Tenant #1 Disaster

My first tenant crashed and burned. Very unexpectedly. My whole family was against me having a roommate because they know I like my space. I'm not anti-social by any means, but I like to be alone more than most people do. I'm very friendly and kind, but I simply like to be alone. I can also be a little particular with how I like things kept.

But one thing I like more than just about anything is money. I looked on craigslist for comparable houseshares in my area, and settled on the price of $500. One room is slightly larger, so that one is $525. When I saw that I could potentially be bringing in $500-1,025 plus 1/3-2/3 of utilties, I knew if was something I wanted to do.

Tenant #1, Alexis, was a woman who I found on craigslist. I had conversed with her for over a week via email & we had great conversations. We really got along great when we met for dinner too. She was a little quirky, but we really complimented eachother well. I'm very realistic & very detail oriented. She was a little out there somewhere. I have the tendancy to be the type of person that believes what's mine is mind and what's yours is yours & we should keep it that way, but she was the type who would share everything. Our time living together definitely made me a more sharing person and I think made her a little bit more aware that you should ask before you take.

She paid the 1st month's rent when she moved in, no problems. The second month's rent started the issue. She eventually paid 2 weeks late, but I was brand new at this and didn't charge a late fee. Then I went on a 2 week vacation to visit my family 700 miles away & when I came back she was gone. Also, I had $600 hidden in my bedroom in a very, very discreet place in a little glass vase. The vase was broken & the money was gone. All of her things were still in her room and she assured me via text conversations that she would be home any day. She had a family emergency (a close family member was dying) so I was very understanding. Rent was due, but I didn't press it because she was going through a lot and she would be home any day it could pay me then, no big deal. Well she never came home. She sent me an email saying she was taking family leave from work for an unknown amount of time & she'd start paying me rent again when she came back.

She truly expected me to be okay with her disappearing for an unknown amount of time (1 month, 6 months, a year, never?), not paying for the time she was gone, and then her moving back in & pick up paying like nothing ever happened. That blew my mind. I never received my money (almost $1k in rent & utilties) and also lost 2 months while searching for a new tenant. Also the $600 I had stolen from my room. She had 2 friends stay the night one of the days when I was gone & I believe one of them went through my room with a fine piece comb. I now have a lock on my door.