Bad Luck and Go Fund Me

 

This is my home its not much but to me its everything

 

I am starting to suspect that bad luck has a thing for me. Not too long ago, I posted about the time I was nearly homeless. I was able to catch some break over the years but there was always that fear when it comes to the home I live in. I live in this 2 bedroom house south of San Diego that is being rented out to me in the past 7-8 years by a distant relative.  The area was at one point dubbed a low income district but despite the positive changes over the decades and a lower crime rate the identity stuck. After my mother passed and my dad moved back to the Philippines to retire and grieve, I was left with a new debt which grew after the hospital bills and loss of employment of that ill-fated year. I found over the years 3 long term housemates/roommates that helped me with paying the lease of my home.

I was able to find finally stable employment in the Hospitality industry and GOD I love my job.  The last roommate I had was the jackpot. She was nice, respectful, wasn’t a trouble maker (I had one of those), paid rent on time and we got along well. So naturally I was very sad when she finally need to move back to Nevada, then Oregon for school. I faced the fear, in this economy  of finding a new roommate who would help me shoulder the house payment, considering that I also pay both utilities and cable/internet. My landlord relative was also in her advanced age and some of the potential applicants were trying to sweet talk her in being a renter. Being an old lady made her extremely  gullible and vulnerable  to false empty, promises and shady characters.

It did not help either that she would have these “old lady” moments when she would space out when you speak to her or forget to call back applicants who saw our ads in the newspapers.  The stress got to her so I did the whole craigslist ad thing and would wake up early in the morning to put up posters and rental ads in stores, libraries and community centers, even forking money for the paper ads. This was between May to July of this year. Few people looked at the place. The house is small and again the whole its on the South San Diego thing didn’t make the offer appealing (even though the street was full of young children and family homes).

Here were some of viable applicants that either  bailed or just pretty much gave me the finger rather than saying “Were not interested”

1. The first was another Filipino couple who claimed to have a job but after a background check everything he said was a lie (had a criminal background too). The male also constantly called or texted me in the middle of the night and he gave me the overall creeps.

2.  A 19 who kept asking me to hold the room until she returns from vacation only to bail on me  on the scheduled payment day

3.  One woman who once lived in posh Eastlake and has a boyfriend in La Jolla pretty much called my place ghetto and other “your place looks eww” comments

4.  Had this one brother who like the place for her younger sister…who was indecisive for about 2 weeks then decided not to take it. I feel sorry for the brother who apologized profusely

There were some nicer people who came and saw the place but graciously declined either because of budget reasons or they had too much furniture to fit in the room. However all this time I was paying the whole bulk of the lease.  FYI the rent is  $550 utilities included.

Many of you would suggest just to move, I did scouted other places but between the deposit and first months + last months rent, the budget wasn’t feasible. My other concern were my pets who would be displaced if I move. I have two cats that I rescued and a dog who I share custody of.

My Kitty Flea-flea and my rescue dog Ba. Its hard to get shots of them

My landlord later informed me late in July that she found a renter. A woman down on her luck that was living in motels after her husband separated from her. My landlord did the proper background check and she came out clean. She was working in a veterinary office. I met the lady, and she seems nice. However, I kept getting this nagging feeling she wasn’t a right fit.  I asked my landlord to give me 2 days to decide since I had money already allocated to pay for the place and a phone call for another potential renter. My landlord decided to sign her up without telling me first and I came home to them moving her in. We signed a new 6 month lease. I was grateful to be relieved of the financial burden but that nagging feeling kept bugging me.

And boy was I right, less than 10 days of her moving in, she lost her job. Worst her check for the month of August bounced.  I feel sorry for her and even bought extra groceries for her to use, but my own budget is getting affected, given that I live from paycheck to paycheck too.  She still is unemployed and struggling to find a job but shows no promise to pay rent.  But since both our names are in the lease, regardless who pays the RENT HAS TO BE PAID.  And that financial burden falls into me. Evicting her would also mean to evict me (according to the property manager).

I found this all out just this Friday too. I was expecting that if she is unable to pay the rent and they ask her to leave, that I would not need to pay the days she stayed. However it seems like I now need to pay the full August rent too.

The first thing I did when I got home over the weekend was to look for a part time job in retail. Easier said than done, being most part timer positions are offered to students who have flexible hours as compared to me who have a steady 8-5 schedule. Office Part Time positions would conflict with mine and weekend only positions are scare if not rare.  In addition, being I have a stable employment, most employers feel I am overqualified.

That’s when I found Go Fund Me. A Crowdsourcing site from San Diego that helps people in funding their needs, from charitable causes for operations, college tuitions and cases like mine rent.  I signed up for it as a last ditch hope it works effort as I look for a 2nd job. The downside is that for me to get more exposure is that I need to link my Facebook to my Go Fund Me page, which means my friends and family will see my post and I wasn’t too proud of them learning about my financial difficulties, being that back in the day when my mother was still alive we had little financial issues, or were able to hide it well when we did have any, plus I can’t ask them for help since they are in the same boat as me.

I worry that if I keep shouldering the full lease before I find additional income I would deplete my savings which I haven’t touched for a year within a 3 month time span.

Long story short, I tried to do Instagram and twitter and now my blog to plea my cause.  In case there are any kind hearted people out there who are willing to give. here is my Go Fund Me Link. http://www.gofundme.com/42gt30  And while at it go check out the other Go Fund me sites. There are many people out there who needs help

Like this aspiring harpist who wants her own harp http://www.gofundme.com/autumnharp

A mother who needs help on her medical bills http://www.gofundme.com/3zw6iw

Help a Mother and her family keep their home http://www.gofundme.com/RossHomeRescueCrew

Or Give this couple a dream wedding gift http://www.gofundme.com/Wes-Britt

 

Hopefully for all off us the storm blows over.