My realtor, David, and the selling realtor, a smart and lovely woman named Samara, had pored over every single detail of my submission...it laid bare anything about my financial life you could think of, an 'open kimono' if you will. And I felt good about my chances.
Then I got a call a few weeks after it was turned in.
It was from the director of the Closing Department of the managing company for my (hopefully) new building. He was calling because in researching my legal history something was uncovered that he wanted me to comment on. "When something like this turns up we like to give the prospective buyer the opportunity to address it," he said.
What turned up was this: 10 years prior, there was what he termed an outstanding "lien" against me in the amount of $3500.
Did I want to comment on this? You betcha.
This "lien" was filed by a music school that owned my old apartment building. I lived in that building for twelve years. I was a good tenant. No, make that an excellent tenant. I was never delinquent with my rent, never had loud parties, never complained, I was the Saint of apartment renters.
But I knew what this "lien" was.
See, I had a roommate. When I decided to buy my own apartment, he wanted to stay. But my name was on the lease. The simple solution was that he would send me a check every month and I'd pay the rental bill. This went on for over two years...until the day I got a call from an attorney who represented the music school. Somehow the school found out I didn't live in the apartment anymore (I suspect it was the nosy superintendant who ratted us out), and they wanted my roommate out the space and better yet, me out of the lease so they could raise the rent for a new tenant. If I didn't cooperate they would start eviction proceedings. Ugh.
Needless to say, I said "uncle". (In actuality, I was sorta glad the whole thing was over. It was getting to be a pain writing that rent check every month.)
So that was it. Case closed. Never heard anymore about it.
Cut to ten years later.
This little situation was lurking (unbeknownst to me) in my legal history and the Board was questioning why I would not have paid off this nuisance. Was I the type to play fast and loose with my financial obligations? Was I a deadbeat? And worst of all, was I not a good candidate for the building??
As you can imagine this FREAKED ME OUT.
If I got turned down after getting this far, after finding 'the perfect apartment', after selling my old place, I was going to stick my head in the oven and turn on the gas.
I implored my attorney, a fellow named Justin, to look into it. I got him the official report given to me by the managing company director, the document that put out that word "lien". As best he could surmise, Justin believed this was merely a filing for a possible eviction just in case I didn't cooperate and wanted to keep my lease for some reason. He warned me though that he was not a rental law attorney, he was a real estate attorney so he couldn't be 100% positive this was the fact. (Note to self: first thing kill all the lawyers).
I decided to roll the dice and explain all this the best I could in a letter to the Board. I even had David and Samara review it to make sure I was putting my best case forward in the write-up. I wasn't worrying needlessly; the director told me the Board did question this issue.
I sent off my response, held my breathe, and waited. For days. The suspense was agonizing.
I finally got the email I was hoping for. The Board had reviewed my package and the additional letter and had deemed me worthy of an interview three weeks hence. One more hurdle down!
Next up: preparing for that interview...
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