by "Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
Published 04/19/2017 at 12:20
by "Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
Published 04/19/2017 at 12:20
No Tags
STARS: 11
Honestly, how many of you would do this to a yard behind the house YOU DON’T OWN BUT PAY RENT FOR?
Not to mention using the kitchen to rebuild Jeep engines and transmissions.
I’m shocked that the landlord is OK with this. They must be charging an ASS LOAD for rent beyond what the property is worth.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
04/19/2017 at 12:23, STARS: 18
didn’t read the post. Is it a rent house for real?
I would have tossed their ass out that very day!
"djmt1" (djmt1)
04/19/2017 at 12:23, STARS: 0
I’m shocked they offered to let him do that in their own yard instead.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
04/19/2017 at 12:24, STARS: 2
No way in hell would I do it in my own back yard.(I still have to pass the law mower)
"haveacarortwoorthree2" (haveacarortwoorthree2)
04/19/2017 at 12:24, STARS: 2
The kitchen thing would be ok IF everything was fully covered so it didn’t get ruined by oil, etc. Any LL I’ve ever had would have kicked me out if I made the backyard look like that.
"Nerd-Vol" (Nerd-Vol)
04/19/2017 at 12:25, STARS: 5
Having recently learned how much grass seed and sod is, I would have evicted his ass before sundown.
His LL must just be using the rental property to launder money.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
04/19/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 0
Yea, I couldn’t figure this one out. I’ve got about 4 full days of yard work into my house so far this spring and I didn’t even finish the front yard.
"Meatcoma" (mastapoof)
04/19/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 1
Apparently you did not see the pics.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
04/19/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 4
Yep. Landlord was just like “Your neighbors complained, come muddin’ in OUR yard instead! HURP A DURPA!” or something like that.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
04/19/2017 at 12:29, STARS: 0
Or the videos.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
04/19/2017 at 12:29, STARS: 5
I always assumed he owned his house with how he treats it. I, and a couple gearhead friends, had a college townhouse we treated better. well, mostly.
well, we fixed the worst parts when we moved out.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
04/19/2017 at 12:29, STARS: 0
I’m shocked that the landlord is OK with this. They must be charging an ASS LOAD for rent beyond what the property is worth.
Might be tough to find a tenant. A wrecked backyard sucks, having to deal with roaches and a trashed building is much worse.
"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
04/19/2017 at 12:29, STARS: 0
ya, that was my first and only thought.
"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
04/19/2017 at 12:30, STARS: 0
To be fair, I wouldn’t do any of that in a house that I owned, but if the landlords are okay with it, power to him. I guess that’s what you’d expect from landlords who grew up in a third-world country.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
04/19/2017 at 12:30, STARS: 13
I would be sure Tracy’s picture was posted on every landlord’s wall in town, just like a guy who writes bad checks. The guy got so incredibly lucky with this one and part of me thinks it’s because they were too scared to confront him. But they’ll resent it, either way.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
04/19/2017 at 12:30, STARS: 11
So did I. Today’s story made the Get Off My Lawn old man in me a little irate.
"macanamera" (macanamera)
04/19/2017 at 12:30, STARS: 14
Hell no. Rude and disrespectful.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
04/19/2017 at 12:31, STARS: 11
sounds like a penthouse letter honestly.
“Here I was, destroying my LL’s property and you’ll never believe what happened next!”
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
04/19/2017 at 12:31, STARS: 5
He needs to treat his landlords like they are king and queen. There aren’t many people who would put up with that.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
04/19/2017 at 12:32, STARS: 1
I assume the house is trashed.
"Ssfancyfresh" (scotttt)
04/19/2017 at 12:34, STARS: 0
I’m glad it worked out for David. But, I would not do that with someone else’s property
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
04/19/2017 at 12:34, STARS: 3
Nope. That would have gotten me evicted from previous rentals. My wife would beat me bloody if I did that at our current house.
"boredalways" (boredalway666)
04/19/2017 at 12:34, STARS: 2
To keep from going on a sociopolitical rant, no, the renter would be meeting with my lawyers.
Having said that, he’s lucky to have landlords and neighbors like them. Lucky enough that I have a better chance of being attacked by a landshark and being struck by lightning at the same time.
Someday, I hope he is lucky enough to own private property of his own of at least this size. That way, Jalopnik can host 4 wheelin’ events there.
"Arrivederci" (arrividerci)
04/19/2017 at 12:36, STARS: 1
Extremely rude and disrespectful - if I was his LL, he’d be paying to fix it and would refuse to renew his lease.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
04/19/2017 at 12:36, STARS: 0
I had a landlord in college who a) didn’t know how many of us were living in the house, b) didn’t care that we built a wall to add a room for one of the extra roommates, c) didn’t seem to care that we broke multiple windows and didn’t really fix them, put holes in the walls to run wires or to allow pool cues to pass from one room to another as needed, no to mention throwing parties with live music and hundreds of people... yeah some landlords do not care at all.
Granted, most do. This was a fun place to live in college though.
"Alfalfa" (alfalfa-romeo)
04/19/2017 at 12:36, STARS: 2
Never. All I could think of reading that article was how much of a boneheaded decision that was.
Now as far as cleaning and rebuilding shit in the kitchen, I’d say it’s fair game as long as you can clean up all the mess.
"ceanderson920" (ceanderson9290)
04/19/2017 at 12:37, STARS: 1
Idk that seems like BS to me.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
04/19/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 3
“I always read those ‘cool landlord’ stories and never thought it would happen to me...”
"ceanderson920" (ceanderson9290)
04/19/2017 at 12:39, STARS: 0
I would find somewhere else to go muddin’, even if I owned the house I wouldn’t want to look out my back window at a bunch of fucking tire ruts in my yard. Think of how much of a bitch its going to be to mow once summer rolls around.
"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
04/19/2017 at 12:41, STARS: 0
Would of either told him to fix it by the end of the week or get the hell gone and thanks for the damage deposit
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/19/2017 at 12:42, STARS: 2
I’m glad the landlords are cool with it, they seem like great people, but yeah I would never just assume it’s ok to do the stuff he does in a rental property. Some landlords will get bent out of shape if you make a tiny hole in the drywall to hang a painting.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
04/19/2017 at 12:44, STARS: 0
Mudding/crawling has never really been my thing, so it’s a little too easy for me to say that I wouldn’t. I just don’t have that temptation.
Not really a fair way to answer that, I know. I suppose that if I really really wanted to, I’d probably review my contract real quick, and if it’s not clear, check with the landlord first.
But as for other neighbor’s opinions? Screw ’em. Well, not really. I mean, can appreciate the whole noise issue, so I’m not going to go on revving around in the wee hours of the night. And if they have a baby or work the night shift, I’ll make an extra effort to be strategic about trying to avoid waking them during the day. But I really don’t care if they don’t like peeking over the fence to see muddy ruts.
"haveacarortwoorthree2" (haveacarortwoorthree2)
04/19/2017 at 12:45, STARS: 2
That’s accurate. I’ve watched some of his videos but I honestly find what seems to be half-assing several things just to be offputting.
"Once_upon_a_pvt" (eagleruwe07)
04/19/2017 at 12:47, STARS: 1
I am a landlord, and there’s no way this would fly. I also assumed he owned the place. To each his own I guess.
"McMike" (mcmike)
04/19/2017 at 12:54, STARS: 1
There must not be anyone available to rent that property.
I can’t imagine any other reason they didn’t tell him to repair it.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
04/19/2017 at 12:54, STARS: 1
Yeah, I sure as hell wouldn’t. I seriously don’t understand the decision making process. I rented a lot before buying, and was always fastidious about taking care of the place, always getting the full deposit back and leaving on good terms. I get having project cars and wrenching in the driveway, as my landlords did, but damaging the property is a line in the sand. My neighbor rents, and he’s planted his entire backyard and half the front with fucking bamboo, cutting down other trees to do so. Fence to fence, front to back, bamboo in the ground. Which is now on the other side of his neighbor’s fences, all of whom own their homes. He is not popular, and the property management company for his house is a bunch of shitbags.
In fairness to David, he said it started innocently enough as just a means to turn around for his weird driveway and escalated sort of by accident, and that he plans to level and reseed it “in due time,” whatever that means. His landlords sound super cool, regardless.
My wife and I have talked about renting our place out because it’d make decent money over the mortgage. But we don’t want the house we’ve worked hard for to get wrecked by some douchebags, because while we’re lucky to own, we can’t exactly afford to make major repairs that could be inflicted by bad renters, who only stand to lose a security deposit or might attempt to mask their fuckery with bad repairs.
"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
04/19/2017 at 12:54, STARS: 11
Kitchen doesn’t bug me on principle; that can be done cleanly.
There’s no excuse for the lawn; I don’t want an eviction notice.
"Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero" (sampsonite24)
04/19/2017 at 12:56, STARS: 0
i live in my inlaws old house and id get kicked out so quick if i tried pulling that shit
"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
04/19/2017 at 12:57, STARS: 0
Done it before, but was out in the woods. Also, I have a transmission in my kitchen.
"Danger" (dangerray)
04/19/2017 at 12:59, STARS: 1
I would never do that. I think, in general, people should be free to do their own thing, but damn, DT is really pushing his luck it looks like. If I was the landlord, I’d say “Go nuts, but start saving some money to redo my lawn and buy a new kitchen”.
"Cash Rewards" (cashrewards)
04/19/2017 at 12:59, STARS: 0
Only if I expect new sod to be taken out of my security deposit.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
04/19/2017 at 13:01, STARS: 1
...like mine.
"vicali" (vicali)
04/19/2017 at 13:01, STARS: 3
If that’s how he treat his (sic!) backyard imagine the tracks he leaves in the backcountry.. no thanks.
Drives around in winter with MT and fights too fast for conditions ticket - Strike one.
Drives/tows crappy unsafe Jeep in the dark on public highway across the country- Strike two.
Does not Tread Lightly - Strike three.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
04/19/2017 at 13:02, STARS: 0
Watching the Instagram videos, its not the cleanliness I was worried about. It was using the counters and floors as workbenches, and having hammers involved.
"BigBlock440" (440-4bbl)
04/19/2017 at 13:16, STARS: 0
But then you’d have it fix it instead of them.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
04/19/2017 at 13:18, STARS: 0
deposit?
"BigBlock440" (440-4bbl)
04/19/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 0
“and that he plans to level and reseed it “in due time,” whatever that means.”
I assume that means spring, when stuff starts growing.
"His Stigness" (HisStigness)
04/19/2017 at 13:20, STARS: 1
I know the stuff David does in his rental is unique to gearheads, but it doesn’t surprise me, most renters treat their house like absolute shit and don’t care. Granted I don’t think anything David does is out a malice, and he would probably do it if he owned the house, but it’s par for the course for renters.
Honestly, I don’t get how renters can stand living in a shit hole they themselves create, but I guess most people suck and are disgusting.
And I wouldn’t have evicted him, I just would have made him pay to return to how it was before he did that.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
04/19/2017 at 13:21, STARS: 5
Between this and all the interior pictures, I’m guessing David Tracy will be celibate for a long long time.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
04/19/2017 at 13:22, STARS: 0
That’s what I hope, of course, but that’s now. What I mean is I’ll believe it when I see it.
"His Stigness" (HisStigness)
04/19/2017 at 13:22, STARS: 0
I think most renters are like David and do things a homeowner would be shocked. I rent but I treat my house like my home so it’s always clean and maintained. And the last time the property manager came through she said we were the best tenants she’s ever had; she could tell when people cleaned their house just for a walk through, and when the house was actually kept clean.
"Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero" (sampsonite24)
04/19/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 1
free to do their own thing as long as they owned the property/house and didnt have to answer to a HOA, but when youre renting you need to be respectful of the property
"benchslap" (benchslap)
04/19/2017 at 13:36, STARS: 0
If I were the landlord I’d have called the police and changed the locks. There’s a legal term for this. Malicious destruction of property.
"BigBlock440" (440-4bbl)
04/19/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 0
Depends on who’s job it is to maintain the property. Also, it wouldn’t be “I feel like mudding, I’ll try the back yard”, but more like “well, I gotta fix the ruts anyway, might as well have a little fun before I do”.
"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
04/19/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 0
No fucking way. I pretty much said as much. He is completely taking advantage of his landlords. They don’t know any better and he seems like he’s a horrible tenant.
I wouldn’t do this to my own backyard that I actually own.
"V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!" (v8demon)
04/19/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 0
Depending on where this is, the time to do it is NOW.
"BigBlock440" (440-4bbl)
04/19/2017 at 14:09, STARS: 0
Looks a little too muddy to plant currently, he’d get better results if the swamp were a bit drier.
"V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!" (v8demon)
04/19/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 0
Indeed, but for many areas, the temperature is about right currently.
"BobintheMtns" (bobinthemtns)
04/19/2017 at 14:19, STARS: 1
Half-assed seems to be his MO.... reading the story above, he SNAPPED a tow strap??? How the fuck do you do that???
He’s kinda got “sketchy” written all over him...
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
04/19/2017 at 14:25, STARS: 0
In one of his articles he noted that the house is on a very busy road. That does make it hard to find tenants, and also explained the need to turn around to leave the driveway.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
04/19/2017 at 14:26, STARS: 0
I certainly wouldn’t, but if he’s going to fix it and the landlords don’t care, then I won’t judge it. A lot of tenants do a lot worst, AND then they don’t pay the rent. DT obviously pays his rent.
In one of the articles he mentioned that he lives on a very busy road, which to me tells me that: it’s hard to find a tenant there, they have one who pays his rent reliably, it explains why people need to turn around to leave the driveway, and this being a small house on a very busy Detroit area road, I’m betting the landlords don’t have a big investment here.
"BigBlock440" (440-4bbl)
04/19/2017 at 14:46, STARS: 0
That might pay for the yard, but it’s not going to pay for the interior. I’d give them the chance (or tell them they have to) fix it at least. Though I tend to look at it as “it’s just grass, it’ll grow back”, I don’t put a whole lot of effort into my lawn.
"Danger" (dangerray)
04/19/2017 at 16:16, STARS: 0
Did you read the second half of my post? I think we’re in agreement.