Roommate disaster, Part 3

And the hits just keep on coming.  Had a long conversation with the SR police last night, the cop who was on duty when they stormed my house looking for Josh, the roommate.  OK, stormed is a loaded word and I don't think they did, but the cop did say they crawled into the bedroom window and the tiny dog (the one who does not hesitate to poop throughout the house) was home alone.  They were there to check on Josh because his mother thought he might be suicidal.  Oh, joy.

Of course, no dead body was found. Our discussion progressed from that to this: once a person pays rent, it is very, very difficult to get them out of your house, like months difficult.  The cop literally said "you will need to be patient. If he doesn't want to leave, this could take three months."  And I was informed that no, I cannot touch his belongings, I cannot move anything to the garage and I cannot even deny  him access to the house!  If I think he (and his homeless pals) are cooking drugs, well, just call 911 and if we catch them, then we can do something.

But if I touch and move his stuff, it's a misdemeanor and I could be arrested!  When I said, smart-ass that I am, "well, hey, free room and board for me" the cop sort of laughed.  But it is no laughing matter, of course. My hope is that Josh does not know anything about tenant law.

And that leads us to this: he left on Saturday night, said he would be back to get his stuff on Monday. Now, perhaps the ghost of Bob Marley did, indeed, make his car die and is keeping him in Monterey county. But now I need to pray to that same ghost and let him be released because as long as his stuff is here, I am being held hostage by that stuff.  Can't touch it, can't  move it, can't kick him out, I can only wait. If he takes his stuff and leaves, then he is done. If he doesn't take his stuff, or if he doesn't show up for another month, then tough shit for me.

Which leads me to this: if he is not here by Sunday, May 31, to collect his stuff and leave, I will be forced to give 30 days notice and I will be the one who has to leave and find another place to live.  How nice is that?  I can't afford to pay rent on my own to the tune of $1850 a month and if he is not here, it precludes finding another roommate. The deposit I put on this house is close to $2500 dollars and the only way I will get that back is if I give enough notice.

But even as I write that, I realize I will get NOTHING back if I leave and my landlord has to deal with evicting Josh.  Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Oh, that makes me want to puke.  I hadn't realized that until just now.

Sorry, can't write anymore right now. This is so, so wrong in every way.

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