Little red riding hood gets her happy ending
March 21st 2007 02:15
A little while ago I did a post titled "Little red riding hood, the real estate, and the evil landlord" Herein is a full explanation and a semi conclusion.
I say semi conclusion because I have Angelina Jolie as Jane Smith waltzing around in my head with Brad saying "happy endings are just stories that havnt finished yet" and this is by no means finished, but as someone with little chance to celebrate, this really deserves it.
Heres how little red riding hood got lost in the woods, mauled by the bad guys, and found her way to relative safety again.
In Dec of 2005 the stud manager comes to me and says hes going to be employing a man from the UK - who we know loosely - and there might be some changes about the place. Having been loyal for over six years and seen many come and go I am not worried. However when 'the boys' show up problems become thick and fast. We are promptly kicked out of our office, our stables, our yards, and our feedroom decreases considerably in size. Supplies begin to disappear. Then, stud manager starts upping my bill. Oh, we're all good friends. We chat and help each other out. But my teeth are slowly tearing my jaw to pieces from all the grinding. Prices continue to rise, supplies continue to disappear, we all chat but there is a definite air of dishonesty about. The final straw was arriving to feed the horses one afternoon and finding my broodmare and 3 month old colt had been moved without my knowledge or permission. We begin to look for a place of our own.
I need to explain that at this point little red riding hood had never been so happy in her life. Little red riding hood was clearing a grand a week driving heavy machinery. She was living in a very beautiful, modern house in an expensive suburb, a house with three living rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and tiled back patio entertainment area. She didnt live with her opressive yet loving mother, and work and horses were close. But at about the same time the stud manager went off his already twisted tracks, the owners of the beautiful mansion told us they were selling it. Move was immenent.
Since I was about 16 I have wanted to live with my horses and be the sole carer. Now I found I didnt want to - Mum said, thats it, all three of us have to go in together to save money(rent & agistment were killing us) and I agreed but didnt want to leave this idyllic life Id only had for a few months. We began looking for places. Pressure was further applied by the people at the stud and owners of the house. Boyfriend went mad at the slightest mention of having to travel further to work. Communication lines utterly collapsed and panic ensued. Total anarchy.
We checked out swallow hill. 10 mins from a train station, near a main road, it contained two living quaters within one house. Not a granny flat as we'd planned, but separate quaters all the same. The transport was spot on. There were problems. We spoke to the landlords that day, and had a verbal agreement - they would remove all the rubbish, we would sign a three year lease and do the place up well enough for me to have clients. Doing the place up a little meant nothing to me - I knew I could make enough out of clients to make it worth my while. All the boyf cared about was the train station, and before I had time to say goodbye Id left my wonderful job, my beautiful house, and the stud Id almost lived in for over 6 years.
Before the horses even got here I realized we were going to have big problems. The rubbish had not been touched and the fences were in a far worse state than Id thought. Still, we pushed on. We put in our property report, detailing faulty plumbing and electrics, broken windows, flyscreens, doors that wouldnt open(or close) plus much more. I began stripping the fences back to the original post and rail beneath, finding some amazing things - fishing rods, kindling holding up entire fences(load bearing kindling, my man called it) metal hooks and bits and pieces tied together with electrical wire. It took about 6 months, but I eventually had half the property re - fenced with ALMOST acceptable fencing. In the meantime the baby went through a star picket and needed $900 worth of x rays, and a glazier, a plumber, an electrician, a maintenance man, and the landlords themselves ALL showed up for repairs WITHOUT ANY NOTICE!!
This we were prepared to put up with. We're good people - by now we'd spent over $400 of our own money here, and soon it would pay off. Id already had training offers. Soon, the property would be safe enough not to violate my own liability. SOON.
Then the septic inspector showed up - also without warning - with the landlords. He told us the system had failed and had been for some time. The grass and possibly the land around was toxic, new trenches had to be dug, blah blah. Meantime the landlord was arguing about the cost of repairs to me, and I told him how much of our own money we had spent, which he could easily be liable for. We had a long chat, finally coming to the conclusion that the real estate had lied to us both to line their own pockets, and he was furious with them, saying he no longer wanted them involved, he would sort it out.
3 days later the real estate rang saying the landlord wanted an inspection and a rent increase. Enter now a huge mess where heavy machinery arrived with no warning causing my horses to panic and me to lose my job because I could not leave. The real estate managed to committ fraud and sink us into a well of utter insanity, details changing so fast no one could keep track of anything. We entered in official complaints through the department of Fair Trading, against the real estate as a business for their failures against us, the tenants, and the landlords, as all their actions had been wrongly advised by the real estate anyway. We put in three counts of compensation, for my losing my job, for materials spent on repairs, and for rent as they cut the septic trench right up the middle of a paddock that can now never be used again. We called for a permanent rent decrease due to lack of land, and declared our original verbal agreement null and void - fix the fences yourselves, we wont spend another cent!
Yesterday we came out on top. After hours of arguments and careful arbitration, the real estate was firmly remanded with comments such as "you cant treat tenants like this!" "why isnt any of it in writing?" "so what?" and the best of all "Naughty naughty!" It was ruled that we get $1400 in compensation, paid as rental credit (a few weeks free!) a permanent rent reduction, and a court order to inspect and repair the perimeter fence.
Last night we celebrated with some wine. Mums back on the pessimisim horse this morning - as per usual for her - but I cant quite get over it, Ive never really won before, even when Im in the right! We still have to move, they REALLY dont want us here now, so, Little Red Riding Hoods not out of the dark woods yet, but shes over the first hurdle, lovin a bit of justice, and full of hope for the next battle.....
Its not often shes a victor.......
I say semi conclusion because I have Angelina Jolie as Jane Smith waltzing around in my head with Brad saying "happy endings are just stories that havnt finished yet" and this is by no means finished, but as someone with little chance to celebrate, this really deserves it.
Heres how little red riding hood got lost in the woods, mauled by the bad guys, and found her way to relative safety again.
In Dec of 2005 the stud manager comes to me and says hes going to be employing a man from the UK - who we know loosely - and there might be some changes about the place. Having been loyal for over six years and seen many come and go I am not worried. However when 'the boys' show up problems become thick and fast. We are promptly kicked out of our office, our stables, our yards, and our feedroom decreases considerably in size. Supplies begin to disappear. Then, stud manager starts upping my bill. Oh, we're all good friends. We chat and help each other out. But my teeth are slowly tearing my jaw to pieces from all the grinding. Prices continue to rise, supplies continue to disappear, we all chat but there is a definite air of dishonesty about. The final straw was arriving to feed the horses one afternoon and finding my broodmare and 3 month old colt had been moved without my knowledge or permission. We begin to look for a place of our own.
I need to explain that at this point little red riding hood had never been so happy in her life. Little red riding hood was clearing a grand a week driving heavy machinery. She was living in a very beautiful, modern house in an expensive suburb, a house with three living rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and tiled back patio entertainment area. She didnt live with her opressive yet loving mother, and work and horses were close. But at about the same time the stud manager went off his already twisted tracks, the owners of the beautiful mansion told us they were selling it. Move was immenent.
Since I was about 16 I have wanted to live with my horses and be the sole carer. Now I found I didnt want to - Mum said, thats it, all three of us have to go in together to save money(rent & agistment were killing us) and I agreed but didnt want to leave this idyllic life Id only had for a few months. We began looking for places. Pressure was further applied by the people at the stud and owners of the house. Boyfriend went mad at the slightest mention of having to travel further to work. Communication lines utterly collapsed and panic ensued. Total anarchy.
We checked out swallow hill. 10 mins from a train station, near a main road, it contained two living quaters within one house. Not a granny flat as we'd planned, but separate quaters all the same. The transport was spot on. There were problems. We spoke to the landlords that day, and had a verbal agreement - they would remove all the rubbish, we would sign a three year lease and do the place up well enough for me to have clients. Doing the place up a little meant nothing to me - I knew I could make enough out of clients to make it worth my while. All the boyf cared about was the train station, and before I had time to say goodbye Id left my wonderful job, my beautiful house, and the stud Id almost lived in for over 6 years.
Before the horses even got here I realized we were going to have big problems. The rubbish had not been touched and the fences were in a far worse state than Id thought. Still, we pushed on. We put in our property report, detailing faulty plumbing and electrics, broken windows, flyscreens, doors that wouldnt open(or close) plus much more. I began stripping the fences back to the original post and rail beneath, finding some amazing things - fishing rods, kindling holding up entire fences(load bearing kindling, my man called it) metal hooks and bits and pieces tied together with electrical wire. It took about 6 months, but I eventually had half the property re - fenced with ALMOST acceptable fencing. In the meantime the baby went through a star picket and needed $900 worth of x rays, and a glazier, a plumber, an electrician, a maintenance man, and the landlords themselves ALL showed up for repairs WITHOUT ANY NOTICE!!
This we were prepared to put up with. We're good people - by now we'd spent over $400 of our own money here, and soon it would pay off. Id already had training offers. Soon, the property would be safe enough not to violate my own liability. SOON.
Then the septic inspector showed up - also without warning - with the landlords. He told us the system had failed and had been for some time. The grass and possibly the land around was toxic, new trenches had to be dug, blah blah. Meantime the landlord was arguing about the cost of repairs to me, and I told him how much of our own money we had spent, which he could easily be liable for. We had a long chat, finally coming to the conclusion that the real estate had lied to us both to line their own pockets, and he was furious with them, saying he no longer wanted them involved, he would sort it out.
3 days later the real estate rang saying the landlord wanted an inspection and a rent increase. Enter now a huge mess where heavy machinery arrived with no warning causing my horses to panic and me to lose my job because I could not leave. The real estate managed to committ fraud and sink us into a well of utter insanity, details changing so fast no one could keep track of anything. We entered in official complaints through the department of Fair Trading, against the real estate as a business for their failures against us, the tenants, and the landlords, as all their actions had been wrongly advised by the real estate anyway. We put in three counts of compensation, for my losing my job, for materials spent on repairs, and for rent as they cut the septic trench right up the middle of a paddock that can now never be used again. We called for a permanent rent decrease due to lack of land, and declared our original verbal agreement null and void - fix the fences yourselves, we wont spend another cent!
Yesterday we came out on top. After hours of arguments and careful arbitration, the real estate was firmly remanded with comments such as "you cant treat tenants like this!" "why isnt any of it in writing?" "so what?" and the best of all "Naughty naughty!" It was ruled that we get $1400 in compensation, paid as rental credit (a few weeks free!) a permanent rent reduction, and a court order to inspect and repair the perimeter fence.
Last night we celebrated with some wine. Mums back on the pessimisim horse this morning - as per usual for her - but I cant quite get over it, Ive never really won before, even when Im in the right! We still have to move, they REALLY dont want us here now, so, Little Red Riding Hoods not out of the dark woods yet, but shes over the first hurdle, lovin a bit of justice, and full of hope for the next battle.....
Its not often shes a victor.......
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Comment by Wendi
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
will catch up with you this afternoon.....
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
so you are getting ready for a move hey? good luck with it...at least you are getting some compensation for your hard work. I cannot understand how people rip other people off....but it is a time old thing isn`t it?
wouldn`t it be great if we could find some way of going back in time to the barter system...where we could be what we wanted and not have to worry about the money to finance it...we could trade off our skills for anothers....I guess that it why people run off and join these 'hippie' groups...
good luck K...what happened with the tax job btw?
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis