The Travel Chica

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The Day Cruella Put Me Out on the Street

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Surviving Cruella.

One night I decided to stay at a friend’s apartment to avoid the awkwardness of waking up and sharing coffee sitting across from Cruella at her tiny kitchen table.  I was only two weeks into my one-month lease with Cruella, and avoidance was the only mechanism to survive the full month.

I had packed my clothes and some toiletries.  The next day I busied myself around the city.  I checked my email late afternoon, a few hours before I planned to return to the apartment.

I received the following urgent message from my rental company.

I received a message from Cruella today.  I don’t know what happened.  She packed up your things and left them at the administration office and changed the apartment lock.  I think she’s crazy!


My immediate thoughts:


Thought #1: Yep, she really is crazy.

Thought #2: What if she stole some of my things?

Thought #3: Crap!  Crazy biotch is going to keep my deposit – a full month’s rent!

Thought #4: Crazy biotch broke the contract and owes me two weeks rent!

Thought #5: Must find place to sleep tonight.

I stayed with my friend again that night.

But for all Cruella knew, I did not have anywhere to stay nor enough money with me to buy a night at a hostel.  The cruelty of this woman truly surprises me.  As much as I disliked her, I never imagined she was capable of doing something so malicious.  The thought of being cheated out of several hundred dollars is infuriating.

I am glad I went through a rental company versus answering a random ad on Craigslist.  I feel like I am not in this alone.  The woman from the rental company was very concerned and upset that this happened and even offered to let me sleep on her couch if I had nowhere else to go.  I have hope that they will help me get the money owed to me.  I have a feeling the legal system would not be worth the time or effort for this amount of money.

However, I am not one to be wronged and do nothing about it.  And I have nothing but time… and supportive new friends in this city who are full of creative ideas to get my money back or at least get back at Cruella.

On the bright side, I am no longer living with Cruella and her ridiculous rules.

Readers have shared some awful (and funny) roommate/ landlord horror stories in my past posts.  Anyone actually been thrown out?

Comments

    • Actually, I was very polite and left her a note because she was not home when I left. I didn’t want her to worry (like that would actually happen) or think something happened to me.

      I think when she saw the note, she knew she had enough time to kick me out and jumped on the opportunity.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Recoleta vs Chacarita – The Winner Is…

  2. The simplest explanation is that she is a thief. Her actions always were intended to drive you away and break your lease agreement resulting in a windfall for her without her having to share her living quarters. It is surprising that you lasted as long as you did. It was especially surprising to her (even after she insulted you for being an American) that you stayed. The ever increasing “crazy” restrictions were just an escalation in her efforts to get you to leave but to keep your money. Your overnight stay at a friend’s place was just an opportunity for her to get you out. You already had a lot of your stuff with you – less stuff for her to tote to the rental office. I would have been surprised if she intentionally stole anything belonging to you. The type of theft she is perpetrating depends upon this looking like a typical tenant/landlord dispute to avoid any significant interest from the authorities.

    Because you went through a rental company it is likely that she violated the agreement that she had with them as well as with you. The rental company is likely to have more resources and leverage to make things right.

  3. Wow, she really is a crazy biotch! You’re better off, hun.

    I’ve never had a bad landlord/lady but my last housemate was a complete nutcase. She was five years older than me (she being 29) yet her daddy paid her rent and everything for her. I lost a job while I was living there and had told the landlord my rent would be a couple of weeks late. He was fine with that and told me to let him know when I paid it. My crazy housemate overheard me tell my boyfriend this and, rather than actually talk to me about it, told her mother who, in turn, contacted my boyfriend’s parents to see if they had *my* parents’ phone number.

    Why?

    Luckily they didn’t have my parents’ number and I ended up just confronting my housemate when her mother was visiting. I’d like to say I handled it like a mature adult but I pretty much just lost my shit with them and demanded to know what the hell my parents had to do with MY (yes, me, an ADULT) rent because, unlike some spoiled little rich kids, I started dealing with my own finances when I was 18. Or maybe they wanted to speak to my grandparents about my parents’ mortgage?

    Yeah, so the moral of the story? Don’t move in with highly-strung, high-maintenance princesses. :-S
    Ceri recently posted..Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot- and Never Brought to Mind

    • Wow, that’s pretty bad. I guess when you’re that dependent on your parents, you think it’s totally normal to “tattle” on someone else to their parents.

      I think if she called my parents, they would have said, “So what. She’s an adult. She can pay her own rent and deal with the consequences if she can’t.”

      Of course, they’d help me if I came to them, but those of us who are adults like to try to live like we are adults 😉
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Recoleta vs Chacarita – The Winner Is…

  4. I really think you are better off out of there, despite the hardships. Hopefully, the rental company can get your money back. Even if they can’t it is better than the enormous stress of living there another two weeks.

  5. OMG! I can’t believe this.

    You should publish her name, address, email and phone, and hopefuly poeple will see this before renting her place.

    If you do that I will call her or email her until she gives you your money back, eventhough I’m sure the rental company will get it for you.

    I hope you have a place. If you need an emergency couch let me know. You can stay at my place.

    • I do have a place now, but I appreciate the offer. So many people have offered to help me in this situation. I know I won’t leave Buenos Aires thinking bad things about the people because I’ve met so many other wonderful people that offset the behavior of this crazy woman.

      I may take you up on the offer to bombard Cruella with emails and phone calls. I’ll let you know 😉
      The Travel Chica recently posted..The Day Cruella Put Me Out on the Street

  6. I enjoyed very much your blog, stories (specially Cruella´s) and photography.
    I´m from BA (a porteño) and I live in Santiago, Chile now for 6 years, but I can tell you that if she threw you out changing the key and leaving your staff that means that she broke the contract between you both, she has to pay you back.

  9. Lucky you got you all of your luggage, I think the rental company needs to help you get your deposit back, did they find this place for you . Hope you get it back and I am sure her conscious will take her you know where….

    Cheers and happy travels

  10. In my mind, I am using “the C-word” for Cruella. I think it is justified. She always intended to drive you out and keep your deposit. Two months of rent money for providing less than one month of board? What a deal! She’s probably a professional insurance scammer, too.

    If she actually relies on rental income, the best revenge would be to blacklist her as much as possible (on the Internet) to other travelers. That…or leaving a flaming bag of feces on her porch.

  11. OMG, I cannot believe after all her insane rules she did that. I hope you get your money back. What a wench! Hopefully your discussions with the rental agency will keep others from renting from her.
    Lisa recently posted..Beautiful Barbados

    • The rental agency I used already said they would never rent her place again after I told them about her rules. So now that she broke the contract, they definitely won’t. The problem is there are so many other agencies and websites for rentals that it won’t stop her from doing this to someone else.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..The Day Cruella Put Me Out on the Street

  12. Better off out of it obviously. Although if I read a post from you soon detailing how you squeezed your money back out of her it will make my week!
    robin recently posted..Boda

  13. Oh no this is really over the top, especially after how SHE has behaved. Glad you had a place to stay, and how nice of the lady from the rental company that she also offered you a place to stay. I hope that you can at least some of your unused rent back. Looking forward to hearing your next steps.
    Laurel recently posted..Surfing in Munich

  20. Another plus is that you got a good chunk of blog fodder from the experience and a great story to share with your grandchildren 😉

  21. Hi… I just read your story.
    I’m a brazilian guy, 23, I live in Buenos Aires… So I know how people here can be… crazy…
    If you need any help or a place to sleep a couple of days, let me know!
    I’m shocked how some people can be cruel!!

  25. This is awful- I can’t even imagine what I would have done if I received that email!! What a psycho- luckily you are happier now and safer as I’m not sure what she would have done if things progressed!!

  28. Dear Stephanie, been reading all the comments on the situation you went through. The best advice is put it behind you. Focus on why you went to Bueinos aires, to Photograph the people and the countries and the events going on there., and the other places you have been. Don’t let “her” take your joy from you. There are other “good, decent, honest” people that you will have the opportunity to meet and get on with what you set your goals on when you planned this time to be out of the USA. “Our Sis,” group is keeping you in prayer. And “JESUS’ is watching over you to perform great works. We have faith in you. NEVER try and get back at anyone, let GOD take care of the situation. Remember , life is to short to let anyone “steal” your joy. Love Grandma

  29. Some people are only out to do terrible things to people. She is SO one of them. I believe in the law of karma, what goes around, comes around and often does so astoundingly.

    You had to endure her insanity (come on TP? Nobody fucks with my TP ration), but she has to stay being a bitch, living in her own skin. Ick! You’re lucky to be you! And savvy enough to know what to do next time.

    I’ve always had good luck with roommates, it was my Chinese slumlord who was awful. I had a problem with my sink leaking. One day I came home from errands and he was in m apartment unannounced, standing there! Said he was there to *fix* it. You can’t do that in Vancouver, you have to give a tenant 24 hours notice before entering their suite.

    He never, ever fixed anything, was cheap, yet drove around in a gold Mercedes. Next time we had a run in, the pipes in the basement burst, and I had to endure 2 weeks with no hot water. He kept saying he’d fix them, then wouldn’t. One day I reamed out his daughter who he used as his mouthpiece, saying I effing pay rent here and deserve what’s owed – HOT WATER. She moved fast on that hot water then.

    I was elated the day I moved out. FREE! And yes, I can say the Chinese part, because I am part Chinese, so there’s no racial layer here.

    And sorry for swearing in front of your grandma. Hi grandma! :)
    Nomadic Chick recently posted..Chinese Puzzles Not So Puzzling After All

  31. Sorry to use a nickname and a false email address, but I do this just not to be exposed. I’ve just read the post and won’t even read the comments cuzz of one thing: Argentines are CRAZY. No matter how many good friends you think you have to help you through these sort of situations, I BET each one of them did something alike Cruella. I know what I am talking about. I had a great life in Argentina but I had all sorts of deceptions when it came to Argentine “friends” and landlords/mates etc. I wasn’t thrown out – it was worse than that. At least I managed not to be stolen THOUSANDS of dollars from my deposit. Yes, thousands. I think the bEST situation is to live with foreigners, even though, as we all know, PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE and anything can happen (I had my share of crazy Germans and other Europeans). But I hope I NEVER EVER have to live with argies again. TIP: when renting a flat from an argie landlord make sure he/she is FILTHY rich. That’s at least the only situation that did not bring me problems, perhaps cuzz the guy never cared for pennies. And I am not talking middle class. I am talking that REcoleta’s 1% of Argentine society (or wherever you may find them, mostly the one all other argentines call “hijos de puta – gorillas de derecha – dictadores – milicos”). Argentinás middle class is just a bunch of empoverished self entitled “cultured”people that wanna have habits that are not their own and show a behaviour that is not natural of their extract.

    Please just do not call me deluded nor anything like that. I just post this here cuzz these stories turn my stomach and I hope I can have a word to help. I agree with you and I wish you the best. Remember: argies outside, foreigners inside. That was the attitude that ade me go thru my last time in Argentina. I lived 1- alone 2- Argentine crazy “friend”(but I did not know the extent of it and even after all my experience, that was a person I knew and, well, never thought she would be really sick… she did not do anything against me, however. I just fel tooooo bad there) 3- with foreigners from a very cold country that seldomly spoke to me (GREAT situation, we got to talk little by little and ended up in a very respectful situation at home, we still communicate and I LOVE them, even if they do not know it). I prefer silence to someone giving me strange rules and / or telling me things that would be useless. =) I will visit them in a year in their country, I hope. It was REALLY great, cuzz when i opened the door, I was in Argentina… When I came back home, I knew I was i ANOTHER COUNTRY, not one of my own (I am from a different country than theirs), but one in which I was respected.

    I wish you ALL the best.

    You do not need to publish this if you don’t want to, I just wanted to send you a message, I know you will get this!

    Good luck. Bye.

  32. As an expat in another country you usually don’t have any idea of the existence of control offices and you might think you’re living in a chaotic place with no rules, that’s far from the truth at least in Argentina because there are lot’s of controls and consumer defense here, you just have to know the right people to explain you how to find them. You should have press charges in the local district police department explain what happen and they will conduct the investigation, do not add more things because she could press a counterclaim. As soon as possible you have to press charges in one of these offices:

    Ombudsman’s:

    http://www.defensorba.org.ar/

    Consumer advocacy:

    http://www.consumidor.gov.ar/

    (they won’t charge you for the lawyer fees, it’s free for you)

    After this she’ll be calling you to apologize and offer you to resolve the issue by giving your money back.

    P.S.: Gee, the comment from LadyLady, i can’t believe someone put a whole society at the same level just because of one person; open your mind and try not to be so self centered you’ll be a happier person.

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