Ebenezer and the Christmas eviction

I experienced my second eviction this week and this one was really sad for me.

I mentioned in a previous post a tenant, named Maurice. He was already living in one of our apartments when we bought the building and he would do occasional work for my partner, Steve. Maurice is a nice guy and trying to turn his life around, from his drug influenced days. Over the last few years, he cleaned up his act, has been helping kids understand his mistakes and has been trying to do the right thing.

I’ll confess, I have a soft spot for Maurice. I want to see him make it, to be the winner at the end of the movie, to have a better life. Unfortunately, my part in his life ended up adding more adversity to the story, than success to the end. When I had to make him leave his house this week, it was one of the more difficult decisions I have made in my lifetime.

Maurice doesn’t have a steady job. Actually, he only works when somebody has a day labor job for him. Maurice is not skilled in a trade and didn’t finish high school. So as you can imagine, finding a decent job is nearly impossible for him. During our renovations, we’d hire him to do the grunt work needed during a remodel, clearing debris, cleaning up and basic labor tasks. This worked well for Maurice. He’d make money and pay his rent right on time.

I saw the problem coming as the work slowed down and the first thing we did was set his rent as weekly payments, over the month. I worked with Maurice to set up a meeting with church based housing assistance group and got him the forms to apply for Section 8 housing. Maurice was willing to do whatever it took to keep things moving, it’s just his options were limited. The church group couldn’t help with rent assistance and Section 8 wasn’t taking applications.

It is human nature to look at a big problem and put it in priority based on when it’s going to happen. It’s easy to overlook tomorrow’s problem, when you are dealing with the ones you’ve got today. We all do it - the long term problem is always the last thing you are thinking about. Energy conservation, global warming, health care, are all big issues that are really important. But first, I’ve got to figure out how to get the kids to soccer practice and Boy Scouts at the same time. Maurice is not different. He knew housing was a big issue, but he knew he could stall that one, while he figured out how to earn income, to buy some food.

I worked with Maurice all through September and October, making arrangement to pay rent and giving him ideas on places to go for help. Then in late October he didn’t show up to make a payment. I figured that he didn’t have any money. November came and still no Maurice. By the middle of the month I tracked him down. He hadn’t worked much since September, had given up on the system, and was overwhelmed with frustration and the lack of options. We offered him a different apartment and reduced rent if he took on some maintenance jobs. But in the end, Maurice couldn’t make it work. He weighed all his options and decided that I would have to evict him.

While Maurice didn’t finish high school, he is smart enough to know the system. I had to give him official notice, which takes 3days, file for the hearing – 3 more weeks and he would get 7 days from the date of the judgment. By choosing eviction he knew he wouldn’t have to move out until Christmas, which would give him more time to find a solution.

I understood that Maurice was doing what he needed to survive. He knew I had tried to help but just couldn’t keep on supporting him. So in the end, I found myself in front of the mature female magistrate with the holly wreath pin on her robes saying “Yes, I would like to evict this man for non-payment of rent”. As she looked to Maurice with sympathy she knew that he had 7 days to move, and with the coming holidays it may take a bit longer.

I spoke to Maurice outside of the courtroom when it was all over. We both apologized to each other for it ending this way. Maurice mentioned that the church organization was able to give him some money for a deposit on a new apartment now that he was homeless and would be able to move out by the 24th. We shook hands and it was over.

If you asked somebody who has been in the rental game for awhile, they’d tell you this is all part of life. You really can’t get involved because these tenants don’t care. They will burn through your money, destroy your property and leave you without thinking twice. That’s how landlords become jaded. It’s a defense mechanism. I looked at Maurice’s situation from his perspective, for him, it is about survival, making hard choices and living for the next day. Isn’t that what we all do?