St. Louis Brick: June 2022

The damage Mike Rancid did to my rental property! Whew, I could pick them. He chronically lied to me without apology, caused severe damage to my property, stole from my inventory, and was a cheat who has maintained out of state license plates for the years he's lived in MO along with car insurance fraud.
From 2008 to 2013 Mike Rancid created extensive damage (photos to follow) while renting my property. I found some of it while he lived here and he paid for the repairs as written in the lease. That included damage to the storm windows, putting oil, grease, and unknown content into the kitchen stack which resulted in a clogged line. Visits from two plumbers within three days to try to fix his attempt to clear the stack on his own (he didn't consult with me and tenant repairs weren't allowed as detailed in the lease). The clogged line resulted in a massive mess in the basement when a plumber opened the line and the clog blew out covering soiling the drywall and the floor. I cleaned everything without charge to him.
He damaged the storm door to the point of splitting the wood door frame by aggressively pushing it open,(the door and the frame had to be replaced), permanent burn damage to the new (installed before he moved in) kitchen counter tops, holes in the plaster from using three inch nails, damage to the wood in the stairwell, breaking the handle on the toilet, leaving the toilet so filthy it had to be replaced, he GLUED a picture frame to the kitchen wall which destroyed the surface of the drywall, broke the rod on the shower line, broke the kitchen sink spray nozzle, damaged the kitchen tile floor so badly the entire flooring had to be replaced. Photos and more details will follow. I discovered the bulk of the damage and filth after he moved. It appears the only time he washed his hands was when he handled soap in the morning shower. EVERY light switch and cabinet in the apartment was filthy. The wall behind his bed (no headboard) was filthy from his dirty blankets. The wall in the hallway between the bedroom, bath, and kitchen was heavily soiled on one side where he dragged his hand across the wall as he passed.
He consistently lied about the damage he caused and when confronted with evidence or a witness (my neighbor) he never apologized.
I sued him for the cost of repairs: 3,200.00. But I neglected to do a 'final walk through' the apartment with him and because of that technicality I lost the case. However he did not get the balance of his security deposit back via the judge because the damage and filth was acknowledged. I wasn't aware of the 'final walk through'. I've been a tenant much longer than I've been a property owner and no one had ever done a walk through with me. Or, perhaps the landlord did and I didn't know it because I never once lost a security deposit nor was I used over damage because I've never damaged property nor would it occur to me.
My neighbor once told me he watched as Rancid shook a storm window in an attempt to close it and broke the pegs that secured the window. When I confronted him about the damage he denied causing it. I mentioned our neighbor saw him do it. He had no response, never apologized about lying, but he paid for the repair after I referred him back to the lease clause that detailed paying for damaged caused. The entire five years he rented from me he complained about the apartment being old yet I've dozens of emails from him saying how much he liked living here.
I never felt the same about him but I was reluctant to terminate the lease for fear he'd cause further damage. I tried various things like letting him know the lease would be up in two months giving him plenty of time to move.
Eventually I decided on month-to-month rent and no lease. That didn't budge him so I raised the rent 65.00 monthly and finally he moved directly across the street into an older building. Yes, an OLD BUILDING! And, while my building is 100 years old everything inside the apartment was updated with new fixtures, fresh paint, new kitchen flooring and counters, ceiling fans, and an 900.00 stove, he lied and had told the judge that I had never maintained the property. When I mentioned I paid to have the roof painted white, a storm door replaced (that he also damaged) and tuckpointing done on the building, he had to acknowledge it was true. I had the roof painted white for his benefit since he lived on the second floor of a two floor building. A white roof decreases cooling costs and I wanted to help with utilities and also because I'm a responsible building owner.
I had said to the judge, I am not being disingenuous. and he nodded with understanding.
Rancid refuses to register his car in MO and travels to California once a year to renew his plates. A few years ago I asked him when he was going to register his car in MO state he said: DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH I'D HAVE TO PAY IN TAXES!?
Yes, I said, All of us residents pay taxes on our cars. My neighbors would complain to me about the deadbeat tax tenant constantly. It was embarrassing.
Of course a car insurance scam goes along with out of state plates. A statement would arrive in another name, a woman who never lived at the apartment, Sarah K. I opened it early in his tenancy not knowing it was met for him since it arrived at my address. (he paid 1,800 annually for car insurance... reckless driving?) Case.net shows he's been sued twice for causing damage to other cars.
This was my usual experience with Rancid, he was deceitful, aggressive, destructive, and abusive. He'd say nasty and abusive things to me and then apologize by email (while he was at work!) the next day. I've keep the emails. He never apologized for the incredible amount of damage. His demeanor was impatient, rude, covert, self- aggrandizing, insulting to my neighbors, entitled, and narcissistic. When he moved he stole items from my storage and removed items from the apartment that I had provided and weren't his to keep.
The damage and filth was extensive. The most baffling incident was the glued picture frame to the kitchen wall. GLUED! What IS the thought process behind this!? He had hung nine photos on the wall using three inch nails. There's dents to the drywall where he missed the nail heads! He didn't like the first arrangement so he rehung the photos three times. The huge nails caused additional damage to the drywall. I own the building and would never glue anything to the wall. This was just a small fraction of the lack of boundaries and disrespect towards something that wasn't his.
My solution to get him to move was to raise his rent twice in one month.
I thought if I terminated his occupancy he would've caused even more damage. I'd had enough of his odd behavior, ongoing damage to the apartment, denial of any responsibility, abusive and snide comments to me, cloaked racist comments about my neighbors, and his exceptionally loud voice. So loud, that when the Sheriff served him I could hear the conversation across the street, behind closed windows, and with the C/A running.
I had told him to clean and unplug the refrigerator so he wouldn't have to pay extra power when he emptied it before moving. I don't know what he did when moving the refrigerator to unplug it but he destroyed the tiles beneath it. In court, he told the judge the flooring was 'old' which was another lie. I informed the judge that the flooring had been installed prior to his tenancy. When I encountered the ruined tile I went to Home Depot and discovered the tile had been discontinued so the entire floor had to be replaced! Check how filthy the refrigerator and baseboard are in photos.
One of his lies to the judge was that the apartment was a complete mess when he moved in and nothing worked. Really? Why move in? The truth is the Building Inspector has to inspect my property each time a new tenant is going to move in and it passed prior to his moving in. The replaced tile floor: The filthy refrigerator: The cloth after a few swipes:

He had pulled an electrical socket out of the kitchen wall I'll include a photo of it when it was reset and plastered. When I told him he had to pay for the repair he said it must have been loose. Really? Has anyone ever encountered a loose socket!?
Also, photos of the series of frames he nailed to the wall, the nails, the dents to the drywall where he missed the nail head, the frame glued to the wall, and the damage it caused when we removed it.

This is a series of holes in the drywall that were created with three inch nails: Dents to the drywall. Don't let this guy near a hammer: Right behind the frame you can see another big dent from a hammer where he missed another nail head. Check out the size of the nails he used: The wall after removing the glued on frame: The wall socket after being replaced back into the wall. He had an appliance plugged into this and when I noticed the socket HANGING OUT OF THE WALL from him tugging on it he told me, It must have been loose. I've NEVER encountered a 'loose' socket in my entire life. He would never take responsibility for the damage he caused:
Here's a photo of the console on the range. He broke this trying to change the time. I can't imagine the amount of force it would take to push it in but I'm lucky I caught it and had he pay to repair it before he moved out. And yet he told the judge he was 'treated like a piggy bank'. Obviously he expected me to pay for the damage he caused. Oh, that's right, I did end up paying for most of it!
The next two photos are of permanent damage to the kitchen counter tops that had been installed just prior to him moving in. The counters had been installed prior to Rengel moving in. I had pointed to them and said, Don't use these as a cutting board. It looks like he placed hot pans on the counter to make them bubble. TO say this was reckless disregard is being mild. I've no notion how he managed to discolor this section of the counter: More photos of the filth I cleaned in the kitchen. While I understand that there's various standards of cleaning this it's my opinion this is the low end of hoosier. Worse, I was recovering from a total knee replacement and gall bladder removal surgery and cleaning up after someone with entitlement issues. Filthy oven: Photo of the kitchen sill. I've no notion of how someone causes this type of damage. He broke the spray nozzle on the sink faucet so the entire fixture had to be replaced: Photos of the bathroom which was left FILTHY. He had also broke the metal fixture which held the shower in place as well as the toilet handle but the toilet was so filthy that it had to be replaced. My contractor told me the only way to clean what was left behind was to use sulfuric acid and he wouldn't handle it nor would I find another plumber who would. My estimation is in the entire five years of using this toilet it had never been cleaned. Swiped at, maybe, but even the bottom of the toilet seat was urine stained. I didn't rent the apartment in this condition nor would the city inspector approve an occupancy permit to me had he seen what I encountered (below) after Rancid moved: It took four hours to clean the bathtub: How does one clean themselves in a filthy sink and tub? We removed the toilet, it had to be replaced. Still can't figure how someone breaks the toilet handle.
The wood window sill was severely water damaged because Rancid could ever remember to close the windows during a storm. It had to be repaired (photos follow). Also, the lease said no pins, nails, or staples could be driven into the historic woodwork in the apartment and photos follow of the hooiser christmas tree lights Rengle wrapped around and used push pins to secure the lights into the colonnades.He also split the wood on the window frame by driving nails into the wood when screws should have been used...had I approved. He made sure I was gone when he hammered the shades into the frames. Such a deceitful creep. Oh yeah, there's also a photo of his black sequin bustier blouse he left behind.

Damage to the stove console display. Luckily I caught this before he moved and he paid for the repair.

Damage to window frame from driving nails into the wood.

His black sequin top was left behind for me to find. Freak.

I've another file of photos but am no longer willing to emotionally visit this disaster.. So here's the last one, a three inch nail was driven into the kitchen floor.

Here's another example of a complete lack of respect and consideration for history and another's property: he used push pins and staples to attach christmas lights to 100 year old woodwork. Screening for hoosiers is impossible. I've never, ever, imagined a person would to all of these things to property that wasn't theirs. Rancid, Rancid, such a cheater, has a wife and will not keep her.