I am well aware that it is the beginning of the month and my landlords (I seem to have several these days) will be eagerly anticipating the receipt of rent. Yet I am not exactly eager about handing it over given the events that have been occurring rather regularly this month. And the responsibilities they (all of them) have neglected rather diligently.

One of the loopholes I am considering using is the fact that it is quite legal to withhold rent (does that have two h's... not sure) if a landlord has not provide his or her full name and legal address. The most troublesome person (the induhvidual from a recent post) has some undisclosed relationship with this property and/or the new management company and/or the orginal landlords (the ones on the lease). I have asked for clarification of his status by email to the original two several months (or at least one month) ago and received a considered non-response. I think that was just about the time the new management company came into the picture, but I'd have to check my notes of which I have many, to be certain of that sequence of events.

In the past week I have made a (recorded) direct request for clarification ("Does he work for you?") of the management company. No direct answer was received. I have made two major complaints about his behaviour regarding his blocking me into the drive and then parking in the other tenant's spot beside me and (inadvertently?) spraying white paint on my Jeep. After the second incident, I took my Jeep directly to the offices of the management company and made the manager who's been signing the notices sent to tenants of this building witness the paint because, as I told her, this induhvidual is very good at maintaining that black really is white. I recorded this event as well.

I told the manager at that time that I want the induhvidual to stay away from my vehicle including abstention from parking in the spot beside me. The manager said a letter would be written.

The very next day, the induhvidual's truck was again beside mine in the drive. I called and reported this to the manager and he was made to move it. I had told the manager on my first visit that I would involve the police if I had to. We're getting close today.

[This post interrupted at this point for the A/C removal. A pleasant experience... the young man who installs and uninstalls the units is a friendly chap. He even came to meet Oliver!]

Just after the A/C unit was removed, I was outside getting the screen back in position in my window when -- you guessed it -- the induhvidual pulls into the spot beside me and parks. Walks toward me and I ask about what he is doing. He feigns ignorance and when I tell him to get his truck out of the drive just chuckles. I take some pictures and call the management company office. Closed on Saturdays but there's an emergency number to call. I leave a message and tell them I am calling the emergency number, too.

Talk to the poor guy on that number. He normal deals with physical emergencies and basically just calls a repair guy to come and deal with whatever. Nice to know that will take place if I have such an emergency. I explain my "emergency" and he patiently tells me he doesn't have any phone numbers for anybody involved who may be able to help -- landlords (real ones) or the induhvidual. I have the induhvidual's first name only and cell number and provide them to him. He says he'll see what he can do.

He is good enough to call me back and tell me that the induhvidual maintains that he has permission from the tenant in whose spot he's currently parked to use it and there isn't much more he (the emergency guy) can do for me. I thank him and tell him I will check with the other tenant and ask that she not give out this kind of permission, presuming she has at all (I tell him about black and white, too).

My kitchen window is open and I get to overhear the induhvidual talking to an unknown person (but I suspect from the content it is the property manager for whom I left a message). I hear the usual extreme statements: he's got permission to use that spot whenever the (other) tenant is not using it (very unlikely from my discussions with the other tenant and I suspect this constitutes some kind of libel or slander or somesuch -- she is just as fed up as I with being made to wait to enter her spot by people who aren't authorized to park here); if he doesn't park in the drive, he'll have to park four blocks away (again, there's two hour parking across the street from this property -- unlimited on the weekends, and unlimited a half a block away); he's "managing the property, you know ... if something needs fixing, grass cut, laundry room cleaned out ... he comes and does it" ... blah blah blah. What he is is a small Italian (not being prejudiced, that's the truth) with delusions of grandeur and far too much testosterone to be kept from doing whatever he wants whenever he wants by a mere woman (myself and/or the appointed official manager of the building). For the record all of the tenants in the building at the moment are women: all single and one a mom of three boys and three living in units that do not meet the minimum standards per the city's by-law.

One of us knows the TPA and Property Standards regulations inside out. Guess who?