Page 3 of Neighbors' Omega
“Liking the new job?”
He paused, and I knew immediately that my job-hopping cousin was already thinking of throwing in the towel.
“Yeah,” he finally replied, though the tone was non-committal.
I gave him three months before he was looking for something new—six at most.
“Thanks for finding somebody who could meet with me today,” I said, getting back to business.
He nodded, and grabbed the phone from the cradle. “I’ll let him know you’re here.”
“Ok.”
He called back to one of the offices, and an alpha in an impeccably tailored suit appeared a moment later, hand outstretched.
“Mr. Carmichael?”
“That’s me,” I replied, accepting the handshake. “But please, call me Jace.”
“Nice to meet you Jace,” he said with a nod. “I’m Walter Ericson. I handle rental and real estate law for the firm. Ryan here says you’re here for a consult?”
“That’s right,” I confirmed. “I’m not planning to sue my landlord or anything, unless he gives me problems later. But I do need to know my rights under the law.”
“Why don’t you come into my office.”
“Ok.”
I followed him back, described the situation, and handed over a copy of my lease.
Walter spent several minutes reviewing the paperwork, handed it back, and folded his hand on top of his desk.
“Well?” I asked.
He blew out a long breath. “Unfortunately, it is legal for him to raise your rent as described. Most states have laws stating new owners have to abide by existing leases. However, strong lobbies in the state legislature have kept such safeguards from passing here.”
I sighed. “So I just have to take it?”
“That, or leave.”
“The penalty for breaking my lease is more than just eating the increase for three months.”
One of his eyebrows went up.
“What?” I asked.
“Aren’t these your initials?” he asked, reaching for my lease and flipping through. He pointed at a hand-written addition.
I glanced at my scrawl. “Yeah?”
“I take it this is your former landlady’s handwriting?”
I nodded. “She added something, but I just glanced at it and saw no problem, so I initialed.”
He chuckled. “Had she been sick for a while?”
“I don’t know.”
He shook his head. “I think she saw this coming. Read it again.”
