Gall

I was feverishly working at my desk yesterday afternoon when I received a phone call.

Caller: “Ms. XXX?”
Me: “Yes.”
Caller: “This is Akeewte Butler.”

I almost dropped the friggin phone. One of our non-resident unit owners, who happens to be in foreclosure, was calling.

It turns out that there is trouble within his real estate empire. The CHAC people had found violations in the common areas of the building where Mr. Butler has a rental. They are threatening to withhold their portion of his rent subsidy until the issues are addressed.

He had the nerve to tell me about his dilemma and ask when these issues were going to be repaired.

The guy who has consistently paid his assessments late ever since he owned a unit in our association; the guy who I’ve never seen at an association meeting; the guy who makes money off of our home but never brings any resource/contact or sweat equity to the table; the guy who currently owes us both regular and special assessments and has a lien on his unit now wants to open the lines of communication. Now he wants something.

He’s got quite a set, no?

I fought down the urge to give it to him with both barrels---after all I was at work---and kept my composure.

I explained to Mr. Butler that he needed to send a copy of the notice he received from CHAC to my home so we had a record of their issues.

I then explained to him that he owed us back regular and special assessments and that a lien had been placed on his property. That our condo association is quiet serious about the timely collection of assessments as that money goes to pay our bills and upkeep. When someone opts to pay once every three months, everyone in the association suffers as a result. I asked him for both a good phone number to get a hold of him and an e-mail address and then told him that I would go ahead and pass this information along to our treasurer so she could contact him.

I further stated that while his and CHAC’s concerns will be noted and acted upon, the association currently has several projects in play and quite frankly his issues may or may not place high on the list of priorities. While one of the concerns, the condition of the back porches is the #1 priority on our list; the others will more than likely have to wait.

At least they’re not on the depth chart to the best of my knowledge.

I think the best part of the conversation happened when I asked Mr. Butler about the foreclosure proceedings on the unit. He matter of factly stated that he “was letting the bank have the property back.”

My jaw was on the ground. I had never head the term “I’m letting the bank have the properties back” when dealing with a foreclosure.

Are you kidding me?

He gave me some sob story about being swindled when he bought the units and that he barely broke even with the mortgage when his rental income was factored in the equation.

Now that may or may not be true. I will say it does have the “air of truth” which is essential to any good lie but that doesn’t explain why he’s in foreclosure on four other properties. Nor does it explain why they all went into foreclosure almost at the same time. Even though those questions were burning on my lips, I held my questions and let him ramble on in his feeble attempt to garner sympathy.

I also neglected to tell him I knew about his pending bankruptcy. I thought it best to let that sleeping dog lie.

To add insult to injury, Mr. Butler’s largest concern wasn’t that he was late with his assessments (I try to pay when I can) but that he didn’t want to lay out all of his back assessment money only to not have the repairs occur in a timely manner.

Excuse me?

He owes us that assessment money and is required to pay it according the Illinois Condominium Property Act. He doesn’t have an option whether he pays it or not.

What can you say to (or about) a person like that?