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You brought up a good point. I never actually had inspections until I moved into a senior building. That was in St Paul, Minnesota. Personally I think it was bogus and the managers were just snoopy but I had nothing to hide so didn't care.
It didn't happen again until I moved here and my first apartment was a HUD complex and this complex is section 8. I think it could be more federally mandated but not sure.
As for no refrigerator, I have never heard of that.
Strange. Where I live doesn't take section 8, and it's not a senior citizen building. I asked someone I know who lives down near L.A. and they, too, get the annual inspections. That is also not a section 8 building. The last time they came in, they checked the smoke detectors and changed the a/c filter - like, I don't need you all coming in and doing that for me.
I'm still convinced it's an excuse to snoop around.
I was just thinking this morning on my drive in to work, how I want so badly to try and explain to my sons the importance of being, to some extent, clean and organized. No, not to the "white glove test" level. But as a parent wanting to guide my sons, the hazards I see:
It is all too common when people form romantic relationships, that one of them cares more about the cleanliness of the house than the other, and I do not want either of my sons to be the kind of guy who assumes his girlfriend or wife will be "Mommy" and either clean up after him, or have to tell him what to do in order to get him to clean up after himself. That builds resentment plain and simple. And if they are both just happy being slobby, that is hazardous to children at a certain point. I want them to take the initiative to keep the place from getting disgusting. Frankly, a shower that hasn't been cleaned in over a decade, is a health hazard. Even in dry Colorado, you'll have a lot of mold. That is not a "oh, so I'm not a neat freak and you're judging me" thing...that's more serious. I want my sons to understand that if you do it ever few weeks, you only have to run a wet rag with a bit of cleaner spray around, do a quick scrub of the toilet bowl, and it takes like 10 minutes. If you wait months, or worse, YEARS, then you're talking chemical warfare and deep, difficult scrubbing, if not a complete gut and remodel, to take care of the filth. There is a point where being unclean crosses into actual damage of property.
As for being organized? What I want/plan to say to my sons is that suppose you get a bill, and even if you've got some regular rotation of bills to get paid, maybe it's a medical bill or something a little unusual, and since you are disorganized you simply toss this bit of mail into a pile of stuff somewhere and promptly forget about it, since you're busy trying to get food or log on to your favorite video game or something. And because you are disorganized and don't "get around to" straightening up, you really forget that bill. And then you wind up in collections over something you could easily have paid, with a bad mark on your credit that takes years to resolve, by the time you even know what's going on, because "woops!" All because you are just that disorganized and you don't care. At a certain extreme point, disorganization and clutter crosses into hoarding, too, which is harmful not to mention wastefully expensive. My ex was a hoarder, left to his own devices his version of "cleaning up" was to just shove all the stuff, with no organization at all, into big plastic tubs and stack them in the garage. Mixed junk. We probably owned 8 hammers, but had no idea where in the pile of tubs they might be, so if we needed one, we'd have to buy a new one. No big deal for a small, inexpensive item, but when all of your belongings are treated this way...
I'm not quite a neat freak. I like to collect a lot of odds and ends that make me happy, but every one of them has a spot where it lives. My papers and documents are all organized in one place, not heaped in piles mixed with trash everywhere. My dishes are done every day, my bathrooms cleaned before they get filthy. I neglect dusting and washing windows, that sort of thing...but I would not be embarrassed to have company over.
What really compounds problems is when people who have really negligent and disorderly cleaning habits, also have pets. Because those who cannot be bothered to do other basic tasks, are often the ones who end up with poop everywhere. Again, there are levels and levels to having a dirty house. Asking if it "makes you a bad person"...to me, that's just someone inviting judgment so that they can claim to be attacked by it. At the end of the day, none of the opinions here matter that much, nor do anyone else's if you just mean to live alone forever. It's your business. But I can tell you that I want better of my own home, I find it to be worth the effort, and I'm hoping that my kids accept what I try to teach them about it. In the bigger picture, I think it makes your life easier and prevents bigger problems, to stay more or less on top of basic cleaning.
My son turned out to be a neat freak. Part of it was that we couldn't 'play' until the house was clean. We lived in Minneapolis, which has a lot of parks and spent a lot of time in them.
When he was little his jobs were sweeping and dusting. By starting out young he learned the basics and also learned the rewards, not just a clean house but the freedom to have fun after work.
If you live alone and you don't care how it looks or how many dust bunnies are mating in the corners...
If you haven't cleaned your shower in a decade or more...
If people shudder when they look inside your fridge... Well, maybe they should stay out of your fridge. But I'm just saying...
Does that mean you're a person of poor character? Let's say you love kittens and puppies and donate to animal causes, are you still a reprobate because your home doesn't pass the white glove test?
I'm sincerely interested in this question: Is there a connection between being a slob and being a horrible human being?
Being messy and being a messed up person are two different categories. Psychopaths and racists are usually very organized and clean while great humans can totally lack skills to maintain a household. That being said, it makes one less stressed if they keep a balance between icing a a mess god/goddess and clean king/queen.
Strange. Where I live doesn't take section 8, and it's not a senior citizen building. I asked someone I know who lives down near L.A. and they, too, get the annual inspections. That is also not a section 8 building. The last time they came in, they checked the smoke detectors and changed the a/c filter - like, I don't need you all coming in and doing that for me.
I'm still convinced it's an excuse to snoop around.
They don’t need an excuse to snoop around. If you do not own the place you live, the person who does has every right to make sure his property is being taken care of.
Strange. Where I live doesn't take section 8, and it's not a senior citizen building. I asked someone I know who lives down near L.A. and they, too, get the annual inspections. That is also not a section 8 building. The last time they came in, they checked the smoke detectors and changed the a/c filter - like, I don't need you all coming in and doing that for me.
I'm still convinced it's an excuse to snoop around.
Any good landlord is going to do inspections and yes, it is to check on their unit, how you live and if you have any unauthorized pets or roommates
They don’t need an excuse to snoop around. If you do not own the place you live, the person who does has every right to make sure his property is being taken care of.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kim in FL
Any good landlord is going to do inspections and yes, it is to check on their unit, how you live and if you have any unauthorized pets or roommates
Again, I have lived in several states, many cities, many buildings in this country. CA is the only place I've ever encountered this nonsense. Treating people like they are too stupid to change a battery in a smoke detector by themselves.
I've had excellent landlords who never treated us like we were stupid, but apparently, the landlords in CA do...and I guess AZ since the poster I was responding to had to endure the same thing.
Being neat represents discipline, order, and stability. When I hear about messy people, I think of their lives as messy in some way, and I'm usually right.
Life is messy.
One of my friends is a great hostess. She's always the inviter, organizing something to take place at her home; etc. She is NOT the best housekeeper but I think that's why she makes entertaining a crowd seem effortless. She just doesn't stress about it as much.
Again, I have lived in several states, many cities, many buildings in this country. CA is the only place I've ever encountered this nonsense. Treating people like they are too stupid to change a battery in a smoke detector by themselves.
I've had excellent landlords who never treated us like we were stupid, but apparently, the landlords in CA do...and I guess AZ since the poster I was responding to had to endure the same thing.
Maybe California has some law that makes a landlord responsible in case of a fire. It wouldnt be the first time CA had a stupid regulation.
My sons property manager visits 4x a year. There’s no lame excuse, like changing a battery or an air filter. It’s just a requirement. It’s to the tenant’s advantage too, because they can get any problems corrected.
Again, I have lived in several states, many cities, many buildings in this country. CA is the only place I've ever encountered this nonsense. Treating people like they are too stupid to change a battery in a smoke detector by themselves.
I've had excellent landlords who never treated us like we were stupid, but apparently, the landlords in CA do...and I guess AZ since the poster I was responding to had to endure the same thing.
Because some tenants are too stupid to change a filter/battery or follow a lease.
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