Steamed

My tenant has her best friend clean her apartment once a week. The friend has three kids and it helps her out with some extra cash. I don’t think the woman works. That’s nice for my tenant, except that she never consulted me about giving a copy of the key to the house to her ‘housekeeper’ friend. I decided to let that one go… thinking back to the number of times I copied keys for friends or family in the places I lived.

Occasionally, when the housekeeper comes over she runs the washing machine in the basement. I’ve assumed that she was washing sheets and towels in the course of her cleaning duties. At least, that’s the way it appeared to me the one time I noticed her doing it. No big deal, I provide a washer and dryer for tenant use, so this would just be stuff my tenants would wash anyway. Mel has been trying to tell me that housekeeper also does her personal laundry but I guess I didn’t believe her because I tend to be stubborn like that. You know, if you don’t see it for yourself then there’s always just that little bit of doubt.

Today, while walking through the basement to get to the garage, I bump into the housekeeper in the basement. She is stuffing clothes into the washer. A quick glance tells me that the baskets on the floor in front of the washer and dryer do not belong to my tenants. The clothes don’t appear to be theirs either but I can’t be sure. We exchange pleasantries but I don’t say anything to her about the laundry. Later, Mel confirms that the housekeeper took the baskets to her car.

Just last week, I paid a water bill for the previous quarter that was forty dollars higher than usual for that time period. It looks like I have found at least one reason the bill was so high. My tenant will be hearing from me this evening. I do not run a laundromat.