I have had enough of my hood and it’s time to move on. I knew when I first moved here that I wouldn’t be here long. But I took the place because I had gotten custody of my son and the government subsidized apartment I was in was not big enough. Also, it was just a block away which made moving easier. If I knew then what I know now about this place and the neighborhood.

Since being here things have changed. And not for the better I might add. The children that live on the block have no respect for other people’s property. And to make matters worse, their parents are no where to be seen while their children are outside causing terror. And heaven forbid if you should correct them or even ask where their parents are. Instead of asking what their children have done, they want to get into a full blown argument of how you should be minding your own damn business. And the kicker is minding your business or property is what got the whole thing started. No chance of being civil and the police are usually called.

And that is just the neighborhood, let’s move on to the problems of the actual apartment. Before I moved in, I asked the landlord were there any critters that I needed to be concerned with. His reply was that the house had no critters and that my neighbors in the building were quite clean. Well, maybe he should try living here. I complained to him about the problem. His suggestion was to go buy something that he said would solve the infestation problem. I did as he suggested but the stuff didn’t do any good and I told him this. His next solution was to bring a mentally challenged boy to spray around the house. That was a disaster in itself because the boy was spraying only one wall in certain rooms and if I didn’t move my cats he would’ve sprayed them as well. I know good help is hard to find but damn couldn’t he find someone who had all their faculties?

That’s when I decided enough was enough and to get my ASO involved since I am on their rental assistance program. I told my case manager about the situation and she even did a home visit. Probably much to her relief not a critter was in sight but then she really didn’t look for any either. I told her I would like to break the lease because according to our code enforcement here, the landlord is only required to exterminate before a tenant moves in. Something which was news to me but am sure my landlord knew. I only have two more months of my lease and am not behind on my rent.

It has been over a month since my case manager was here and my ASO seems to be dragging their feet about the ordeal which has me frustrated. I am quite sure they would not put up with the bugs. Since my case manager is only in twice a week, I decided to call the woman in charge of the rental assistance program. She supposedly talked with my landlord. According to her, my landlord said that he had an exterminator come in. I’d like to know when because he was the only one who came. And when he did, he came with the same stuff that he told me to use which didn’t work. And he put the powder down so thick that we were afraid that we would breathe the stuff in and that the cats would be poisoned. We had to barricade our cats off from those areas of the house. I was so pissed that I filed a complaint against him the same day. Funny that my case manager didn’t mention this to her.

Recently, a friend of mine told me about a house that went up for rent. He even showed me where it was. It was a nice quiet neighborhood. His sister lives a few doors over which also makes it a plus. It’s good to have someone on the block you can actually call a neighbor instead of a nuisance which is what my current neighbors seem to be. So, before even seeing the inside of the place, I was hooked. It was just a matter of getting in contact with the realtor.

After a few days of phone tag, arrangements were made and we (my two room mates) got to go take a look at the place today. After seeing the inside, it just made me want it all the more. While doing a walk through, another couple showed up which made my heart drop and I am assuming they have kids. I am hoping that the realtor will consider us since we are all older, have stable incomes, and no kids. From what I heard, they just poured money into the house getting a new roof and doing major remodeling in the inside.

We filled out our rental applications with the hopes that we will get it. I pray to the Goddess, Vesta (who is the Goddess of homes) that we get it. I know we all have our fingers and toes crossed.