A Slum Lord's Dream House: The Documentation PART 1

May (2015) my elderly mother and I were evicted from our rental house in Tulelake, California on F Street (not even kidding here it’s called F Street) that we had been financially trap in for years. Tulelake is a small town in very Northern California about five miles from the Oregon border and about thirty-fives miles from Klamath Falls, Oregon the main town in what is called the Tulelake/Klamath Basin. Our only crime that caused this eviction was complaining about the roof that had been leaking for years, again to the landlord because it was progressing though the house, gradually making the living space smaller. He would only patch the roof and patch it and patch it... if even that in the past and we had tried ourselves but could not afford much more it needed a new roof, which the landlord would not provide and we couldn't afford to do. The landlord brought a man he said was the handyman down to look at the place, we thought it was going to be finally fix, nope. The next day on my birthday, we were told that the so-called handyman was the new owner and that we had 30 days to leave, I did get information that since we had been there for so long, California granted us sixty days. The old and the new landlord still tried to charge us $8.33 a day to move during the sixty days. But did not have a proper legal document and even spelled a name wrong. Brilliant people!

It started out being a nice place to live but in a couple of years the problems began and there was a lot of them. There were many other things wrong with the house besides its roof leaking. There was never a working dedicated heating source for the house. The landlord destroyed the fireplace in the living-room because he was scared of women renters using fire and he told us this when we moved in. Women would burn his house down he believed. The fireplace and chimney allowed cold to come in and allowed birds to sometimes get trapped inside no way to get them out. The pellet stove that had been crudely placed in front of the fireplace malfunctioned after about two weeks during our first winter there and he would not fix it properly and never replaced the pipe cover that blew off outside several years later allowing water and more birds to go into that pipe and get trapped and at one point he put a hubcap from a car up there and it blew off like you would suspect a flat object like a Frisbee would. So to keep warm you could have about two space heaters, no more than three, four would blow the fuses. The house was not insulated and with the roof’s condition and the house and its windows not being weatherized, keeping it warm in the dead of winter inside and the pipes from freezing was a challenge. The electricity bill was almost too much, I had an over $800 overdue bill that I am going to have to pay off slowly because I could not keep up with the cost and neither could my mother or sister (who moved out years ago for college).

The House on F Street and Beautiful Mama Tree (Nickname) 

Electric Outlet in Living Room  

The electrical wiring in the house also was very questionable because of the roof leaking into the walls and wiring. It was a fire hazard and had killed various electronics and appliances. In the kitchen the refrigerator would not keep food cold enough and food would spoil sooner than it should have and mold because of the dampness of the house you could never dry out. This caused higher than normal food bills and some stomach illnesses. I have the credit card debt to remind me of the years there. The last few years the electrical system became more questionable. The hot water tank that was not grounded shorted out and was sending electric current into the water in the bathroom tub and I was the one that it got, luckily it just bit without harm. The landlord did replace it with another hot water tank (which he did because he did not want frozen pipes). The new hot water tank was neither grounded nor belted (under California law it should have been belted for earthquake safety, the old one was not belted either). The new hot water tank, which I think was really a used one, ran constantly, helping the electrical bills out each month. The kitchen’s electrical wiring had recently gotten worse and killed his refrigerator, our refrigerator (almost setting the kitchen floor on fire under it) and was slowly killing a third refrigerator. It also killed the cook stove and shorted out the 220 outlet it was hooked too. I had to buy a small oven so my mother could bake (which worked fine in one of the outlets because it did not need as much power). My mother also had an old cook top with two burners, it cheapen the electrical bill just a bit that was a plus side but by not much.

Then you have the bathroom that had no working sink (we fixed it but it would not keep working). The bath tub’s wall around it allowed more cold from the outside because it was not properly put together and had never been. The landlord would not fix the bathroom floor that was slowly rotting because of moister coming in from the ground and roof. This made it impossible to secure the toilet so it just rocked back and forth if not braced and it smelled like at times it was leaking somewhere.
 
The mold and stress caused both my mother and I to have health issues. My mother developed a heart condition during the last years living there, no one knows what caused it her heart muscle is fine. We both had headaches, stomach issues, allergy symptoms…and just felt not right. Medical professional couldn't give us an answer, so just stop going.

The north side of the house had and showed the worst part of the water damage from the leaky roof and openings that allow birds, more rain, and cold into the attic area. The cold went in and made it hard to keep it warm inside the house. The windows were not weatherized so putting plastic on them was the only answer but still did not fix the problem. 

The electrical system was right near water damaged wood and where the water leaked down on it during rain and snow storms, the fuse box was not protected.

In the corner of the west side of the house was an old electric light that once was used for backyard and side yard lighting, it had been long destroyed by weather damage and birds having made a nest area behind it. Another fire and health issue.

 Old light and bird nest entrance far right of photograph below.  

The water damage had caused bowing of the outside walls on the north side back of the house.

The front of the house on the south side had the same issues but was better than the back of the house.

Inside house, bedroom on west side of house had three leaks that had overtime gotten worse with the roof's condition. Photographs of leaks 1, 2, and 3 in west side bedroom and light that was damaged and no longer worked because of the water damage below. 

The closet in the west side bedroom also had a large leak which went down on the hot water tank that was not grounded or belted down by California law. 

The bathroom had two leaks one above the little shelved area to put towels and toiletries and one in where they sealed up the fan. The black mold that was throughout the house could be seen on the bathroom walls here clearly.

The landlord did fix a leak under the toilet but when the plumber told him that he needed to fix the bathroom floor to secure the toilet he would not complete the repair. You had to brace it or ride it, whichever you felt like doing before using it. Video below I had my mother shake the toilet while I filmed it. Shake that toilet mama!  

The sink worked for a bit but the landlord did not have it properly put in and it leaked all over the place and just was a waste of time trying to fix without a proper plumber.

The bathtub's wall was open to the inner part of the wall which allowed the cold air under the house to go directly into the bathroom.

The light fixture in the bathroom needed to be fixed by an electrician the wiring was slowly coming out of the wall.

The East Bedroom started to be affected by the leak also as it went across the house. 

The back porch leaked and also had a light fixture that needed electrician to fix the wiring though it did work like the bathroom light.

The electricity shorted  electronics and appliances out including various televisions, a computer, microwaves, a cook stove, and three refrigerators (that only worked partially when they were alive, causing a greater food bill and stomach illnesses). These are four of the victims of it.

There was no dedicated heat source in the house the pellet stove did not have enough power or had a defect so it would not processes the pellets just would clog up and stop the stove every ten to fifteen minutes. Pretty much useless to heat anything. The fireplace was destroyed by landlord because he did not want women dealing with fire, he was afraid that women could not be trusted with fire but of course water mixing with electricity was safe. Pure sexism and big bill for us to keep the house even a little warm with space heaters. You had to put a board over the fireplace to keep birds and cold air out. Birds would get into the pellet stove pipe and die. It was too rusted to easily get the pipe open or back together again.