Mrs. Oprouseck invited me to live with her. We agreed on rent and shared expenses, but she refused to put anything in writing. I kept a record of all monies exchanged. After I moved in she changed rules at whim and kept demanding more and more money from me. A second tenant moved in, but was only required to pay about half what I did. This included groceries, for which I paid over half, despite being only 1/3 of the household and despite the fact that Mrs. Oprouseck had relatives who stayed for extended periods and contributed nothing to the household.
After 9 months I gave her a 30 day notice and went to visit my family, informing Mrs. Oprouseck that I would return in a week. I asked her to respect my privacy and not touch my belongings or enter my room, as my rent was paid for the entire month. When I returned she had removed all of my belongings from my bathroom and haphazardly put them in the garage. She demanded that I stay in my room and not use any of the common areas (including the bathroom and kitchen!) for the rest of the month. I had a receipt for $124 worth of groceries that she prevented me from collecting, going so far as to slam the refrigerator door on my head!
She called the state police and allowed them to enter my room, without my knowledge or permission, lying to the officer by telling him she had always had free access to it. She told the officer I had marijuana and showed him where it was. When I told the officer that it was there with her full knowledge and consent, she lied and denied it. She made numerous false allegations that I had abused and threatened her, both to police and other agencies. The only "abuse" that ever occurred was when she threw a toilet brush at me (that was the day I decided to leave). I was told I by the officer that she had the right to put me out on the spot, despite having paid the next month's rent and utilities.
Because of her false allegations I had to get a police "escort" just to collect my own property. She refused to return many of my belongings, including my birth certificate, car title, tax returns, W-2s, and bank statements (the police proved less than helpful). Regardless of who was right or wrong, by what right does a landlord keep such personal documents?! She had also gone through all of my belongings (except for the boxes marked "books") and helped herself to whatever items she wished to keep.
I sued her, and she agreed out of court to refund my rent and utilities payments. I am still out about $1500 from excess moving expenses (I had to rent a large moving van and storage space and move all at once, rather than moving over the course of a month in my car and minivan) and from the items she outright stole from me. Loss all of those documents she kept has caused me a mountain of grief, the repercussions of which I am still experiencing 10 months later.
BTW she gets food stamps, Medicaid and assistance from various charities, which she would not get if she told the truth about how many people live in her house and how much she collects in rent (two new tenants moved in after I left). She is well aware that she is defrauding Social Services and Medicaid, as she does not let tenants receive mail at the house so that it appears she lives alone.
She also submitted forged documents to the J.P. Court and sent a forged letter to me, purporting to be from her lawyer. O.K., maybe I've smoked a little weed now and then, but she is a thief, a liar, a forger, a welfare cheat, and a very cruel, malicious and evil person. Avoid Eileen Oprouseck like the plague!
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