A Mistake I Made and What I Have Learned

Introduction

This is one contest a lot of us can relate with because one way or the other, we have all made mistakes because no one is perfect. Mistakes is part of human nature and we learn from those experiences. Some people go as far as documenting some of the solution to their past mistakes, so people can learn from it.

In this contest hosted by @goodybest, I will be telling you a mistake I made recently as a result of not listening to people’s advice and how it has cost me. But before going ahead, let me invite @dave-hanny @ishayachris @divinelife to participate in this contest.

How do you view mistakes?

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I see mistakes as errors we make in life that makes a damaging impact on us and in some severe cases it could lead to loss of lives. But we can’t rule out the fact that we learn from our mistakes in one way or the other. Is from those errors, we take corrective measures on how to handle such situations in case it repeats itself in the future.

The truth is that no one wants to make mistakes but prefer to learn from other people’s experiences but there are some mistakes that are spontaneous or acted out emotions and you have to deal with the consequences. Some mistakes might be an act of negligence, ignorance etc.

What mistake do you make recently?

Early this year, a particular tenant had always complained of leaking roof in his room and as the landlord I know it is my responsibility of putting my house in order. I had no idea, the roof was even leaking because a tenant had live there previously for several years before moving out and he never complained of leaking roof. He even paid way higher than the current tenant but because the current tenant happens to be my sister in law’s friend who is also the caretaker of my dad’s houses, I allowed him pay way cheaper because she put in good words on his behalf.

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I’ve made attempt two times to fix the leaking roof which he’s aware of, on two occasions whenever he pays the rent but so far it hasn’t been futile and it has always bring heated argument between us. A time came, when i even suggested that he brings his carpenter to come check it out and fix it once and for all in order to resolve the leaking roof challenge since he keeps saying my carpenter are not good enough but he refused.

Last year September came, his rent expired and as usual I needed my rent money, the guy said he won’t pay until I fix his roof when he’s aware that I always take money from the rent to fix it. I thought he was joking but when our argument started, I knew he was serious. I finally made up my mind to send him packing from the house, let peace reign. I was tired of this quarrel all the time.

We both agreed that he was leaving and he suggested to give him 6 months before he leaves, I refused and told him the highest I can give to him is 3 months. He was still arguing before, I left him. Fast forward to early January this year, I told him the 3 months I gave to him has exhausted, that he should leave my house by January 31st, making it four months but the young man was feeling adamant. To even worsen matter, he now married a lady to the house.

I started to look for ways to chase this young man away. Met my friend, he told me to take the matter to the police and he will be called on to report himself. Another one suggested that I take him to court to chase him away but I refused. There options were a bit expensive, that was when I decided to do it my own way by using force. So, I locked the door and waited to see if he will call me but he didn’t.

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Instead, he started meeting people that were close to me including my sister in law, to beg on his behalf and I finally opened the door. He slept outside his house for just one night before he came back. But the agreement was that since he has spent 5 months already, I should just collect the rent money and allow him spend the remaining 7 months. During that 7 months, he can use it to search for a new apartment.

This was my second mistake, I refused to collect the rent money. I said I won’t collect the money until we have signed that he will leave the house once his rent expires. After sleeping in the house for that night, he didn’t come back again. When my sister in law told me she haven’t seen him in the house for a while, I was wondering what has happened. At first, what came to my mind was that he was afraid of signing the agreement because he knows how cheap my house was, compared to others. I had know idea, the young man was planning something else.

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On Valentine’s Day when everyone was enjoying their love life with their girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands and wives, this guy came very early in the morning with police to come and arrest me like arm robber, unfortunately for them, I didn’t come to the house that night. You won’t believe the next person he went to arrest, my sister-in-law, the one who begged on his behalf for me to opened the door for him and the one who even made him pay lesser rent.

The reason they arrested her is because she’s the caretaker of the house and since I’m not there, she’s the next person. He lied to the police that we kept him out of his house for 2 weeks and all his food including his 300k was missing. That was how they bundled her like criminal in front of her family to the police station. When I heard the story, I was shocked, I won’t lie because I’m the one that is supposed to be in that position.

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After the back and forth, she had to bail herself #40,000. I later came after a week because the police sent for me to come and make my own statement. I got to the station with my uncle and a lawyer. The lawyer arrived much later. This was my first ever police case in my life. I use to think writing a statement was for me write down all I know about the whole situation but in this case, the police lady will interrogate me and when I want to answer, she will say I should put it down in writing as my statement. To make matter worse, all her questions was in favor of the tenant. In the end, I had to bail myself out with 25k all thanks to the lawyer.

What do you learn from the mistake?

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• What I have learned so far is that “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. If I had known that locking up the door of a tenant without giving them a “quit notice” is against the law, I would have listened to people that told me not to lock the door. I would have even gone to the police station to report the case but I was considering the money involved and now just the bail alone between myself and my sister-in-law, is 10x higher than what I would have spent if I’d listened to reasons.

• Never act out of emotions especially when you are angry or when you feel you are been cheated. Things might turn against you. As we speak, this guy is still in the house for free because the case haven’t been closed yet and things are looking as if I’m at his mercy just for locking his house for a day. I have been the one calling the police, so that we can end this case.

• Don’t do things because everyone is doing it and getting away with it. You might be unlucky when it gets to your turn. For instance, so many people around my vicinity, they hardly give quit notice. In fact, 3 months before the expiration of the rent, they have started singing it as anthem in the tenants ears and on the expiration, they lock up the door without giving “quit notice”. I followed suit, thinking it was right in the eyes of the law, they arrested me.

• The best person to manage your house is a lawyer because they know the law far better than you or your agent.