Markus’ Blog

The lovely previous owners of our condo left behind a little surprise for us when we took possession of the place in August. In the spot where they used to have their BBQ, they had built a shelter from beer bottles and in that shelter was a mama pigeon with two eggs.

To this day we haven’t been able to figure out how it was possible for the bird to build a nest in a spot that used to be occupied by a BBQ and when and why they built the shelter for the bird. They did it after we inspected the suite, that’s for sure.

Anyways, it took a lot of effort and phoning around (on Brigette’s part) — the eggs had long since hatched — to finally find out that nobody can do anything about the birds, because the babies were too small. Wildlife Services said the best thing to do is to just wait till they are old enough to leave.

They did leave two or three weeks ago. But they didn’t leave without a trace. Our patio is now covered in bird poop. It’s litterally everywhere. There’s lots of it in and around the shelter, and not quite as much everywhere else.

The last couple of weeks now were spent trying to find somebody to clean the deck and see if there’s a way the strata would pay for it (because we sure as hell aren’t going to). Our property manager gave us the contact information of somebody, and we got a quote of $295 pre-tax (that’s $312.70 with taxes) to clean the deck. The strata said nope, they can’t pay for it. It’s between the previous owners and us.

Now we already know that the previous owners are poo-poo heads because they:

• Didn’t leave the keys in the suite on the day we took possession, like it had been agreed upon.
• A day after we found that out and complained, the keys were suddenly there, meaning they simply entered the premises without permission.
• When confronted, categorically denied doing so.
• Left the kitchen cabinets (and other areas) a disaster zone (spices and bread crumbs in the drawers, stove dirty), etc.
• Left us some pigeons on the deck.
• Completely ignored a letter we sent them two months ago stating our unhappiness with the birds and the dirtiness of the place.

All of this doesn’t bode so well and means that we’ll end up having to take them to Small Claims Court if we don’t want to end up with the bill. I’d consider it a minor miracle if they came to their senses and paid for it without being dragged before court first.

We are so going to do that, though, if we have to, because this is just bullsh*t. You sell your condo first, then (after all the contracts have been signed) you build a bird shelter for a bird that hasn’t been there before and you leave the new owners with a $300 bill to clean the mess up the birds made? I don’t think so.