There might be some confusion as to what a lockbox does and how it works. I just recently learned this and it is crucial to the story below, so here goes.
A lockbox it a device that contains a key to your house. The key is only accessible by licensed realtors. They use their realtor key which opens the compartment that contains the key to your home.
You receive a c all from a third party service ahead of time saying either the realtor is on the way, or to give you a time window that they will be there.
You can deny the visit, but it is best practice to not do so. If you do deny the visit, it is a good idea to give them an alternate time.
If you do not respond to the third party’s notification, the realtor is allowed in at the said time. You do not have to respond to approve, only to deny.
You can set up restrictions on visitations. For example, if you worked nights and didn’t want anyone at the house until after 12 noon. Or if you had children alone at the house at certain times.
There is one realtor, who is the “head” realtor. She secures the lockbox. Then, other realtors show the house. In our case the head realtor is in a city an hour away. Most of the time, local realtors in or around our city will show the house. The head realtor may or may not know them.
This means that multiple realtors visit your house, but each has to give the third party service a call before doing so. The third party then calls us to inform us of the planned visit.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Moving Part III
Next day I received a call from the realtor saying a showing was happening that day from 2 – 3. No worries. At 3:22 my daughter calls and informs me that they just arrived at the house. Meaning they got there after 3 and let themselves in, completely ignoring the restricted times. Hearing their voices in the background on the phone while I am talking to her made me very uncomfortable. I don’t know these people. Is the realtor showing someone who has a thing for blonde haired girls?
What happened next though was unbelievable. The realtor was unable to do the tasks that 3 other realtors before her had managed to do, she could not get the key out of the front door lock. Giving up after a 15 second try, she told my daughter she was leaving and to “try and get the key out of the door if you can. If not, have your mommy or daddy come home to take care of it.”
So on top of unauthorized access to my home, they left my child alone with a key sticking out of the front door allowing any criminal to come inside. Needless to say I rushed home, leaving work early.
I pulled the key out without any trouble. It wasn’t forced, it just came right out. This leaves me wondering if the realtor even tried to remove it. I called the head realtor and informed her that I am keeping the container and the key and that from this moment no one is authorized to come inside the house.
She was very concerned about her lock box, didn’t care that my child was alone, and didn’t apologize at all for the actions of the other realtor. She also told me that the house would not sell if they can not access it during the day. I told her that I had no faith in their ability to follow procedures in place as this was the very first day of the restrictions and they weren’t followed whatsoever. I asked her “What kind of people are you sending into my house who are okay with leaving a minor without the ability to secure herself in her home?”
The realtor decided she needed to get off the phone at that point. I received a text from the landlord apologizing for what happened and that she didn’t blame us in our decision.
At this point we are not sure where to go with this. I don’t want to have the lockbox, but want to help sell the home to get out of there early and only pay partial rent in June. At the same time, who knows if the policies will be followed or just tossed aside again. The safety of my children trump any dollar amount.
Moving Part II
Meanwhile, we decide to rent the new place. We carefully look over the lease, but he wants the security deposit ASAP to make sure we are serious about renting the property. This means we have to come up with $1300 before we receive our deposit back from our current residence. We figure out how to do that, but run into another snag. He would like to have someone in the house the 2nd week of June. We want to move the last week of June so we don’t pay rent at both locations.
We compromise and meet in the middle, paying half a month rent. I decide to contact the current landlord and try to make a deal with her about the lockbox. Let us out of the lease early and we will allow the lockbox and access to the home. Keeping it very clean and showable.
She called in a maid to clean the house on Saturday morning for a showing that was to happen at 1:00. We vacate the house, allowing a stranger unsupervised access to our home and valuables for several hours. Receive a call that the showing has been moved to 2:00 and that another showing is scheduled for 4:00. Receive another call that I need to mow by 4:00. The lawn is not unsightly and has been mowed previous week.
Most importantly, I find out that the lockbox has been installed without my permission and with disregard of my concerns. I watch Star Trek while the kids are at a Birthday party, excellent movie.
When I leave the theater I am extremely pissed off at the lockbox fiasco and the mowing demands made by the landlord. I call her on my way home. A heated exchange ensued with the landlord hanging up on me. She called back and left an angry message that she was going to get the authorities involved if I didn’t let people into the house.
The next day she begins texting, which that Sunday was Mother’s day. I asked her to stop texting on the holiday as it was causing stress. She continues to text anyway. Sally calls her and she calms down. She apologizes for being a terrible landlord and said she wanted out of the house because its not something she is very good at. I call the realtor and receive very specific answers to my concerns about the lockbox, who can access it, what types of people, how much advance notice do we receive, etc.
We reach an agreement to help the landlord sell the home. If it sells, we get out of the lease early, thereby saving paying rent on two places at the same time. The realtor agrees to not let anyone in the home from 3 – 6 during the week. I also will receive at least 1 hour notice before a realtor can show the house and I can decline this request. We agree to keep things picked up and try to be available for house showings as much as possible.
We compromise and meet in the middle, paying half a month rent. I decide to contact the current landlord and try to make a deal with her about the lockbox. Let us out of the lease early and we will allow the lockbox and access to the home. Keeping it very clean and showable.
She called in a maid to clean the house on Saturday morning for a showing that was to happen at 1:00. We vacate the house, allowing a stranger unsupervised access to our home and valuables for several hours. Receive a call that the showing has been moved to 2:00 and that another showing is scheduled for 4:00. Receive another call that I need to mow by 4:00. The lawn is not unsightly and has been mowed previous week.
Most importantly, I find out that the lockbox has been installed without my permission and with disregard of my concerns. I watch Star Trek while the kids are at a Birthday party, excellent movie.
When I leave the theater I am extremely pissed off at the lockbox fiasco and the mowing demands made by the landlord. I call her on my way home. A heated exchange ensued with the landlord hanging up on me. She called back and left an angry message that she was going to get the authorities involved if I didn’t let people into the house.
The next day she begins texting, which that Sunday was Mother’s day. I asked her to stop texting on the holiday as it was causing stress. She continues to text anyway. Sally calls her and she calms down. She apologizes for being a terrible landlord and said she wanted out of the house because its not something she is very good at. I call the realtor and receive very specific answers to my concerns about the lockbox, who can access it, what types of people, how much advance notice do we receive, etc.
We reach an agreement to help the landlord sell the home. If it sells, we get out of the lease early, thereby saving paying rent on two places at the same time. The realtor agrees to not let anyone in the home from 3 – 6 during the week. I also will receive at least 1 hour notice before a realtor can show the house and I can decline this request. We agree to keep things picked up and try to be available for house showings as much as possible.
We Are Moving! Part 1
Many have wondered what happened, why, etc. I thought it would be good to place those details in one easy to view location.
Two months earlier she said there were no plans to sell the house and we were welcome to stay another year. We planted a garden, landscaped, added furniture, and more.
On Monday, May 4th I received a call from the landlord saying that she was stressed and wanted to sell the home. She offered for us to buy the home, but there isn’t a way for us to do that.
On Tuesday she attempted to get us to pay for rent in July as well, effectively keeping us in the home for 3 months while she tried to sell it. There is a 60 day clause in the lease, and she tried to say that because of the it being May 5th before a written notice was served, she is entitled to July’s rent. I wrote her a note about the condition of the home, lack of repairs, and more. She backed off on the July rent.
Found a house on Wednesday. An older lady who makes this her summer home lives there currently. She writes a newspaper that delivers events to Japan that happen in Greece, Turkey, and Hungary. She speaks 4 languages. She is moving back there the first week of June and will be gone for at least 2 years, maybe 3.
The house has a better layout even though it is less square footage. The yard is better, the garage is bigger, the kids rooms are bigger, and more. Rent is about the same as the current location and it is only 2 blocks away, making moving easy.
On Thursday current landlord said we could stay and rent the house, but she needs to increase the monthly rent amount. We decline. Thursday afternoon she informs us that we need to fill out a lockbox authorization form. On this form it mentions to keep all our valuables out of sight, including prescription drugs. Further it says that personal injury may occur and that we are waiving liability for that.
I immediately think of our daughter being home alone after school for a few hours and a keybox hanging outside my front door. I inform the landlord that I need time to figure this out and that we would allow people to view the home for the time being as to not cause any issues. The landlord gets upset, claiming that I am required to have this and that it is in the lease (it is not).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
