On Vultures

Vultures are interesting. They are among the very small handful of animals, on land or sea, that survive entirely on carrion —already dead animals. Vultures do not hunt; they search for something already dead and decaying to eat.

Vultures do not go track prey; they do not forage on plants; they are not very confrontational; they search for something that has already died. While the Koala searches for eucalyptus and bears fish for salmon in the rivers, vultures look for a carcass lying there to take.

Vultures appear in many forms. Sometimes, they are real estate companies with vast assets, or employees scheming to skim money from your business. They can be estranged relatives circling after a death, or mechanics wanting to take advantage of car owners. Regardless of what you have, vultures emerge to feed off you. Here are a few recent stories about human vultures.

Six months ago, a friend moved out of an apartment owned by a company with thousands of units and around a billion dollars in asset holdings. After nearly five years as a tenant with kids and cats, both allowed in the lease, my friend received a $1,900 move-out invoice: $45 for drip pans, $500 for painting, $490 for carpet ‘wear,’ and several other odd line items. The carpet’s life was arbitrarily set at 5 years, without accounting for pre-existing wear or its extremely poor quality. All units get painted when somebody moves out. Drip pans have a life span. There was no actual damage to anything. The list of items amounted to what any landlord would need to clean and refresh for a new tenant.

Disputing with the property manager got me nowhere; I’m not sure they grasped the legal issues they were creating. I challenged all charges and finally offered to deal with them in court. This company makes a practice of charging dubious fees and preying on tenants who lack legal support. I saw the apartment myself once they were moved out; it was in exceptionally nice condition. This is not the first time I have helped a tenant deal with the same rental company. This is their standard business practice. Not only to keep the deposit, but also to try to squeeze a few more dollars out of the tenant as they go. If people do not pay the extra charges, they are sent to a collections agency, which reports the amount on their credit report, making it harder for them to find a new place to live. As such, most just pay the fee as it’s cheaper than hiring an attorney. Now that I’m thinking about it, there’s probably a serious lawsuit here.

Another instance involves a friend currently dealing with a contested will. My friend RC’s mother passed away a few years ago, and her late-in-life husband recently passed. RC, the only child, cared for both of them in their final years. RC’s mother paid for the house with her salary, and after she passed, her husband paid off the mortgage with her life insurance. She had made it clear she wanted the house to go to RC, and her late husband James followed her wishes.

James had only one close living relative—his younger brother, John, and they had not spoken in years. When RC called John to inform him of James’ death, John’s response was, “Do you know how much money James had in his bank accounts, and what does the will say about the house?” He did not ask about James’ passing or even know where James had lived. Although not mentioned in the will, John is now contesting RC for everything on the basis that he is “the only next of kin.” Of course, John never put a dollar into this home; it was entirely paid for by RC’s mother. I’m not even sure John had ever met RC’s mom, yet he’s coming for his inheritance all the same.

A friend and I share an interest in cars, and recently, both of our cars were in for work at separate shops—mine in Ohio, his in Bavaria. Both shops initially provided cost and timeline estimates. Once our cars were apart in a thousand pieces, the shops claimed the jobs were more involved than expected and demanded more time and money. I don’t know how my friend is handling his V12 Benz, but I’ve decided to challenge my additional charges in court. The law allows a 10% variance between the estimate and the final bill, which is all I am willing to pay. Anything beyond that, the shop will have to justify it to a judge and jury as to why they managed to estimate everything so poorly. I understand things can come up while working on cars, but everything in my case has amounted to the mechanic saying “well this just took longer than I expected.” Not that something else was wrong with the car.

Each time, whether it was with the property company, the contested will, or the car repair shop, those involved—including myself—found themselves considering the easier but costlier route: simply paying the extra charges or conceding to demands rather than fighting. The temptation to avoid confrontation and end the issue quickly is understandable, yet it allows the vultures to win.

Vultures will come for you, whether you have almost nothing or everything. They are waiting to take your last few dollars and last bit of sanity while justifying their actions as “fair” or “deserved”. They are always there, looking for someone to feed on. Protecting your legal and financial interests, sanity, and peace of mind is crucial. It’s hard to claw your way up in life, and as soon as you have anything, vultures will try to come and take it. It’s not enough to gain what you have—you have to then protect it with as much effort as you put into obtaining it in the first place. Building your life and legacy is never easy, and no matter where you are in life, you can look around and see vultures watching.