Owners! What goes in that closet?

[DBOldford]

I keep extras of all toiletries and my beach clothes in there, also some items that we like to have out that have special meaning to our family. I also keep a set of watercolor paints and sketch paper and my special plates, etc. Generally, I don't keep anything in the house that couldn't be replaced or lost without angst. But it is so nice to get on the plane with just a purse and the dog. We also keep things like sunblock, moisturizer, a first-aide kit, etc. in there. These are things that would tend to disappear over the course of a busy summer. Same with hairdryers. People pack them and they disappear, so we stopped providing them. I don't think people really mean to filch such items, but they get mixed up with other stuff and packing occurs quickly prior to a 10:00 a.m. checkout.

Basically, there is nothing in an owner's closet that would make picking the lock worth a renter's time and effort. We have never had that happen, to our knowledge.

 

[Beach Runner]

Basically, there is nothing in an owner's closet that would make picking the lock worth a renter's time and effort. We have never had that happen, to our knowledge.

One of our neighbors in GA who also owns on 30-A had his owner's closet robbed by the cleaning service. What I have can't exactly be pawned - I mean, how could anyone frequenting a pawn shop know the value of Peacock Alley? So I don't worry about it. I just want my stuff there and undamaged when I want to use it.

 

[katie blue]

Basically, there is nothing in an owner's closet that would make picking the lock worth a renter's time and effort. We have never had that happen, to our knowledge.

Sigh...sadly, it happens. Happened to us this spring. Some woman rented our house (illegally) for about a dozen 17-year olds, who proceeded to trash the house with a food fight, (resulting in a dozen holes in the wall, mustard stains everywhere, spaghetti stuck to the ceiling, just for starters.) They jimmied into our owner's lockout, drinking all the liquor, and smashing our bikes to smithereens. They took our rubbermaid storage units and filled them to the brim with leftover burgers and brats, which we found in the backyard, left out in the sun and rain for 2 weeks...mhmm, good times. :roll:

Luckily all was fixed, and we got new bikes out of it. And I'm certain there's one woman who will never sign over her credit card for her son's friends again! So moral of the story--yes, it can happen. I just wouldn't leave anything in there that's irreplaceable.

 

[Landlocked]

The worst damage I ever did to anyone's condo was to walk into the closed sliding glass door.

That was just a LITTLE embarassing.

The only thing broken was my dignity.

 

[ktmeadows]

Sigh...sadly, it happens. Happened to us this spring. So moral of the story--yes, it can happen. I just wouldn't leave anything in there that's irreplaceable.

Ohmygosh...how awful! I can only imagine how terrible it must have been to walk into that mess after they left! Can't believe anyone would be so inconsiderate (and dumb!) to rent a house for a group of unsupervised 17 year olds. She's lucky none of them were injured (or worse!)

 

[katie blue]

Suffice it to say there were 3 single-spaced pages of itemized damages incurred in that incident. We were horrified for what the neighbors must have gone through. ( (I wonder if my neighbor Camp Creek Kid heard all the commotion.)

The worst thing was the "meat" debacle...there was no dumping those full RUbbermaid bins...my poor husband just had to roll up his sleeves and pull out all the rotten food by hand. Plus, you won't believe the stuff that 17-year olds drink these days. A dumpster full of empty bottles of sweet high-octane alcoholic garbage with names like Watermelon Zap, Ice Rush Stinger, Mad Dog, what have you.

Oh, and another thing to beware: they turned our water heater up to 160 degrees...burning out the heating unit and potentially burning down the house. Horrified doesn't even come close to what we felt that weekend.

 

[Paula]

I think anyone who sees or has a hunch that this is happening in a rental property should contact the rental agency if possible (usually the name of the agency is posted). That happened a few times in our community and people were asked to leave the rental and I believe they lost their money (since they lied about their ages and chaperone being there -- too young, no chaperone).

So, let's all look out for each other's properties. It's pretty easy to spot excessive partiers and under-agers.

Someone took a bag of clothes that I had clearly labeled as my clothes and put high up on the shelf. Don't know if it was cleaning people or guests, but now I lock a few things up and won't miss them too much if they're gone.

 

[kathydwells]

The worst damage I ever did to anyone's condo was to walk into the closed sliding glass door.

That was just a LITTLE embarassing.

The only thing broken was my dignity.

Was that after the fifth of Tequila?

 

[kathydwells]

Katie,
That is awful what you had to go through. I hope the kids had to pay for the damage!!!!

 

[katie blue]

Katie,
That is awful what you had to go through. I hope the kids had to pay for the damage!!!!

Well, the mom got the bill. I can only hope she's making them flip one heckuva lot of burgers this summer paying her back. Let's hope it was a lesson to all of them, mom included.