Well, that happened, and it happened very fast. From finding out my neighbors were cheerfully poisoning me for years to casually going to an open house to finding out about a thing called a bridge loan that could allow me to get a new place and move there and then sell my old place when it was not full of stuff and thus might sell for enough to not wipe out all of my emergency savings, it was not a long time.
And I still had heard NOTHING from the management company of my home owners' association. It seemed clear to me that like most times before, they were not going to protect my health or enforce their own rules or the laws of Vadnais Heights or the State of Minnesota.
So I went forward. The 5th house was the charm. Made a full price offer less than 24 hours after seeing it. Accepted less than 48 hours after that. Cleared the inspection contingency. Was locked in. Told my neighbors. (Had to print out a version to tape on the drug neighbors' door, since he blocked me after admitting they were playing the game to win by claiming the half-outdoor cats were his Emotional Support Animals.)
And that night, drug neighbor's wife came to tell me they were moving out.
I had a moment of incandescent rage. I was moving to a house I couldn't afford and paying on two houses and 3 loans simultaneously to escape them, and they were already leaving. For real this time. Not like in 2019 when they said they were moving. Or 2020. Or August. Or September. Or "this winter." Soon. That month. October. And I knew nothing about any of it because the terrible management company for my HOA does not know how to do basic communication. Not even, "Thank you for letting us know; we're looking into it." Just . . . nothing. And hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt it was too late to back out on.
Drug neighbor's wife seemed confused and hurt, as they always do when they get called out for violating the HOA rules they signed onto when they moved here. They have truly never seemed to understand that when you share a building, an entrance, and entryway, HVAC venting, a small community, the things you do affect that community. And she confirmed that by saying, "I just don't understand why they [the HOA] think they can tell us what we can and cannot do in a home we own."
And I didn't have the energy to try to explain what community means. What it means that your actions impact your neighbors. That there are things you can do to make that impact positive, and poisoning the air is not one of them. That lying about your animals in a pet-free building when you know your neighbors have allergies is not one of them. That her dad signed on to those rules when he bought that condo for her and let her live there rent free for 10 years with her daughter, even when the abusive boyfriend her dad was trying to rescue her from followed her there and immediately started breaking rules and laws and making me miserable.
I wanted to tell her that she is not even the actual homeowner, that she owns nothing. That I do and they chased me out of the home I did own because they couldn't follow basic living in community rules. That I didn't have someone paying for my housing for 10 years while I wrecked the place so bad he had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to gut the place and make it saleable once they left. That I had just spent all the money I saved for the bathroom renovation of my dreams because I thought I was going to live there 15 more years, and I had to leave because they were threatening my health, livelihood, and life with their rule breaking. That I COULD NOT afford what they were forcing me to, but I was doing it anyway because I thought I had no choice, and the HOA could have let the people who move in after them do the exact same thing to me.
I said I hoped they would find a place that would better meet their needs, and she said they had a place where they paid a pet fee for her cats and it was a standalone house with no close neighbors, and that sounds right for their needs.
And me? I have a place on the ground floor, so my mom doesn't have to worry about me falling down the stairs (again) or my dad falling down the stairs when he visits next time. I have a little more space and a bit more light. I have quiet. I have no shared entrance or HVAC venting. There have not been pets here. I have to pay more than double for this, and it is further away from work and my church and my church small groups. And I don't know if it is worth it, but it is done. And if the old place sells fast, I will not even be paying the 3 loans simultaneously for very long.
So I sit here surrounded by boxes and chaos and too many things to do, and I am stressed and anxious about finances and overwhelmed and prone to overdoing it to the point of making myself sick. And I am thankful for all the blessings that allowed this all to happen, that I am away, that I have escaped and can make a new place for myself here and maybe be less sick and swollen and allergic all the time, that maybe I can breathe here no matter who my neighbors are or may be in the future.
I am also very tired. I think I will take a nice, quiet nap and be thankful for rest. And maybe try to write something more focused on the fun and adventure and joy of bringing order to chaos after a little rest.
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