Personal

You might think that the story I’m about to reveal to you is coming from a soap opera. I can assure you this is very real and all of this happened.

It’s about someone I thought was my friend, for quite a while. Six years to be precise. The whole things really starts when I was made redundant by Google. At that time I lived off severance money. Shortly after my contract ended with Google I was working for Activision to test DJ Hero (yes, my name is in the credits). However after that it became quite difficult to maintain the cost of rent in the room I was living in. So I was forced to make a choice, and this is where it all began.

And I heard as it were: The noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying: ‘come and see’ – and I saw
And behold a white horse!

Social Welfare only gives you so and so much, so obviously losing 580 plus bills for rent was not an option. I talked to the guy in question here about the situation, and he had a room available in his apartment, for 200 less rent. That sounded like a pretty intriguing offer to me, so I had a look. On that day I decided that I wanted the room, they also agreed. So we came to the agreement of me moving in immediately, which is what I did. Compared to the house I was living in before, this was a difference like day and night. Much more modern, and less in danger of the roof flying away at the next storm, or something else collapsing for not apparent reason. And to be perfectly honest it is a fantastic place for the price, a really cosy place. You see the mountains from the balcony… kinda awesome.

It should at this point be noted that I did pay the deposit to my friend in full, as well as the first month’s rent.

So that effectively took care of most of my financial issues, plus I would live with a good friend. Sounds good right? If only. You know what they say: if it’s too good to be true, well, it probably is.

I learned that he and her are trying to expand the small business they have. He sort of designs flyers for small restaurants which get printed in high quantities, 10,000, 20,000… you name it. She takes care of business matters, making deals, calls, that stuff. At the time that seemed fair enough to me. However in order to expand the business in a new area, they turned to me and my website design abilities. I should design websites for their clients and in return I get compensation. Fair? Yes. Besides I was kinda okay with that, I got something to do and not sitting around.

So then one day, it rang at the door. Two people were let in, a man and a woman. I did not hear everything, but these people seemed to have questions about the boxes in the hallway where the flyers were stored in. I also heard one of them wanting to know who else lives in this apartment. At that moment I was not very interested in what happened in the hallway, I just went for a shower. When I came out, they had gone.

After that, I was informed by her that there has been an issue with their business involving some financial problems… I will not say more than that. And that I am not to open the door for anyone, no matter who it is. It could be those people from the Finance department again, and they cannot have that. I didn’t care that much about it because I wasn’t expecting people anyways and I am a very cautious (and a bit paranoid) person by nature.

People rang a few times in the days after, but no one opened. Then, something utterly bizarre happened.

It again rang at the bell. Me and the girl who also lives here did not open. At that point I had already informed her about the fact that people from the Finance department may come around. The ringing stopped eventually. A few moments later, it knocked on the door. We also did not open… BUT!

Before that person left, an envelope came in from under the door. It was adressed to him and her. No stamp, no mail date. Names were written by hand.

I believed this to be very strange. A person comes around from somewhere, trying to deliver a letter by him- or herself. Also, I thought the business thing they run was sort of dubious, so naturally me and her needed to know the contents of that letter. We could not open it… But we held it against the light, hoping that the black letters would absorb the light, and thus make it readable.

And what do ya know… Subject: Termination of Tenancy Agreement.

Then I realized what it took:
To tell the difference between thieves and crooks.
A lesson learned for me and you.

My curiosity has most of the time been a weakness and got me into trouble… Not this time. You know when you get a termination letter, you screwed up pretty bad. And before such a letter comes, You get at least one notice. I immediately concluded that they must have gotten those already. The letter also mentioned something about rent arrears. Anyways, we wrote down the phone number and called the next morning.

Unfortunately because of privacy reasons, I cannot release all the information we had gotten from that, but here is a selection I can reveal:

- Not enough rent was paid
- Even with the sum that was paid a day before (that call), the sum they owed was still very high
- This had been accumulated over 5 months
- Me and my housemate were told the apartment went for 1,200 per month. However the agency said it is 1,000
- For 2 months when they moved in earlier this year, the apartment was priced at 1,200 – however laws or something came into play that forced landlords to lower the rent, and so the apartment was now 1,000 Euro. Me and my housemate were given the sum of 1,200 still
- Cats or animals are officially not allowed (you know, the cute cats I blogged about)
- We calculated how much me and my housemate pay and how much is left (to get to 1,000), which left us truly puzzled as to why they cannot come up with the money
- At a later stage, and most importantly, I found out they only paid 800 in total for the apartment!

Again, that’s just a selection.

I hope, you two, the ones I’m talking to here, realize that I have been paying half of your rent without a job. And the other housemate who lived here, who I have become friends with, also paid around 300. Although there is no law whatsoever that dictates how people have to price sublets at, this is quite outrageous, and to be frank, fucking unbelievable.

There’s a man going around taking names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won’t be treated all the same
There’ll be a golden ladder reaching down

When the Man comes around

In the days that followed, we uncovered more interesting information. Interestingly, most of it has had to do with me. I find that quite odd, for someone who knows me for six years.

So anyways, from the agency we learned that those two persons I mentioned earlier, were in fact people from the agency – not people from the financial department. There never were people from the tax office. That morning I remember coming out of my room, going to the bathroom for a shower. Me and my housemate were told that they asked my friend’s girlfriend who that was.

She said that she doesn’t know me, I wouldn’t live in this very apartment, doesn’t know who I am. Well if you’re reading this, I hope you do realize that I agreed on making websites for you and all.

We also learned that both always claimed my room was empty, no one would live here. There even was once occurence where my friend claimed the computer equipment (3 screens, tower, speakers, etc), was his. Wait what?!

So eventually the landlord came around a while ago to talk to them in person. My plan was to participate in that meeting… However – get THIS – my friend’s girlfriend thought it is best if I wait in her car with the cats.

Since I couldn’t blow my cover, I had to play along. So she actually put me in her car with the cats, and drove 500m away to another apartment block, to make sure me and the cats would not be seen by the landlord. Why? Because cats are not allowed and both apparently don’t want the landlord to know I live here.

Needless to say that the landlord obviously already knew I lived there, and he already knew about the cats. Me and my housemate told him.

If this isn’t weird enough already for you, well then stay on this channel, because we got more!

I was very well aware of the fact that both didn’t want the landlord to see me. However I had a suspicion that something else is going on, so I bought a webcam and connected it with my machine, downloaded a free motion detection software, and hooked the cam up with it. It was configured in a way that when the camera detects motion (new frame differs from previous one basically), it would make a photo and save it.

So shortly before she took me into the car, I activated the cam and the software. When I came back and had a look at the footage, I did not quite believe my eyes.

The guy who I called a friend actually entered my room and is a 100% searching for something important.

If you’re reading this, then you should be aware that even as a subletter, entering the room that is rented to someone else without his/her permission is a criminal offense.

The suspect enters my room, clearly closing the door behind him. He sure didn’t want anyone to know he is inside.

The next frames show him looking for something specific, then sitting down in my chair. On my right side on the desk I had a stash of papers (for the websites I was creating for you!), through which he most likely did a browse.

In this frame the suspect appears to be disappointed or rather a bit angry about the fact that he did not find what he was coming for. This is shortly before he leaves the room.

The suspect leaves. After this my door was opened once more by his girlfriend, but she did not enter.

After talking to some people, it seems to be highly probable that he was looking for the rent agreement he once printed and signed for me to get social welfare money. This would make sense as this is a piece of evidence showing that I live here, which must not be seen by the landlord and therefore must disappear.

The webcam that caught him, 7.99 Euro in PC World. And yes, that is WindowMaker with NeXTSTEP theme on the right screen

Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down

When the Man comes around

So for some unknown reason, both of them don’t want the landlord to know I live there – where as with my housemate that was not a problem?

Why he entered my room is not entirely clear. I can only speculate that he came for the rent agreement.

Now in the days that followed, not much was said about this. When I asked him what this was about, he only said that there had been problems with the money and the rent… but not the real extent of the problem (which I however already knew).

What I find really disturbingly odd is, that even though they knew about their eviction, they acted as if nothing had happened. We have gotten several confirmations from the agency over email that they definitely have to go on their eviction date. Yet… they didn’t seem to be engaged into activities one should do in that sitation, for example, finding a new place.

In the days that followed, things were relatively quiet – until the Saturday night before eviction date. At around 11PM our two people in question started to question my housemate. Basically they needed proof of her having paid this month’s rent. Apparently they an appointment with a legal council on Monday, but when asked for a specific time on Monday, she always said to have to have that receipt first. Interestingly, also when asked if they could show documents to us, proving that there are in fact no rent arrears, they said it would be no problem to show them in this very moment – yet they didn’t show them to us. At the end of the conversation, she again asked for the receipt. My housemate said that she is gonna provide that once they provide documents to show that there are no rent arrears. She said those are gonna be provided later. My housemate then stated that in that case, her receipt would also be shown later. The conversation ended with her saying ‘well then I gonna find another way’ (I know that, I recorded the conversation )… which I interpreted as a threat.

It should also be noted that during the conversation, they claimed that suddenly that landlord ‘now’ knows I’d live here. I don’t get it either – but… I have it on tape, so. And yes, I know that I cannot do anything with that audio tape. It’s only for me and for playback purposes. It’s not admissable in court. Happy now?

So as time passed by, some other things had happened which I am gonna spare you of. What I’ve said here should draw quite a picture. Let’s just say that I had become the middle-man in a legal fight that was not mine to neither win or lose, so I decided to put an end to this, and as of Jan 28., I had found a new place. I informed my former friend about that and probably detonated a highly devastating bomb – as I believe they relied on me living there and pay rent. Either way. Here are some lyrics of one of my favorite Scooter songs (yes I like them… let the flame war begin).

I take it to extremes
I play it 1-2-3
Mutilate my dreams
Mirror turned on me

Plead, then I go on like a sneak
Do not rob – do not thief
Be keep headstrong, never be weak
No surrender, no retreat!

Speak no lie…
I tell the truth.
Time will tell ya:
Who is who!

Vicious and clean, edge like a razor
Words to hit you… like a Laser!
The free, the sweet one,
The short and the brief one…

I am The Chaser

Scooter
The Chaser
Mind The Gap

Just one more thing though. I know you’re about to build a house. And you cannot afford this place?

And in case you two think of commenting or communicating, I have blacklisted your IPs, email addresses (yes these features do exist in WordPress), and blacklisted your phone numbers.

It’s been a nice show, I certainly have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of this… The curtain is now down, thanks for staying with us, join us next time! I’m sure there’ll be another entertaining tale of my life. Delivered to you in high-definition and 256-bit true anti-aliasing. And all, of course, commercial-free. Until then.

Well my “friend”… it’s been interesting.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts…
And I looked and behold, a pale horse.
And his name that sat on him was Death.

And Hell followed with him.