Venting thread

[zompist]

I did manage to talk them out of evicting me and paid the past due rent.

I'm glad it worked out, and of course it was a frustrating and scary experience for you. Still, I'd emphasize that it did work out, and precisely as everyone here told you.

Please take alynnidalar's advice seriously: find some way to remind yourself on time.

This destroys any chance of moving away for the foreseeable future since nobody will rent to me with my bad history.

Yeah, no. Apparently this was one month's rent, a week or too late. This is common as dirt in credit histories and will not destroy anything.

You can ask the major credit agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.) for a copy of your credit report, for free. You could then compare your credit score to the average (in Missouri, 692 of 850). Also, if you made the payment within 30 days of the due date, it's likely it won't go in your credit report at all.

[malloc]

Yeah, no. Apparently this was one month's rent, a week or too late. This is common as dirt in credit histories and will not destroy anything.

You can ask the major credit agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.) for a copy of your credit report, for free. You could then compare your credit score to the average (in Missouri, 692 of 850). Also, if you made the payment within 30 days of the due date, it's likely it won't go in your credit report at all.

The problem is not just credit ratings but also rental history. Regardless of what the credit agencies think, the people administering my apartment complex told me that my late payment violated the terms of the lease. They have already put me down in their records as failing to pay rent on time. Any landlord will look at that and refuse to rent me an apartment. You must remember that housing is extremely scarce these days, especially in socially progressive areas like Seattle where I want to move. I will be competing with numerous other people, most of whom have always paid on time, for any given apartment.

[Civil War Bugle]

Yeah, no. Apparently this was one month's rent, a week or too late. This is common as dirt in credit histories and will not destroy anything.

You can ask the major credit agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.) for a copy of your credit report, for free. You could then compare your credit score to the average (in Missouri, 692 of 850). Also, if you made the payment within 30 days of the due date, it's likely it won't go in your credit report at all.

The problem is not just credit ratings but also rental history. Regardless of what the credit agencies think, the people administering my apartment complex told me that my late payment violated the terms of the lease. They have already put me down in their records as failing to pay rent on time. Any landlord will look at that and refuse to rent me an apartment. You must remember that housing is extremely scarce these days, especially in socially progressive areas like Seattle where I want to move. I will be competing with numerous other people, most of whom have always paid on time, for any given apartment.

It’s not necessarily the case that anyone outside your landlord’s organization will see that record. Sounds like an internal record from how you describe it, and it would probably stay internal, if so. Even so, they could just be mentioning it at all to try to scare you into timely payment in the future. Fearmongering is just a tactic and nothing more, sometimes. Obviously you don’t want to do anything which harms your interests, generally speaking, but just because the landlord tells you something doesn’t necessarily mean what you seem to be taking away from it.

[malloc]

It’s not necessarily the case that anyone outside your landlord’s organization will see that record. Sounds like an internal record from how you describe it, and it would probably stay internal, if so. Even so, they could just be mentioning it at all to try to scare you into timely payment in the future. Fearmongering is just a tactic and nothing more, sometimes. Obviously you don’t want to do anything which harms your interests, generally speaking, but just because the landlord tells you something doesn’t necessarily mean what you seem to be taking away from it.

My brother's wife is a property manager and she really emphasized the importance of rental history when I got my first lease. She really hammered on the point of rental history and said it would be impossible to rent another apartment if I had any blemishes on my record.

[Civil War Bugle]

It’s not necessarily the case that anyone outside your landlord’s organization will see that record. Sounds like an internal record from how you describe it, and it would probably stay internal, if so. Even so, they could just be mentioning it at all to try to scare you into timely payment in the future. Fearmongering is just a tactic and nothing more, sometimes. Obviously you don’t want to do anything which harms your interests, generally speaking, but just because the landlord tells you something doesn’t necessarily mean what you seem to be taking away from it.

My brother's wife is a property manager and she really emphasized the importance of rental history when I got my first lease. She really hammered on the point of rental history and said it would be impossible to rent another apartment if I had any blemishes on my record.

It both has to make it onto a history which is shared with other landlords and is bad enough to make them dubious. If you have one late payment and no other negative history on whatever the future landlord sees, you can explain that away.

[keenir]

My brother's wife is a property manager and she really emphasized the importance of rental history when I got my first lease. She really hammered on the point of rental history and said it would be impossible to rent another apartment if I had any blemishes on my record.

Sounds like trying to keep you from ever making that initial mistake by making you too terrified to do it...and based on recent discussion in this thread, it seems to have worked - possibly more well than she might have thought.

[Ares Land]

That little story was a bit shocking and scary.

For the Americans here... Can't you pay rent by automatic direct debit? Or just bank transfer?

I think last time I wrote a cheque for rent was almost twenty years ago. Since then, I've always paid rent by direct debit, or scheduled a regular bank transfer. Landlords, in fact, insist on it, as it fixes the whole issue of late payments.

[Glenn]

That little story was a bit shocking and scary.

For the Americans here... Can't you pay rent by automatic direct debit? Or just bank transfer?

You can - at least in some cases (individual arrangements may vary, so I don’t want to make a blanket statement).

My wife and I have automatic monthly rent payments set up, and have been paying our rent that way for over fifteen years. In our case, there is still technically a check involved - the bank automatically cuts a check and mails it to the landlord a week before the end of each month - but it does not require further action on our part, and we just track the payment by checking our bank account online. When we had to move the payments from one bank account to another a couple of years ago, I think we were able to handle the transition online, without having to speak with someone from the bank(s) involved. I would not be surprised if there are other cases where direct bank transfer is used, although as I said, I do not have enough experience to say for certain.

@malloc: Maybe this is something you might be able to look into?

[malloc]

It both has to make it onto a history which is shared with other landlords and is bad enough to make them dubious. If you have one late payment and no other negative history on whatever the future landlord sees, you can explain that away.

But what about the hundred other people applying for that apartment with no blemishes on their record? Competition for housing in the blue states is intense based on everything I've heard. Cities like Seattle have an incredible shortage of apartments after all.

[foxcatdog]

I spilled wine on my computer and now the sound constantly turns off

[keenir]

It both has to make it onto a history which is shared with other landlords and is bad enough to make them dubious. If you have one late payment and no other negative history on whatever the future landlord sees, you can explain that away.

But what about the hundred other people applying for that apartment with no blemishes on their record?

Can I ask who told you you were competing with a hundred people, for one single lone apartment? And can I ask you who claimed those hundred people were without blemish?

This reminds me of how some novice conlangers ask how they can make a conlang, when their work has mistakes, while everyone else is a professional on par with Zompist and David Peterson.

[keenir]

I spilled wine on my computer and now the sound constantly turns off

On one hand, sharing is good. On the other hand, computers have a drinking problem like we see in Airplane. On the gripping hand, maybe don't use sound until you can get your computer looked at?

[TomHChappell]

…. On the gripping hand, ….

Someone else read the Mote in God’s Eye!

[rotting bones]

RIP Niklaus Wirth.

There goes my dream of the Oberon interface coming back into vogue.

[Travis B.]

My I2C driver implementation on the RP2040 is buggy - and I have a user who pointed it out via email. Of course, this could be more of a "contradictory feelings" type of thing, because it means I have users dedicated to make bug reports about this sort of thing...

[Linguoboy]

Could it be someone who knows malloc, knows about his anxiety issues, and is playing a cruel prank on him?

I suppose that's possible, but it's more plausible that this is one of the many known phone scams in which someone impersonates a law-enforcement official and demands money for "legal fees" or the like.

See, for instance: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/sc ... eys-office

[Raphael]

Could it be someone who knows malloc, knows about his anxiety issues, and is playing a cruel prank on him?

I suppose that's possible, but it's more plausible that this is one of the many known phone scams in which someone impersonates a law-enforcement official and demands money for "legal fees" or the like.

See, for instance: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/sc ... eys-office

Huh? Did a years-old post by Linguoboy just somehow get double-posted?

[zompist]

Huh? Did a years-old post by Linguoboy just somehow get double-posted?

That 2020 post from you is on the first page of this thread. More likely LB clicked the 1st rather than last page of the thread and hit reply.

[malloc]

Another week, another problem. My car had trouble starting today and the "check engine" light came on. AutoZone used this computerized gadget on the car and said the electronic throttle control actuator is broken. Since obviously I know nothing about cars, that doesn't help much. It apparently controls how much air gets into the engine but I have no idea how to fix it.

[alice]

I don't know anything about cars either, but if I was in your situation I would consult a few garages or auto repair shops where someone with the appropriate knowledge is likely to live.