So, some of you know that my wife and I are resident managers in the apartment building we live in. Basically this means we show apartments, lease them to tenants, keep the building clean, deal with maintenance issues, etc etc. Typical landlord stuff except we don't pay for anything .

So, we get to deal with stuff like 2AM fights in the building with police being called, and floods in tenants apartments, and noise complaints and all the rest.

Now, we don't mind for the most part. The job pays so well that for the occasional problem tenant or late night problem that we don't mind. It comes with the job description.


However, there is the occasional tenant that crosses the line from just being a tenant to actively trying to get you fired and generally cause problems. We met just such a tenant a few months ago. Well, maybe 4 months or so. Anyway, they moved here from out of province so they sent in their application and arrived the first of the month and moved in. Everything seemed just fine for the first couple weeks. Then the complaints started. This tenant does this, this other tenant is too loud (at 3 in the afternoon) etc etc etc. Complaint after complaint after complaint. Some complaints were lodged against tenants who have lived in this building longer than the company we work for has owned it.

So, we basically tell this new tenant that we're not kicking people out for making noise during the day or smoking pot. It's not our policy to do that. It's not worth our while. We've got better things to worry about. So, it's still winter when this tenant moved in which means there is ice on the ground (this is Canada after all ). Well, apparently this tenant slipped on the ice and got a concussion. We felt pretty bad about this because you don't want that to happen to anyone. Well, we find out the following day after hearing about this that the tenant was driving with his girlfriend to the building (from another tenant who heard the same story from this tenant). According to the new tenant the concussion was so bad that he was dizzy all the time and would sometimes think he was living in the old city he was from and what not. So they came to our door and threatened to sue us personally and the company and on and on and got fairly aggressive. My wife simply told them to contact their lawyer and to provide us with medical records about the injury and we would work something out in court.

This resulted in massive amounts of swearing and yelling and storming away from the door. As we suspected it was a scam to try and scare us into agreeing to something. So a few days go by and we get a call from their "lawyer" because this guy lost his job and they won't make rent and he's suing so that we can't kick them out blah blah blah. When we told them we were making no deals until we got documentation the phone calls stopped happening. They magically were able to make rent the following month and seemingly had stopped bothering us.

The management company decided they were going to try selling the building we were living in so they had an inspector come by and take a look through the building. This tenant had already refused to let us into their apartment a few times so when this happened it was another problem. They had it in their minds that people who don't work for the landlord aren't allowed in. Except that this person was doing an inspection. After the inspection was completed this tenant harassed us for an inspection report that he was "due". We owed him nothing but this tenant went on and on and on about this inspection being given to him making more idle threats.

Well, after months of dealing with tenants and almost 2 years of being RM's my wife posted on her blog about being frustrated with what had been going on. This tenant found this blog and sent the ranting blog post in to our boss in order to get us in trouble. We are planning on moving soon because we're having another baby and they felt the need to find this blog post on our public, but very personal blog. The fact that this tenant went out of their way to find the blog, wait for a post and send it in to our boss feels like a HUGE violation of privacy. Now, we can't prove it was them because our boss won't tell us who sent it. But this is just another issue in a long string of problems with these tenants. They have made up so many lies and exaggerations about what happens here that it is pathetic.

I wish we could evict them for any of this but they technically haven't done anything that we can evict them for. I know that sounds crazy, but being a pain in the ass tenant isn't something you can evict for if they are on a lease. There isn't any one specific thing that you can look at and say that is over the line. Every e-mail and phone conversation is so laced with disdain and hate that it's obvious, but hating your landlord isn't against the rules. And we can't react because that just makes us look bad and makes it look like these tenants might have a real reason to hate us.

OH, they also talk to other tenants in the building (some of which are friends of ours) and complain about how much they hate us and how bad of a job we are doing and how bad the concussion was etc etc etc. And I'm talking about at least 5-10 tenants out of a 50 unit apartment. so, 10-20% of the building has heard from them. The funny thing is that I'd say 60-80% of the building likes us and the other 20-40% are more or less indifferent because we don't see them or deal with them much. And Head Office knows we do a as good a job as we can considering the kind of support we get from them in general.


It's just really frustrating. The blog thing happened today and I just needed to vent. And this is going to likely be my longest post ever.

Whoaa, that is a lot. I mean more than 1,000 words.

I will not read all of it, but I too know that life really sucks and unfair. Life can be really boring, life can be sad, and very scary, but life can be great. We are very lucky to be even alive.

Well, I just want to say, I hope you can deal with problem and do the best that you can do.

I know how you feel in a way I have lived in many apartment places. Depending on the area you live in depends on how bad it gets. I feel sorry for some of the management people cause there are tenants out there who treat their building like a school. Sticking gum in elevators, leaving trash all over... A few of the places I've been at have been so bad my car got broken into, nightly fights and gunshots going on, just horrible places. That is only the icing of cake

I hate the fact about suing an appartment cause of ice. In case people have not noticed salt actually turns the snow into ice so salting it just makes it worse in my opinion. Smart thing to do is walk on the snow instead

How did the person find out about the blog though? Was the blog in her name or something? Just goes to show if you need to vent, get an alias that is untraceable

The nerve of some people. I plan to never give any hassle to my landlord(s) if I move into an apartment, since they probably have enough to deal with already. I just can't believe that some people get so obsessed over something or someone and would actually seek a blog like that. That's just scary. Does this person not realize that you and your wife are people too, and that they aren't the center of the universe? Some people never really learn that they aren't in high school anymore, and this kind of garbage and drama isn't mature or acceptable. My family has had some trouble with people like this before, and everyone just seems to think they can threaten you or bully you into giving them what they want. I'm really sorry you have to deal with that geeo, some people just need to learn the meaning of respect.

Jigsaw: I'm not sure honestly. I don't think we use our full name on the blog so it might have taken a fair bit of searching to fine it. But she does use her first name on it and we have posted pictures of ourselves on the blog, so once they found it they would have no problem knowing it was us.

Btowns: we don't mind if people come by and ask legitimate questions and make realistic demands. But when we say we aren't kicking someone out who isn't ACTUALLY causing a problem then sucks to be you .

I just saw this thread. I must say, I'm very proud of the both of you for not beating the crap out've this guy. Seriously, what is wrong with him? I highly suggest that you make him know that you're people too, and that harrasment of your family is not acceptable. Stand your ground.

Rasen: actually... we're running away .

We've already found a different place to live and will probably be moving in the next month or 2. It's easier this way.

It sucks that you need to move because of this person being mean and harassing you it's also bull that he is doing this. I have lived in your kind of situation and I know for a fact that it sucks. On a brighter note The move wont be that hard on gabby and the newborn because they wont have to move a way from friends and what not. It was very hard for me when we had to move because of my friends.

Well, I have to say this: Life in the apartment business sucks (At least I think that way after reading that). I've lived in an apartment for 2 years, and occasionally there was a midnight party or so that really was annoying. But apart from that, things were good. However, I remember there being fake complaints about everything, which eventually drove the person that was in charge of the apartments in the area to go mad. So then, we had to move out from the apartments (Somehow) which was because of temporary re-employment of the residential manager. After that, some people from other apartments started a war because of the kicked out period (That was after we moved back). There were people doing crazy stuff, and so on (All that I said then is inferring to the fact that hell became real because of someone else's undoings, just like in your case). My point is, Bad luck.

yeah.... and guess what.... that was 1 tenant I was complaining about. There are 50 units in the building we live in. So that is just part of the problem.

In the last 30 minutes I've had 1 exit sign torn apart, 2 lights are dangling by the cords from the ceiling, a door has been smashed against the wall so hard the doorknob has left a hole and a car has had it's windshield smashed in the backyard.

That doesn't include the dozens and dozens of other problems we deal with on a regular basis. We're 99% sure we know where we're going to move and it doesn't involve either of us being the RM which means when we get home and shut the door no one is likely to come bother us. We can't wait.

Steps to solve your problem:

1. Hire hit man
2. Invite unwanted tenant to look for gold in field miles away from city.
3. ?????
4. Profit.

I would love to know the psychology behind why people do this s***. What drives them? A bad past? Watching other people doing it? Explorers of exploiting? It's dumb. Is it so hard to live in society quietly? What's even more curious is exactly how he found your wife's blog. It's as if he assumes every landlord has one.

If I were you i'd drop him in the middle of no-where. I mean, he must be such an idiot if it is because of him that you are moving.

Yeah, Cyro, you are correct, "it is dumb".

Damn, I am so sorry that you have to put up with that s***. I know that our RM isn't the most popular guy but nobody gives him s*** like that... of course he's a Vietnam Vet so I think some of the tenants avoid him because he's a little crazy.

But yeah, I am shocked that none of the other tenants stick up for you more.

so, apparently moving and quitting this job wasn't enough for this tenant!

He found my wife's new blog (work blog) and started commenting on her posts. He called my daughter an ugly zebra and said other things about sicking revenue Canada (the Canadian IRS) on us for not paying taxes and how at least we can live on welfare money cause we don't do anything else important. This is 1 day after quitting.... 1 day. We handed in keys and the cell phone yesterday... and somehow this guy still has a problem with us.

So, we're talking to our former employers to see what they will do about him at this point. If they do nothing we are going to try and get all the e-mails that he sent them and compile them with all the stuff we've got and take it to the police and see what we can do that way.

While my first reaction is to call my brothers and friends and go pay this guy a visit... I know that that will only makes things worse. So, that is my last resort at this point.

That tenant sounds like a thoroughbred "A-HOLE". Seems like one of those people whose lives are so miserable they feel like its necessary to try to bring anyone in there vicinity down. And he is a obvious coward if he is going to bring your kid into it.

so apparently according to my parents and a few other older people that we've told this story to the use of the word zebra can also be a racial slur against a mixed person.

My wife is asian and I'm white/european decent so we have a mixed baby, though she doesn't look it at all.... and I guess some people went straight there when they heard the zebra comment. Makes this guy seem like even more of a loser than before.

it makes me mad when people are like this, whats wrong with him. im not much of a violent person but i would have kicked his a** by now or at the very least yelled in his face.

drag00n365 : trust me... it is something I want to do... but by keeping my cool about the situation we are on the right side of the law and he's not. He is harassing us and that is illegal. As long as we don't break a law he can't touch us and we can get him into a lot of trouble... especially if it persists.

Yeah, I think you should bring the police all the compilation of this stuff...

He probably could be fined for "harassment" if he persists...

or he could go to jail if he doesn't stop.

The police take this sort of thing seriously. My wife is in her mid 20's and she's pregnant. This guy is at least 40 if not older and has harassed her like crazy since she got on his bad side after he moved in.

Basically we're going to let the management company have their say before we take it to the police. At this point I can't think of any other way this guy can secretly harass us anymore... so anything from here on out will have to be traceable or out in the open and I don't think he has the guts to do either.