Full House

My brother-in-law Kina and his wife Tina have unfortunately had a stroke of bad luck.  They were renting a house from Provo, and had been living there for a little over a year......recently they noticed a lot of water damage.  The pipes that were installed in the house were bad and they were leaking all over.  The ceiling in their bathroom downstairs actually fell out because it got so wet, and the tiles in the kitchen were lifting and cracking.  I can only imagine there was mold growing all over inside their walls, blind to the naked eye.  With them having 5 kids, and Tina 8 months pregnant, that was just not a good situation to be in, so they decided to start looking around for another place to live, and to get out of that house as soon as possible.  In less than 15 days to be exact.

 

They found a place just down the street from their old house (in Provo) that was available.  They went and met the guy who was renting it out and originally he wanted to rent the whole house (upstairs & downstairs), but the price was a bit higher than what they wanted to pay.  They are working to buy a house for themselves in the near future so they didn't really want to spend that much.  The guy suggested that they have the whole house, but let him stay in one bedroom downstairs and he'd knock $100 off the monthly rent.  I just thought that was the craziest thing I'd ever heard.  Renting a house from someone and then having him stay in the house with you....probably in a room right next to your kids.....ummmm, that was a big fat NO!!  Then he finally said they could just rent the upstairs for half the cost and het would stay downstairs.  That sounded much better.  He wrote up the contract and in the contract he stated that they were not allowed downstairs and he would no go upstairs....along with all his other stipulations.....they both signed the contract and they moved in. 

 

Two days after they moved into the house Tina and Alisi came and picked me up so we could all go out to dinner.  We were having good conversation, just laughing and joking and then we started talking about their new house.  Tina told me she loved it because it was nice and big and affordable....but then she told me something that really bothered me.  She said that she got into an arguement that morning with the landlord because he came upstairs in the middle of the night (when he thought they were all sleeping) to turn off the light that was left on in the kitchen.  Tina was actually still awake waiting for Kina to get home from work.  At first she thought it was her son that turned it off, but then she heard the door close to the downstairs.  How scary!  She confronted him about it the next morning and he said that yes he did go upstairs and turn it off because the utilitiy bills were in his name and he didn't want it left on all night.  She yelled and him and informed him that that was not ok and that he signed the contract that he wouldn't go upstairs at all, let alone in the middle of the night when her husband wasn't home.  He finally apologized and told her he wouldn't go up there again.  I was really uncomfortable with that, and I told them to please be careful....especially since she has so many young kids.  Our dinner was over and they dropped me off at home and I went straight and told Ova about it.....it just really bothered me.

 

Two days later (only 5 days living in that house) Ova got a call from his brother.  The stupid guy went upstairs again, but this time it was in the morning....right after Kina left for work.  Tina said he timed it....I'm sure he did.  She said she was in her room and she could hear someone walking around in the hall in front of her girl's room.....she thought it was just one of her kids so she got up to see and as soon as she walked into the hall she heard the door to the downstairs close.  She said her heart jumped and she was so mad.  She immediately called the landlord downstairs and confronted him about it.  He got defensive and was really mad and started yelling at her telling her that it was his house and he could do whatever he wanted.  She brought up the contract and how it is signed in there that he was not allowed upstairs.  As soon as she was done talking to him, she called Kina at work and told him what happened.....of course he was so pissed off....so he called the landlord too and cussed him out.  That place was obviously NOT safe for them andd their little family....and the landlord obviously couldn't be trusted.  Kina called Ova and was telling him their situation, and we asked them to please get out of there and come stay with us for a little while until they find another place.  They moved into that house and five days later they moved back out.  Ova and Sau and their cousin Tauafu went down and they moved everything out in a few hours.

 

Now the stupid landlord won't give them their deposit or first month's rent back.  He's such a jerk.  Kina and Tina are taking him to court to get their money back.....and I know they'll get it because it was the stupid guy's fault, he's the one that broke the contract!

 

NEways, they moved into our basement, and we've been absolutely LOVING it!!  My kids are on cloud 9 every single day having their cousins here to play with....and they have been having sleep overs in the living room almost every night.  With the weather so nice at night.....we kick it outside on the porch pretty much every night just talking and enjoying each other's company.  I love having Tina here.  When Ova went to Vegas with the kids last week, Kina went with their kids too.....so Tina kept me company every day....even when I was on bedrest, she'd sit at the end of my bed just keeping me company and making sure I was ok.  I really love her, she's the sweetest person.  And Ova is loving having his brother here....they bbq and go to the gym together....it's been great!  I know they're desperately looking for their own place, but we do love that they're staying with us!  We'll just continue to make the most of it while it lasts!  So glad to be able to help out family when they need it, afterall....that's what family is for!!   :)