The luxury of not having to pay rent or a mortgage payment every month might seem like some kind of fever dream, obtainable only by those scant few who make the rest of us uncomfortably jealous, but one woman in Indiana managed to pull it off not just for a few months or even a year — but for eight years.
And she didn’t really do anything wrong, it seems, because no one ever told her to move out, reports IndyStar.com.
She moved into the 1910 house with her boyfriend and children back in 2006 while working for a real estate company. That company told her to pick a home to move into, and said she could stay as long as she worked for the company.
But when the recession hit and the real estate market basically lay down and died, her employers laid her off and went out of a business a few months later. And still, no one told her to leave the house.
So she paid for the utilities with her name on it, and asked the city what she should do about property tax bills that came in the mail. She was told not to pay them if they didn’t have her name on it, so she didn’t.
A few times, the home went up at the city’s tax sale for unwanted tax-delinquent properties, but either no one bought it or the sale didn’t go through due to legal reasons, said the chief deputy of the county Treasurer’s office.
While she says she’s happy she was able to stay this long without paying for rent — and only spending a bit of money on needed repairs — it wasn’t always easy.
“I lived here on pins and needles. I never knew when I was going to have to go. It was stressful,” she said.
Her home has finally been bought by an investment company purchasing other low-priced homes in Indianapolis, and she says she’s a bit relieved. The company also says it’ll rent the house to her if she’d like, after spending at least $15,000 on much-needed repairs.
“If she wishes to be my tenant I am more than happy to accept her as my tenant after my renovation,” the group’s president says. “This saves us trouble of looking for a tenant.”
And while it won’t be free anymore, the woman says if she can afford it, she’d like to stay.
“I would love to stay here. I’d love to do another nine years, to tell you the truth.”
Wouldn’t we all. Wouldn’t we all. (We would, seriously.)
Indy woman lived rent free for years without really trying [IndyStar.com]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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