So Much for Years!

The current tenants are leaving. Below I’ll post a letter I won’t send to them, because burning bridges when dealing with someone who trends towards narcissistic behavior is futile. There’s no teaching or mending to be done. They never actually were my friends (yeah, my bad for crossing that presumed boundary), but were likely setting me up for a fall when they did decide to leave. It’s taken a couple of weeks to come around to this being a ‘teaching experience’ rather than being seriously offended. Well, I’m still pretty offended, but I’ve risen above it now. No longer feeling under attack… It is a difficult thing to come to understand that people you thought were good friends are not, and never were. It fortifies my protective armor. Something I thought, delightfully, I could lower just a little. But no.

Here’s what I will be sending:

Dear Tenants, I want to address your after-the-fact request for some rent remediation due to the water heater issue. It’s not easy to calculate what might be a ‘fair’ amount for intermittently not experiencing “the full enjoyment of the property.” Rather than try and invent that calculus, here is a list of items that are billable to the tenant under the terms of the lease, which I did not bill you for:

• Electricity Overage April – June 2023 $117.60
• Electricity Overage July – September 2023 $150.49
• Electricity Overage Sept 25 – Nov 14 2023 $207.00
• Well filters – 3@ $73.47 (tax inc.) ea $220.43
• Installation of filters 3@$25 ea $75.00
• Move out well filter 1@ $73.47 (tax inc.) ea $73.47

Total $843.99

I am going to waive these billable items as rent consideration for the two months that the water heater was not operating predictably.

While not billable under the terms of the lease, there’s also the cost of transferring the boat back into my name: $128.25.

I wish you much luck in all your endeavors…

The above is what I will send to them with whatever deposit I am able to return to them. The following is what I will not send to them.

Dear Tenants, Below, I am going address what I see are communication curiosities. It seems only fair they are shared with you. This is how you present to others:

On the 28^th (October) during our extended text conversation, it was abundantly clear that you either didn’t have access to your original signed lease documents, didn’t recall many of the original lease terms and addendums, hadn’t fully read what I sent for you to review for possible renewal, and expected me to change the move-out cleaning schedule because, ‘now we know each other.’ I was wholly taken aback to be accused of asking for additional deposit. Tenant, this did two things… It made me worry about you and realize I actually don’t know you. You were unable to calmly ask questions. You were accusatory, angry, and severely criticized a lease addendum, that upon review Months ago, you decided not to sign.

When we talked on Thursday October 5^th, you felt it necessary to ask me questions/vent about items that were never part of our lease agreement, such as: exterior painting, leaving the property in better condition than you found it, and continued your grievances about the addendum you decided not to sign, among others. It was only after the above, when asked directly, that you said you were not going to renew the lease and had in fact found another rental. So, ask yourself ‘why sit someone down and have a pointless (because you’re not going to live there anymore) conversation/lecture with them?’ Don’t answer me, answer for yourself. You could have just said, briefly, ‘Hey, we found a bigger place. It’ been mostly great to be here. Hasta.’

It would have been a kindness to my insurance broker to let me know in mid-September that you had decided not to rent the upper barn. She kept working her markets until the 29^th when one of her markets was ready to quote. Given the prior evening’s texts you and I had, I told her to put a hold on things, because after that communication fest I knew I wasn’t going to lease the building to you, and was pretty shaky about the house.

I will say again that finding folks to repair specialty systems, and even regular ones, in the islands is very, very difficult. I know you are underwhelmed with my 100% response to the water heater’s delinquency, and will remind you that this is not the mainland. There are zero hungry plumbers in the Island’s. Zero. The few that do reside locally do not return phone calls. They are too busy making bank building million and billionaire’s homes. This is the reality of life in the country. I am still very underwhelmed to have you turn what was your easy going: ‘It’s illogical for us to get upset about the water heater. We enjoy being here…’ reply to my apologies for the water heater’s misbehavior and the difficulty in finding someone to repair it, into a huge complaint over two-months after the fact, as part of an argument, seemingly created, to make it easier for you to leave. If you wanted to leave, simply giving notice is perfectly acceptable.

So, it all works out for the best. Y’all found a bigger place, which will be great for you, in what sounds like a more private location where no one will offend you by accidently driving by the house, or trying to save the fruit trees from tent caterpillars. I will take down the No Trespassing signs, returning the property to its more welcoming and approachable state of being