Been raining. The leaking has increased. Came home from shopping last night and the window sill was all wet and water was running down the wall again--on the right side now.
The maintenance man came this morning and told me that it is because of the construction of the windows. He said that the construction company was supposed to put this sticky rubber seal thing around the window before they installed the window frame--but they decided to skip that altogether when they built the place. He said there are a lot of windows that are leaking like this from the woodwork--in both buildings. There is one apartment in the other building that has water leaking from every window--running down the window panes and dripping--and the carpeting is wet back almost a yard from the wall. They are sending out some men from the construction company to seal all the windows in both buildings--starting next Tuesday. The worst ones will be first on the list.I told him that I still think there is also a roof leak. Makes no sense for this to be from the rain. If any windows are getting hit from the rain it is the living room windows. The bedroom windows don't get touched by the rain usually--and when they do, it is only at the very bottom and never at the very top--not even in a horrible wind. I still think the water is coming from a leak in the roof--regardless of whether the window needs this rubber gasket around it or not. The lack of a seal around the window may be the reason water is coming thru the woodwork--but where is the water coming from in the first place? It is not coming from rain hitting the window. That makes no logical sense.
Anyways, they will be coming to mess with the windows. If they don't fix the roof, water will still be coming down inside the walls--and they will have to deal with it eventually--IMHO.
Okay--speaking of constrction companies... It was Dagan who called me last night about he and Leah taking me shopping. Told me they had just moved out of their friends' basement the night before--not into the house, tho. Said they'd fill me in when they got here.
Well, they are now in a small, empty, older house in West Fargo. It is furnished--the guy had been trying to sell it because he got a job in Jamestown, ND. So they could rent it for a month for $500--no lease--and they went for it. At least they have no lease and are on their own and have their privacy again. When they moved in with the friends, they thought it would only be for a week or two. (As we all know--that construction promise was a fantasy--yet another lie.) The way the housing market is--odds are this house will remain on the market for a while. It was built in the 1930s and still uses oil heat! So, at least they don't have to feel they are imposing on anybody any more. :) Not that their friends weren't nice about everything, but--you know how it is--you want to be in your own space.
Today--the kids are going to a meeting with the bank folks. It looks like Dagan and Leah are probably going to lose the house before they ever live in it or even finish it. The loan is up in the beginning of July--and the house is nowhere finished. Sounded like Dagan and Leah would have to come up with like $30,000 to keep the house--which, of course, they cannot do. They have not seen anybody from the construction company for at least a couple of weeks. Dagan and Leah figure the company owners know they aren't going to get paid for finishing this house and have just vanished. Not answering calls or emails. And now there is all the trouble with the mismeasured cabinets (separate problem with Home Depot)--there still is not even a bathtub upstairs--no working plumbing in the house. This whole experience has been a year-long nightmare for them.
And yes--it has been a year now. They signed on the house on June 28, 2007. The house was supposed to be done by November--December at the latest. Dagan and Leah have it in writing (email) where they told them to go ahead and give their notice for the end of April--that the house would be done--etc, etc, etc......
Anyways, Dagan and Leah expect to know what is happening and if the house will go into foreclosure--today--this afternoon. They are at the point where that would be a relief! What would they actually have to live in if they ever did move into that house? They had a man come out who does structural analysis--and he found sooo many things wrong....
Dagan and Leah might sue them--haven't decided. (I would think the odds are that the construction company will file bankruptcy as a new company and they wouldn't be able to get anything from them in the long run.) They don't have to decide on that until they know how things will go with the bank--the house. But they are at the point that they really don't want this lemon of a house. You have seen many of the pictures--and Leah didn't take pictures of some of the first (biggest?) construction flaws/weirdness early on--like the crazy way they connected the house and the garage. I think this house might have so many problems that I really hope they can't keep it--even if it does ruin their credit, you know? I know Dagan and Leah feel this way, too. It would be a relief to wash their hands of it, you know? Let the bank hire somebody else to go in and re-do and finish and fix it up, etc.
Here are all the pictures Leah took and her explanations of the whole saga.
So--I am actually hoping that they will lose the house. That sounds weird, but it is true. They would be relieved of this burden--this endless money pit of a house. Everything has seemed to go wrong from the moment they signed the papers! Right off, the construction company insisted Dagan and Leah carry the building loan, the house wouldn't fit on the lot....all the way down to the most recent huge thing--that all the cabinets were measured an inch too wide by the subcontractors from Home Depot! And it has been so wet that there are pools of water--still--so that the cement hasn't been able to be poured yet--still. It has just felt like the Universe or The Powers That Be just didn't ever want them in that house. Dagan and Leah seem perefectly at peace with renting for a long time--or forever. But they'd like to rent a duplex or something like that--not rent in an apartment building again.
I will let you know, of course.
Last night Dagan, Leah, and I went to Target--Bed, Bath and Beyond--and Office Max. I ordered my KitchAid mixer finally! And I picked up a whole bunch of bulldog clamps to help me with bookmaking--had an Office Max coupon--buy $25 and save $10!! Then we went over to the little house in West Fargo and they showed me where they are living now--temporarily, anyways. We hung out there for quite a while and Leah told me about how her job has changed with the company she works for.
Leah no longer answers calls! Very busy all day long, tho--busier than she used to be. Leah is sometimes on conference calls one right after the other all day long. She is making up a training manual, trains in the employees (via conference calls to India), oversees the complaint department, and lots more! Dagan says she has become middle-management! (She should get a raise, too! Soon!)
So--they will be okay. They both have good jobs. (Leah has two of them, actually--hopefully she'll get a good raise and be able to quit the part-time second job!) All this craziness with the house--they admit that it is partially their own fault, too. They really wanted a house--knew nothing, basically--so they made mistakes. But I believe the vast majority of the blame lies with the construction company--the people who were supposed to know what they were doing and who Dagan and Leah relied on to at least basically tell them the truth.
Dagan and Leah are going to file all the paper work with the Better Business Bureau and with the Minnesota Attorney General's office to complain about the construction company. I'll let you know tomorrow if they heard anything concrete or not about the house. Seems like a long, horrible dream! Bad financial outcome or not--I hope the nightmare will be over soon. My heart breaks for them. But I know they will be okay in the long run. They have each other. They are good souls.
What goes around, comes around. Whether Dagan and Leah sue them or not--those people will get what is coming to them one day. Everybody does. Just how life goes. You reap what you sow. Dagan and Leah are already paying for their mistakes in judgment. The balance can be quick or slow--but there is always balance. If not in this life.... And you're better off if it is in this life and quickly--because you learn faster. It is easier to make the connections of the consequences when they come quickly--so you can waste less time in this life on your own foolishness, right? hehe!
All of this will be resolved--soon, I hope.
Say a prayer. :)
Oh--and we had a very nice time last night--with some smiling and laughing, too! Life goes on.
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