My landlord, like me, does computer-related work for a living and is reasonably aware that Y2K is probably going to be a problem. She owns our house, which she is hoping we'll buy.

I am reasonably certain of two things:

1 - I will not have my current decent job after 1/1/00. This has nothing to do with my company, a huge gov't contractor, but has to do with living an hour's drive outside the city.

2 - I intend to use most of my resources (including money) to prepare for Y2K, and since I don't have lots of cash, will have to hope my tradeable items, skills and knowledge will work for me. So I will have little money when the time comes and if I have it, I am not giving it all to my landlord so I have none almost immediately.

She knows I am preparing for Y2K. I have told her about the garden and my concerns, etc. She doesn't live close enough (she lives out of state, her daughter lives about 12 minutes drive away and manages the place) to collect personally. I could probably trade the daughter some items/food, perhaps.

At some point I am going to have to talk to my landlord about the very real potential of me not being able to pay rent, period, when Y2K arrives. I need to do this in a way that allows me to keep my home when the time comes.

The bright side is, probably 25 properties in my tiny little town of 1000 people (NorthCentral TX) are for sale, and most have sat here totally unmoving on the market for eons. So I can tell her, as long as we are living here, at least nobody is going to be using the 14 (!) doors in the house as firewood.

Does anybody have any suggestions for other things I can tell or ask her -- negative or positive -- that might actually make her feel GOOD about my living here after that date, even if I can't pay rent?

(It's enough to make me wish for a minimum 8 rating, you know, so at least everybody would be in the same boat. She won't throw me out if nobody ELSE could pay rent, either. But if only I can't and some people could and would, well, then I have a real problem.)

PJ

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), March 17, 1999

Answers

PJ...At least you have the option of dealing with a PERSON and not a corporation. Might try to work out a reduced rent deal with her in exchange for labor on the place. Another option would be (in writing) work out a deal that if you could not pay rent for a specified period of time, that the owed rent would convert into a personal note for say....2003 or so. (You've got the same problem as 90% of the rest of us). Good Luck

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 17, 1999.

PJ why are you looking for something for nothing? Did you ever hear of responsiblity? Nobody rides for free!

-- R. Wright (blaklodg@aol.com), March 17, 1999.

Blaklodg (is that kind of like a cute little satanic black lodge name?), if you must be ignorant fine, but at least address the question. I suggested providing trade if rent was unavailable, physical security for the property at worst case. I asked for other ideas, of which you obviously have none, so why bother posting rudely? I'm beginning to understand posts that say things like, "Get a life, troll." And here I thought those were so impatient and unfair until now.

PJ

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), March 17, 1999.

You can't be bothered driving an hour to work, yet you expect your landlord to let you live rent free or accept stuff she may not want because of your beliefs about something that may or may not happen? Don't you have a MCDonalds close to where you live where you could work? Or has the world always revolved around you? How would you take it if tomorrow your boss decided to pay you in toilet paper because they decided to spend their money on something else? Your attitude appears to be that she should let you screw her over and then thank you for doing it.

-- Ellis Wyatt (John@Galts.gulf), March 17, 1999.

Trolls abound.

So, Ms Galt, won't the Free Market determine what's going to happen, regardless of yours or PJ's morality standards, or lack of?

If someone else can pay the rent, he'll be replaced. If not, then he'll probably be grudgingly welcome to stay and work out a deal. Lots of landlords had nonpaying tenants during the Depression, and lost their properties to tax repos.

-- moi (not@thistime.com), March 17, 1999.

PJ, don't quit your day job until it's actually impossible to get to it, or the shop shuts down. If things do get that bad, you'll have a LOT of company.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), March 17, 1999.

My suggestion would be to make small advance payments toward next year. That way, you don't have the temptation of trying to save back an extra $50.00 each month as a "rent fund", but then dipping into it because it is at your disposal. Physically give her an extra $25.00, $50.00, or $75.00, each month and keep a ledger on the extra payments. Have her sign the ledger each month or send you a receipt that acknowledges the extra payments and exactly what they are for and why. (Lay it out VERY detailed). Depending on your rent amount, you'll be able to build up some prepaid rent to help get over difficult times. It will also build extreme amounts of credibility and trust between you and your landlord, if they are any kind of human being at all.

Good luck, Mr. K
***who is glad he doesn't have to pay rent***

-- Mr. Kennedy (work@it.now), March 17, 1999.

I agree with the above post. Save some money for rent as part of you y2k preps. Be able to cover the taxes and insurance at minimum. If your landlord has a mortgage try to find out what the minimum she has to get to keep the mortgage current. I am a landlord with excellent credit, who wishes to keep my payments current through any disruptions. If things go Milne, and there is blood in the streets, then I will talk barter with my tenants.

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), March 17, 1999.

Bill, you brought up an excellent point.

Owners, be SURE you have an extra payment of your property taxes and yearly expenses to keep your land / home. Don't dip into it for ANYTHING except maybe having your arm sewn back on or something of similar nature.

Mr. K

-- Mr. Kennedy (disgusted@property.taxes), March 17, 1999.

The first and last were good advice. Thank you.

I should have been simpler (used smaller words?) for some. I see I was misunderstood, thoughperhaps deliberately.

I did not say nor mean to infer I simply want to get out of anything. And the comment about the job was pretty dim -- I was inferring that if we do not have access to gasoline (or worse situations), and I live 60 miles away via hilly highway, getting to work will be impossible, and in a small town where we have probably 1100 people and 20 mom-&-pop businesses and nothing else in even moderate biking distance, there are not exactly a lot of options. (Work at McDonalds, right -- nice to know they will be operating even if the rest of the world is not. What faith!)

If all the utilities and gas et al. are workable, the job is probably not a problem for me. My contract employer is probably pretty well prepared, one hopes anyway, they certainly have a lot of internal communications about the subject (and seeing as how we make fighter jets for half the world, I'd hate to think of us NOT being compliant, with the state of the military/world situations). I'd planned to allot a _small_ amount toward rent in the future -- but coming up with an extra year of rent in 8 months as well as preparation for lots of people all on a single mom's salary isn't easy. Coming up with anything more than probably 2-3 months rent will be very difficult for me and even that's if I put off certain necessary prep for that.

I was hoping for suggestions on how I could make it "worth it" to my landlord to keep me. If I'm jobless and others aren't, the issue is moot: someone will pay her rent. But if I AM jobless and most others are too, she's not losing much by having me here vs. somebody else, especially since I take good care of the house and big yard and will have a garden and chickens/rabbits I could provide items from, and maybe there is something I could help them gain, or trade, other than raw cash. I was hoping for ideas that I could use to talk the situation over with my landlord prior to the event.

Most people would just wait the 3-4 months it legally takes to get someone evicted, IF there is a fully operational court system et al. I was hoping for a better solution working WITH my landlord for what worked for her -- and as someone mentioned, maybe covering at least her minimum insurance/taxes pmt amount would be workable, or offering a note for the future IF it happens, or whatever. Thanks for the input, though not the silly attacks.

PJ

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), March 17, 1999.

PJ

The economy is great. Jobs are a dime a dozen. Get 2 jobs, get 3 jobs, save your money. If your savings don't last, get a tent. Sorry, thats life. Were capitolists, nobody rides for free.

-- R. Wright (blaklodg@aol.com), March 18, 1999.

Blacklodg will you babysit for PJ's kids while she's at her 2nd and 3rd jobs?

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), March 18, 1999.