JUST SO YOU CAN LEARN FROM ME....

Earlier this year I was in NYC for a while, and I sublet an apartment via Craigslist on the cnr of Thompson and Prince. It was perfect for my stay! It was 1 o f about 5 apartments I looked at and I met the guy who was leasing it and he was kind and nice & going to volunteer in Africa, which is why he was subletting.

ANYWAY. All went well during the stay, there were a few problems and each time there was (like the noisy heater) I rung him or emailed him straight away and let him know. So we agreed that I would give him a deposit for my stay and get it returned when I handed back the keys.

Those of you who know me, know that my house is my home, and I take the best care of my things and my house, and I did the exact same for his place.

The day I returned from Australia he wrote me: "We have a problem, yesterday in the afternoon I went to take a shower and while the water was running, the water was not draining from the tub, did this happen before, was it severely clogged, because when I left it I had just snaked it myself, there is still water in the tub and its not draining there is clumps of stuff coming out of the drain... kinda gross, I had to call the plumber, if this is a building problem then we are good, but if this is something I have to pay for, if the plumber deems it recent, then i will have to take it out of your deposit. I will know by tomorrow morning"

To cut a LONG story short we exchanged a few emails and phone calls and he was constantly brushing me off. FINALLY after 3 months, I have sent him this email in hope to appeal to hopefully a human being inside of him:

Dear XXXXX,

I am just writing to say how disappointed I am with your lack of communication and fairness in the situation of holding my deposit for subletting your apartment in April 2009 of this year. I thought you were a very nice and kind person when we met, and we also had good communication throughout my stay as I told you about ANY problem I had in your apartment at the time of the problem’s occurrence. I took utmost care of your place as if it were my own and would have told you straight away if the drain had been a problem, and it was not.

The last communication we had was about 4 weeks ago on the phone and at that time you told me your were in the midst of “drafting an email to me to tell me what has happened.” In any situation, personal or business I think waiting 4 weeks patiently for a legitimate reason as to why my $1050USD has been withheld from me is a fair enough time to wait!

I have had this distinct situation investigated to see what rights I have and in each case have been told it is a “building problem and responsibility, not the person who has sub-letted the apartment”. This is because its part of the building, and a problem based on age and time, something that I cannot be held responsible for. In most cases I was also told the super would take care of it as part of your own building costs as well!

In finding this information out and going back on my original emails to you when you claimed that you would hold on to my deposit because of the drainage problem, I replied back and was very fair in saying that “I would pay my portion of drain receipt for the amount of time I had been staying in your apartment divided by the entire time you had been there” – therefore splitting the costs. I shouldn’t even have to offer to do this, but you still have not responded at all to this offer.

If you have gone and spent my money I would rather you just tell me, than give me an absolute non-reason to hold my deposit.

I really misjudged this entire situation and you have really made me lose my trust and faith in humanity and I would not have expected this from a person who was going to volunteer in Africa.

I would appreciate a response within a week of this email, if not I will continue to follow up until I have heard your reasoning as I am not an unreasonable person.

Kind Regards,

Mel

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Look if I wanted to be a total bitch which I could be, I would post his name everywhere and hand out his twitter, blog, facebook & myspace details for everyone to stalk and de-face but i'm not going to do that. I just want people to be aware of what can happen. Here are some easy guidlines for craigslist.

1. USE CRAIGSLIST - IT IS AN AWESOME TOOL JUST BEWARE
2. STAY WITH A FRIEND OR @ A HOTEL WHILST LOOKING FOR A PLACE OFF CRAIGSLIST FIRST SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY MEET THE PERSON AND GO CHECK THE PLACE OUT!!!!
3. GET THE KEYS FIRST AND EXCHANGE CASH ON THE SPOT IF POSSIBLE
4. IF A DEPOSIT IS DISCUSSED TRY PUT IT IN A TRUST ACCOUNT NOT THEIR ACCOUNT!
5. ALWAYS HAVE GOOD COMMUNICATION WITH EACH OTHER
6. JUST BE A REAL GENUINE PERSON NOT A CUNT. (both parties)

thank you xxx