract is meaningless.
- I try to negotiate a little more time and a refund of our deposit and he agrees to do this.
- But having to move out so soon, kills my mood.
- Mr. Chen says he would like to see the apartment before it goes up for foreclosure and we hesitatingly agree.
- I was out when Mr. Chen came to visit the apartment the next day. Jo was there.
- It turns out that our story is not done yet.
- Mr. Chen was in fact Jerry's Bookie, not a relative....go figure...
- And Jerry owes so much money, Jerry is giving Mr. Chen the house, but even that will not cover his debt.
- Mr. Chen had wanted to move in himself, but once he saw what Jerry did with the place, he realized that he did not like it and started to have second thoughts about kicking us out.
- Therefore, Jo managed to convince him that it would be better if we stay, but we don't want to deal with the foreclosure problems (there are many).
- He says actually, there will be no problems, since he has 'ways' of dealing with the bank and it will not go to foreclosure. He was saying that there would be problems to get us to move out earlier....sigh!
- So I return in a negative mood and Jo tells me this new info.
- I am both happy and pissed (still - my problem!). But I am leery again. I mean, tomorrow things may change again, right?
- Jo mentions that she can try to cut a deal with Mr. Chen (who by now legally owns the apartment). We will ask for a cheaper rent.
- Mr. Chen disagrees, but Jo gets him to agree that if we do want to move out earlier - before June - then we can get back the whole deposit, no questions asked.
- We meet the next day and sign paperwork and pay rent.
- The deal is done....for now.
However, now I have a pretty good handle on what good and bad news is and how to keep it from affecting me. I mean, I let myself get so excited and so pissed over a very short time, that I now know expending that much energy is so tiring.
So, as for right now, things are ok and we will be able to stay here (we think) until June, barring any other weirdness or blatent lies.
If you want to see some pics of the place that caused me to much happiness and grief for a time, go here.
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Also, here is a story that sums up the matter nicely....
This farmer had only one horse, and one day the horse ran away. The neighbors came to condole over his terrible loss. The farmer said, "What makes you think it is so terrible?"
A month later, the horse came home--this time bringing with her two beautiful wild horses. The neighbors became excited at the farmer's good fortune. Such lovely strong horses! The farmer said, "What makes you think this is good fortune?"
The farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. Such bad luck! The farmer said, "What makes you think it is bad?"
A war came, and every able-bodied man was conscripted and sent into battle. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, remained. The neighbors congratulated the farmer. "What makes you think this is good?" said the farmer.
and so on....
For more versions of this story, go here.
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Anyway, sorry you also had to endure that.....now you knwo why I did not write about that or other things for so long....my mind was elsewhere!
Now it is in our Jacuzzi!
haha
Jeff & Jo!
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