Short Sale Part 2: the "Internet Modeling Agency"

In my last post, I left off with December of 2011.  By then my mortgage loan had been successfully modified, my taxes had returned to normal, and I was still bound and determined to hang on to the condo…until I got a phone call from a fellow Woods at Countryside resident that started to make it all fall apart again.    

So, this resident, I’ll call her Lisa, had emailed me to check my availability for a phone call.  Turns out she had quite a story.  She opened the conversation by telling me she wanted to bring something to my attention, and asked whether or not I had my computer on.  When I said I did she told me to do an internet search using the terms “Woods at Countryside” (the name of our development) and “posh girls,” or something to that effect.  She asked me to click on one of the first few links that came up, and just waited a moment for me to check out the site.  What I found was fascinating.

Did you know that with the right attitude, you can become an internet model?   Absolutely!  What is an internet model?  An internet model is professional in the adult entertainment industry, but one who is able to work from the comfort, safety and privacy of her own home.  The most successful models are not only attractive, but creative with a bubbly personality.  A girl who already fits the bill can be working in as little as one hour after she submits her application, but free training is available for those who are shy, or nervous about what they’ll do as model.  In addition to having the ability to work from home, one of the best parts about being an internet model is that you decide how often you want to work, and your income is only limited to how much time you spend online with customers.

Obviously the site Lisa pointed me toward was soliciting for webcam “models,” but there’s more.  This particular agency had “studios” all over the north and northwest suburbs, allowing for a convenient work location no matter where models lived, if they didn’t want to work from home, that is.  Oh, and guess what – as a model working for this agency, you had the opportunity to live in the beautiful new Woods at Countryside development in Palatine, IL!  Sweet!

Wait, what?!?!

Lisa explained that she’d hesitated calling me and had actually put off doing so for quite some time, but things had just gotten so bad she needed to tell someone about it.  You see, Lisa lives in the same building in which the sales office is housed.  She asked if I’d noticed that the office’s large sliding glass doors had been frosted over, or whether or not I’d driven by at night recently and noticed that the lights were almost always on.  She had reason to believe, based on the obvious sounds coming from the office (which could actually be heard throughout the building) and the people coming and going all night, that the agency was using the sales office as a studio after hours. 

Lisa said that she felt unsafe living in the building, that with people coming and going all night and in doing so leaving the front doors propped open, anyone could walk in at any time.  She also said that she was offended for the old woman who lived down the hall, who didn’t need to be hearing what was going on – it was just offensive!  Finally, she was worried about the people behind this agency.   What if they had ties to organized crime?  She was scared about going to the authorities because, as she put it, “I don’t want to come home and find my cat in the oven.”

Good Lord!

After listening to her story and carefully considering what might be the best course of action, I suggested that while whatever was going on was offensive to her and others in the building, it would be extremely difficult to prove any kind of illegal activity.  My thought was that the only way to put a stop to it would be to prove that there was a business being run out of a residentially zoned property.  I promised to reach out to our alderman and stay in touch with her.

As it turned out, I was right.  My alderman agreed with my analysis, and then gave me the name and contact information for a detective on the Palatine police force and suggested I might reach out to him.  The detective actually called me the very next day, before I had the chance to reach out to him.  It turns out that the Palatine police were actually aware of the agency and its activities, but needed firsthand witnesses and asked whether the resident of the building would be willing to speak with him.  Lisa, being terrified about what might happen to her cat, refused.  The best I could do was forward a portion of an email from her to the detective.  I’m guessing that the police must have put a little bit of pressure on the, um, business, because things got very quiet shortly thereafter.

I don’t know about you, but I think after that ordeal it’s perfectly reasonable for me to have seriously started to rethink holding on to the condo.  After that, I really didn’t want to be around to see what else was going to happen. 

Fast forward to May of 2012 when owners learned that HOAs would be going up by over 25% and that a special assessment was about to be levied due to emergency roof repairs.  Why?  Well, it seemed there was no money in the Association’s reserves, which was a funny thing because the prior year we were all given financial statements that attested to the good financial health of the development.  Have I mentioned that the speculation the entire time I’ve lived in the development is that the developer is not paying his HOA dues…and that he owns over 50% of the development?  Makes sense now, doesn’t it?

In any case, come May you can guess how hard my decision was.  Not only was the development going to hell, but what was going to be a major financial stretch would turn into a situation in which money would just about be hemorrhaging.  It’s fortunate for me that the increase in HOA dues will not hit until January 2013.  As for the special assessment, the condo board still hasn’t quite gotten their act together on the financing of the emergency repairs.  Since they’re required to give a minimum of 30 days notice prior to sending owners their bills, I’m hoping to escape having to pay that as well.

While it is sad to have to let the condo go after all of the work I’ve put into saving it over the past several years, there are some plus sides.  First is that remembering addresses for background checks will be much easier.  I’ve lived here 6 and a half years, the longest I’ve lived at one address since I was still under my mother’s roof.  Should I want to get another job, or for some other reason need to go through a criminal background investigation, it won’t be a struggle to remember my last 7 years of zip codes! 

A bit more seriously is the huge plus of moving into the city of Chicago, hopefully to the Lincoln Square neighborhood.  I’m very much looking forward to being able to park my car and walk more, to having a shorter commute (an hour tops one-way, rather than an hour and a half), and probably being a little more social thanks to being in closer proximity to friends.  Lots of reasons to stay optimistic!

So, that’s all for this installment.  Next up:  Who’s going to want to buy this thing? And You thought the past three years have been rough?  Ha!  Just you wait.  *evil laughing commences*