Being in the military requires me to move quite a bit. Being a military physician requires me to move with little notice. I finished my family medicine internship and had to be in Pensacola, FL to start flight surgeon school less than 2 weeks later. Due to military travel restrictions and having to work as a resident for 80 hrs/week, I resorted to finding a rental house on craigslist.org site unseen. I found a furnished house which fulfilled my requirements for the 6 months I had to be in Pensacola.
I was worried about a house smelling like pets so I asked my landlord (Sunny) about previous renters and pets. She promised pets hadnt been in the house during the past two rentals. Upon arriving to Pensacola, my parents (who helped me move in) and I were abhorred by the smell of cat urine permeating the house. Furthermore, we found the house more than furnishedit looked like Sunny had packed a bag and left the house as is. Things were everywhere with no room for my things. Sunny said she didnt have more than $50 to pay for carpet cleaning (it would cost around $200 to clean the carpets) and emailed me home remedies for me to do to take care of the stench. She gave me the option to wait several months when she was back in town and could pull up the carpet with my helpI assured myself that I was only going to be here for 6 months and could handle it; if I could handle living in a makeshift house as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador, I could deal with this because moving was too much work while in flight school which is known for its rigorous academics.
However, the issues became more complicated when she deviated from the contract with certain requests. She wanted me to forward all her mail to her. Moreover, she wanted me to pay what translated to be a flat rate for utilities. I refused in accordance with the contract and started paying the utilities myself. However, had already paid her the requested rate a few times before I figured out the scam. Because she would not calculate the finances to that point, I had to do it myself and figure out that she owed me hundreds of dollars. She disagreed despite a JAG calling her and confirming the calculations and gave me a 30 day notice. Because I was on a month-to-month lease, I had to move out for my remaining month in Pensacola. She still claims I owe her money for utilities. Now she is trying to take some of my deposit claiming I have stolen items from her house. She states she only rents to military members. I wonder how many members she overcharged and they didn't catch onto the scheme.
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