A few weeks ago I alluded to a blow up between me and Cam's roommate. I'll try to be concise: Cam found David on Craigslist and invited him to move into the vacant room in his apartment, David was on a month-to-month lease, Cam asked him to move out with 6 weeks notice, David refused. Insert a lot of landlord emails/phone calls and research on tenant rights, and we arrive at the night when David (for the second time) refuses to move out and tells us to "lawyer up." Even more frustrating than the mere toolishness and gall in using this asinine phrase is the fact that he was citing money as the necessity behind him staying in the apartment -- as most people have figured out by now, lawyers aren't cheap.
Skimming over the embarrassing details, insults and objects were hurled and David finally assented to move out based on the fact that he had now discovered that were he to stay, his new third roommate (aka ME) is batshit crazy. (He also defriended me on Facebook the next day...)
I think giving advice at age 25 is awkward -- I try to stay away from it. I have so much more life to live, more obstacles to overcome, HOWEVER, recapping my very recent and embarrassing experience has caused me to want to share a few roommate pointers that I've learned from the David fiasco.
1. If you're finding a roommate on Craigslist, make him sign a month-to-month lease. Luckily when Cam's landlord sent them the lease to co-sign, Cam had the foresight to respond quickly that he would take full responsibility, and create a second agreement for David to sign, making him a monthly tenant. Had he not done this, we would still be having awkward family dinners with David the unwanted third wheel.
2. Establish house rules BEFORE interviewing potential roommate candidates. David smoked A LOT of pot in the apartment. Every time I came home from work, the apartment smelled like a Humboldt County farm. Neither Cam nor I would freak out at an occasional joint in the house, but had Cam mentioned in their initial meeting that this was not a frat house -- Mr. Club Card probably would have continued on his search.
3. Also regarding house rules (and frat behavior), guest protocol need to be established early on. To preface this, David's brother had visited the month prior, and as Cam and I were in Peru, Cam gave him full reign over our bedroom. In the true turning point of the David Disaster, Cam's sister and her boyfriend were spending the weekend with us, sharing an air mattress on the living room floor. They were asleep, yet David turned on all the lights and told Mariska that, "it's Saturday night in San Francisco...you should find somewhere else to sleep." And then hosted his party around her air mattress.
4. Actually review your city's tenant laws. The scary part of my story is had I not exploded and genuinely scared David, he would have actually had a case against us in his fight to stay in the apartment. According to San Francisco tenant laws, simply getting in touch with the landlord regarding repairs (seriously?) puts you on the same playing field as the person who actually signed the lease. WTF.
The story has a happy ending: David moved out and we haven't heard from him since. This was definitely a rant, but hopefully has a nugget or two of hard-learned wisdom for anyone else about to embark on the adventure that is seeking Craigslist roommates.
(Image found here.)
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