The wheels of justice turn very slowly. I am a very impatient woman. And I crave justice. I just don't understand why it takes so long. While we wait, time marches on. The creditors call. The private lenders call. We tell them what we know. We ask them to please wait. How long will they wait? Some, not so long.
I field the phone calls. I plead with Glen to please tell them something. I can't take the calls anymore. I feel so helpless. I feel so out of control.
But, I'm learning to let things go that I can't control. And I can't control time. Things will happen when it's the right time. It's just that I want the time to go by faster than it does. On the other hand, if time goes by too fast, I miss too much. I'm learning to take each day as it comes, to be in the moment, and not rush things. That's not an easy task. Patience is a virtue and one I have been working on for a long time (about 68 years to be exact). Nothing worth while is ever easy. I'm finding that out, one trial at a time.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
State of Our Affairs
Where should I begin? For the past 3 months (since June 1, 2010 actually) we have been dealing with a very sticky financial issue, all having to do with the MH Park that we have owned and operated for over a decade. The bank foreclosed on the Park on June 1, 2010. All attempts to solve the shortage in payments were denied. A new management company was hired to manage the Park. We still own the majority of homes in this Park. These were not foreclosed. So here we are, owning the homes and not the lots they sit on.
This “new” company, from Michigan, has no clue about how this Park was operated. So, to begin with, they seized all of the funds collected and to this day have not given us a full accounting of the monies collected from our tenants. For one month this amounts to thousands of $$. Nor have they provided us with a late tenant list so we can collect our delinquencies.
Into a third month (August), still holding our funds for home rents and six weeks of utility payments for which we are responsible. Therefore, we are behind in the utility payments we are responsible for (April 17 through May 31) being billed to us through the utility companies. The worst part is that we cannot pay our lien holders on these homes.
Over the last 2 months we have received eviction notices for all the homes we own that they claim are behind in rents. Then, they also had the nerve to send those same notices to our lien holders.
We have Section 8 tenants in some of those homes. This management company has said to some of those tenants that they will not honor those Section 8 contracts. They can’t do that by the way. They must honor them. Now Section 8 is holding all payments until this is settled.
The management company originally hired Tom to help in the “transition”. After 1 week they told him to leave the premises. It took them 1 month to pay him the agreed upon fee. And they have told him not to set foot in the onsite office. They take pictures of him while he is contacting tenants or trying to solve maintenance problems in the homes. We have had many of our tenants move out due to their unresolved problems or intimidation tactics by this new management.
Do the owners (B of A) know what’s happening to their property? Hell if I know, but I suspect not. Do they want to put us out of business? One might think so. Is there a little stupidity here? Or is it just plain vindictiveness? Yes, I really am taking this personally.
We have set up a collection center in one of our homes so that we can have a place for our tenants to pay their home rents. Yet, they are still being told they have to pay ALL their rent to the new management.
We have sought legal help. Last week the management company and servicing company were sent a notice of our intention to obtain a temporary restraining order. Before this was delivered we had not heard one word from their offices in response to our attorneys attempts to get a response from them for anything. The TRO told them we meant business. Hours before it was filed, there was a conversation between lawyers, setting up a conference call with attorneys, servicing company and their management company. It looks like they want to avoid a lawsuit. We should know more on Monday or Tuesday.
The entire situation is just bizarre. That management company even has the nerve to put 11 of our homes up for sale!! Who do they think they are?!!
Now I have to let it go.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Not my best day
This has not been a great day. As a matter of fact, it’s been a b**ch of a day. What started out as a great morning for me – up before 6, even went to church, then came home for a leisurely breakfast with no interruptions, then off to Sam’s to get new tires for my SUV. That’s when the rest of the day began.
While walking into the entrance via the tire shop, I slipped on an icy patch and went flying through the air, landing on my back, butt first. As Glen came to help me up, he nearly fell himself. The only positive thing about the fall was that it wasn’t on my side, otherwise, I would be in the hospital right now having a hip repaired. That’s #1.
Here comes #2. Reaching for my Sam’s Club card it wasn’t where I always keep it. A search (more than once) through the purse didn’t produce results. So, a trip over to Customer Service, where I reported the card lost. As soon as the card was “deactivated”, guess what I found in my purse. You got it. My Sam’s Card. Oh well, so now I have a new card. Didn’t like the old picture anyway.
#3. From Sam’s it was off to the dentist for my 6 mo. cleaning. I can’t decide which is worse. Falling, or having my teeth cleaned. It was time for X-rays. (I thought I’d done that the last time!) I declined. I’m watching every penny and no dental insurance. No breaks for cash customers. When my dentist reviewed my mouth, the news was not good. Two cracked teeth which will require crowns. $875 each. A few other minor repairs for a total of $2250. Not news I was looking forward to. I think I’ll go home and go back to bed for the rest of the day. Oh, no I can’t do that. I have to get to the office and pay some bills.
The office was a normal, crazy first of the month kind of day. But I was already so flustered from the earlier part of the day, nothing was easy. It hurt to sit down, it hurt to get up, and the hurt worked it’s way to my head with a headache like I’ve not had in a while. Thank the lord for excedrine. By the time 5 PM came I was ready to “get outa dodge”. One more thing to do and I’d be ready. I wrote a check, distributed stuff around to others, then, went to deposit the check. It was gone. I mean, disappeared, poof! No where to be found. I never did find it, so rewrote the check. I know it’ll turn up – just like my Sam’s card – but in the mean time, I feel pretty scatterbrained.
Think I’ll take a nice hot bath and go to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. (Sigh). Oh, just heard the weather report. More snow due tomorrow night and Thursday. The last snow hasn’t melted yet. This should be a great week end. Snow upon ice, upon more snow. Haven’t seen this much at one time since 1993. I’m thinking that the ground hog had it right this time.
While walking into the entrance via the tire shop, I slipped on an icy patch and went flying through the air, landing on my back, butt first. As Glen came to help me up, he nearly fell himself. The only positive thing about the fall was that it wasn’t on my side, otherwise, I would be in the hospital right now having a hip repaired. That’s #1.
Here comes #2. Reaching for my Sam’s Club card it wasn’t where I always keep it. A search (more than once) through the purse didn’t produce results. So, a trip over to Customer Service, where I reported the card lost. As soon as the card was “deactivated”, guess what I found in my purse. You got it. My Sam’s Card. Oh well, so now I have a new card. Didn’t like the old picture anyway.
#3. From Sam’s it was off to the dentist for my 6 mo. cleaning. I can’t decide which is worse. Falling, or having my teeth cleaned. It was time for X-rays. (I thought I’d done that the last time!) I declined. I’m watching every penny and no dental insurance. No breaks for cash customers. When my dentist reviewed my mouth, the news was not good. Two cracked teeth which will require crowns. $875 each. A few other minor repairs for a total of $2250. Not news I was looking forward to. I think I’ll go home and go back to bed for the rest of the day. Oh, no I can’t do that. I have to get to the office and pay some bills.
The office was a normal, crazy first of the month kind of day. But I was already so flustered from the earlier part of the day, nothing was easy. It hurt to sit down, it hurt to get up, and the hurt worked it’s way to my head with a headache like I’ve not had in a while. Thank the lord for excedrine. By the time 5 PM came I was ready to “get outa dodge”. One more thing to do and I’d be ready. I wrote a check, distributed stuff around to others, then, went to deposit the check. It was gone. I mean, disappeared, poof! No where to be found. I never did find it, so rewrote the check. I know it’ll turn up – just like my Sam’s card – but in the mean time, I feel pretty scatterbrained.
Think I’ll take a nice hot bath and go to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. (Sigh). Oh, just heard the weather report. More snow due tomorrow night and Thursday. The last snow hasn’t melted yet. This should be a great week end. Snow upon ice, upon more snow. Haven’t seen this much at one time since 1993. I’m thinking that the ground hog had it right this time.
Friday, January 8, 2010
My Holidays
As much as I love the holidays (Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Years) I am also very happy to get back to “normal”. (Whatever that is). I’m not glad they go so fast, because I actually wish I could relish the moments. That being said, at least I can have some good memories.
Just having children around makes the holidays special. The glee that I see in their eyes when they see their packages under the tree. How many times they pick them up and shake them and their absolute wonder when they open and find something that they really really wanted. And one of my favorite things is to watch everyone else open their gifts just so I can see all those reactions. I am often accused of doing that so everyone has to watch me open mine. Oh well, so be it. I guess I am my mother’s daughter.
Another thing I like about the holidays. Chocolate. I forego my “sugar free life” in these few weeks (OK, a month) to enjoy the chocolate some favorite people send. Texas, at least Amarillo, is See’s Chocolate challenged. No such brand in these here parts. So I depend on good friends and relatives to take care of this for me during the holidays. And I do indulge myself until they are gone. No regrets, no guilt. Just plain pleasure.
The hard part after all of this is getting back to business at the business. Sometimes my heart and head just aren’t in it together. The Monday after New Year’s week end, I was in the office until 8 PM. That was my choice. No one told me I had to stay and finish anything. And that was even after I had decided I wouldn’t do that anymore. Mind you, it’s not a New Years resolution, just a determination on my part to change the way I do things. It means changing my priorities. After all, work is not the end all. It’s more important to spend time with loved ones and take care of myself. And really, I can’t be effective at work if that’s all I do. I know what “burn out” is and I can easily drive myself to it. If I made New Years resolutions, that would be the one – give myself some space and don’t be so anal about life.
The nice thing about owning a business is that I can name my hours. So, I can play tennis in the morning, have a lunch with friends and not be too concerned about getting back at a certain time. I can take half a day off (I just inform glen) to run errands or do something I like (shopping, sleeping, web surfing), and not take a pay cut. (As if I get a “pay check”). I just know I have certain things (like payroll) that has to be in by a certain time on a certain day. (Thank you for the internet!).
January through March is not my favorite time in the business. This is now tax season and we have so many reports to get out by Jan. 31, then gathering tax information for the accountants, and for clients so they can get their information to their accountants. Every year I promise myself to begin early. Not sure what that means. I can’t do a lot before December 31. So now I feel pressure to get it done in 3 weeks. To top it off, our laserjet printer is out. I mean completely! We waited for a part, he came to install it today and it was the wrong part. He said he put it back together so we could use it for non important things, but, we can’t. I keep getting this message “Download file now”. What?? I’m really afraid we’ll have to bite the bullet (again) and purchase a new laserjet. Yuck! I just got a new inkjet last week! Oh well, that’s business.
On the lighter side – it’s Ceil’s 1st birthday today. Wow. How time flies. We just had to call and sing “Happy Birthday” over the phone. We’ll stretch it out a little since she won’t get her gift until about Monday. Yes, late as usual. Never claimed I was punctual. Just anal.
Hope everyone is enjoying this winter weather like we are. Today, 13°.
COLD, COLD, COLD
Even at that, we broke no records. It was 6° in 1988. Funny, I don’t remember that. My long sleeve, turtle necks are getting lots of wear this year. To my family in San Diego – you’ll get yours one of these days.
Just having children around makes the holidays special. The glee that I see in their eyes when they see their packages under the tree. How many times they pick them up and shake them and their absolute wonder when they open and find something that they really really wanted. And one of my favorite things is to watch everyone else open their gifts just so I can see all those reactions. I am often accused of doing that so everyone has to watch me open mine. Oh well, so be it. I guess I am my mother’s daughter.
Another thing I like about the holidays. Chocolate. I forego my “sugar free life” in these few weeks (OK, a month) to enjoy the chocolate some favorite people send. Texas, at least Amarillo, is See’s Chocolate challenged. No such brand in these here parts. So I depend on good friends and relatives to take care of this for me during the holidays. And I do indulge myself until they are gone. No regrets, no guilt. Just plain pleasure.
The hard part after all of this is getting back to business at the business. Sometimes my heart and head just aren’t in it together. The Monday after New Year’s week end, I was in the office until 8 PM. That was my choice. No one told me I had to stay and finish anything. And that was even after I had decided I wouldn’t do that anymore. Mind you, it’s not a New Years resolution, just a determination on my part to change the way I do things. It means changing my priorities. After all, work is not the end all. It’s more important to spend time with loved ones and take care of myself. And really, I can’t be effective at work if that’s all I do. I know what “burn out” is and I can easily drive myself to it. If I made New Years resolutions, that would be the one – give myself some space and don’t be so anal about life.
The nice thing about owning a business is that I can name my hours. So, I can play tennis in the morning, have a lunch with friends and not be too concerned about getting back at a certain time. I can take half a day off (I just inform glen) to run errands or do something I like (shopping, sleeping, web surfing), and not take a pay cut. (As if I get a “pay check”). I just know I have certain things (like payroll) that has to be in by a certain time on a certain day. (Thank you for the internet!).
January through March is not my favorite time in the business. This is now tax season and we have so many reports to get out by Jan. 31, then gathering tax information for the accountants, and for clients so they can get their information to their accountants. Every year I promise myself to begin early. Not sure what that means. I can’t do a lot before December 31. So now I feel pressure to get it done in 3 weeks. To top it off, our laserjet printer is out. I mean completely! We waited for a part, he came to install it today and it was the wrong part. He said he put it back together so we could use it for non important things, but, we can’t. I keep getting this message “Download file now”. What?? I’m really afraid we’ll have to bite the bullet (again) and purchase a new laserjet. Yuck! I just got a new inkjet last week! Oh well, that’s business.
On the lighter side – it’s Ceil’s 1st birthday today. Wow. How time flies. We just had to call and sing “Happy Birthday” over the phone. We’ll stretch it out a little since she won’t get her gift until about Monday. Yes, late as usual. Never claimed I was punctual. Just anal.
Hope everyone is enjoying this winter weather like we are. Today, 13°.
COLD, COLD, COLD
Even at that, we broke no records. It was 6° in 1988. Funny, I don’t remember that. My long sleeve, turtle necks are getting lots of wear this year. To my family in San Diego – you’ll get yours one of these days.
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