Journal of Property Management

CAN YOU TOP ThIS?

Unbelievable or outrageous true stories about everyday experiences in real estate management

By BArBArA HOLLAnD, CPM® | ILLUSTRATIONS BY JIMMY WATKINS

Being a former Massachusetts resident, I always thought respectable ghosts and evil spirits only resided in old Tudor homes and dilapidated Victorian mansions. I never dreamed I would find them in my Spanish-style, Las Vegas luxury apartment building. But my mind was irrevocably changed one New Year’s Eve in Vegas, after a series of frantic calls came in to the on-site residential manager.

The unsuspecting residents—an upscale, professionally employed couple—said a cool draft they felt around their patio sliding glass doors and windows proved the Earth had shifted, opening a door “between life and death.” In the mirrors of their apartment, they said they saw the faces of anguished souls.

The manager quickly came to the rescue, finding the residents crying out for help. They had not slept since midnight. The manager, unable to calm the couple, called the police. After the situation was explained to the police, only one officer was brave enough to enter the apartment (apparently, not all officers are trained in the apprehension of derelict ghosts and spirits).

Inside, the wife yelled as she pointed to the carpet floor, screaming, “Look, you can see them!” The officer immediately raised his foot and stomped on “them.” The wife told the police officer that the stomping did not work and that the spirits had just moved to another spot in the living room by the sliding glass door. She ran to the door telling the officer to feel the coolness. No one mentioned to her that it was 3: 30 a.m. in the dead of winter.

After a thorough search of the apartment, the officer told the residents nothing more could be done. He recommended that the couple spend the night at the wife’s mother’s house. Unfortunately for the next three

SPIRITED AWAY

barbara l. Holland, cPm, IS PreSIDen T AnD PrInCIPAL OWner OF H&L reALTy & MAnAGeMenT COMPAny In LAS VeGAS.

weeks, endless re-visitations occurred, followed by a spate of phone calls from the residents demanding the manager resolve the problem.

The crisis escalated. The spirits soon began leaving the apartment and following the residents to work and to their mother’s home. The mother called me at the management company’s office, demanding I solve the problem or allow her daughter to prematurely break her lease agreement. When I told the mother what actions would be involved if her daughter broke her lease, she became enraged at my insensitivity.

Next, I received a call from the mother’s attorney who threatened to settle the matter in court. Finally, because these ghostly affairs were interrupting my staff’s normal work schedule and frightening other residents, I agreed to let the afflicted residents move out of the community without any penalty, as long as they vacated within 30 days.

Strangely enough, for no apparent reason, the earth shifted and the restless souls of days past once again found themselves back in their own world and the residents decided not to vacate. Peace had been restored to my apartment community, at least for the time being.