Pacific Heights

Richelle’s furnace broke in November ~ an unusually cold November for California ~ she calls the property manager who tells her that they’ll send someone out immediately ~ after a week huddled by the fireplace with her daughter ..Richelle calls the property manager ~ the property manager tells her that they can no longer authorize repairs for big ticket items like that ~ she’ll have to contact the owner directly ~ Richelle calls the owner ~ the owner tells her that the problem is not the furnace ..it’s the thermostat ~ the property manager should be able to take care of that ~ so, the property manager sends his nephew over to fix the thermostat ~ the nephew takes the thermostat home to figure out what’s wrong ~ meanwhile, Richelle and her daughter spend another week huddled by the fireplace ~ she calls the property manager ~ the property manager tells her that the thermostat needs to be replaced ..and they’ve already put in a call for a new one ~ the new one arrives and the nephew installs it over the holidays ~ while Richelle is out of town visiting family ~ when she returns ..the furnace still isn’t working ~ the property manager repeats that he can’t authorize furnace repairs ~ so Richelle calls the owner ~ the owner says it’s not the furnace ..it’s the pilot light ~ the property manager should be able to take care of that ~ his nephew comes by and replaces the pilot while Richelle is at work ~ when she gets home the furnace still isn’t working ~ Richelle now knows to call the owner ~ the owner tells her it’s not the furnace ..it’s the burners ~ have the property manager send someone over to clean them out .. and if she doesn’t stop harassing them like this .. she can expect a big rent increase ~ I tell Richelle that I think she has won the right to make her own repairs and deduct the amount from her next rent payment ~ she talks to an attorney who advises her to stop paying rent altogether and move into a hotel ~ Richelle stops paying rent and starts spending nights at her office (she’s self-employed) ~ the owner serves Richelle with notice to vacate ~ Richelle calls the building department and has the property declared ‘uninhabitable’ ~ the owner takes Richelle to court ~ Richelle shows the judge the notice from the building department ~ the judge orders the repairs be made ~ awards Richelle relief from rent owed ~ as well as rents due for the next three months ~ and if she moves out before that time ~ then the owner owes her the amount of rent for the months remaining ~ Richelle comes home delighted ~ I help her move out the next day ~ total award : $15,000.00 in Richelle’s favor ~ the next day I see the owner in the yard planting posies ~ she tells me that she just succeeded in evicting a ‘problem’ tenant ..you know, the ‘professional’ renter who cheats their landlord out of so much money that they are forced to sell ~ then an accomplice ‘swoops down and snags the property at a discount’ ~ and I’m thinking ..if she spends that much time and money worrying over petty repairs .. she’s in the wrong business.