Chicken Dinner—No Winner!
A Day In The Life...
As I was collecting submissions from property managers throughout Texas for "I Have A Complex, But I’m Managing It!", I realized I’d received many hoarding tales. In fact, I’m pretty sure someone could fill an entire book on this disturbing topic.
Here’s one such story from a manager in Dallas who was unable to “walk” a vacant unit after evicting the former resident...
Chicken Dinner—No Winner!
The community I once managed had efficiency apartments. These units boasted 400 square feet of no frills, no fluff living space. Although they were definitely small, the floorplan was perfect for students or anyone on a budget who didn’t own a lot of stuff.
We’d leased one of these apartments to a guy, but ended up having to evict him. I had the “pleasure” of walking the unit after he’d vacated.
I unlocked the door but wasn’t able to actually enter the unit. The entire apartment was filled with trash! Upon closer inspection I realized that what made up many of the mountains of garbage were discarded foil TV dinner containers. I knew they were Swanson frozen dinners because along with the trays were tons of cardboard boxes stacked along one wall proudly declaring, “Delicious Southern Fried Chicken Entreé with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy”.
A Carpet of Chicken Bones
It did not escape my attention that the floor was also littered with chicken bones. In fact, I couldn’t actually see any of the carpet. Apparently, our former resident had left the remains of his meals in the foil trays, flipped them over then stacked them.
Needless to say, it was one big, smelly mess! Our poor maintenance team had to use a shovel to scoop all the trash out.
Turning this unit was a big job that ended up costing the management company a lot of money. I’ve been in this business for many years, and I sincerely hope I never see (or smell) an apartment left in this kind of condition again!
From the book "I Have a Complex, But I'm Managing It!", stories from property managers compiled by Monica E. Simmons.\
In addition to her position as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for TVG Marketing Services, Monica is a published author. You can find her romance novels on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.
Contact her at: Monica@TheVendorGuide.com
