Containment What will happen when Barb dies?

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Tubular Monkey said:
How long did Chris keep his job at Wendy's? A week? He's arguably even more retarded now than he was then. Getting a job is one thing, but keeping it for any length of time is another.
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I don't think anyone knows for sure, but the consensus is that it was probably longer than a week. His resume says August to October, but he also said he got fired just before September 11. So noone really knows for sure. Could be anywhere from a few days to a couple months.

I agree that Chris might get fired quickly from his first job, particularly if his supervisor is not super understanding. But if he has to work, he will eventually learn what he can and can't get away with in the workplace. For the most part. Serious fuck-ups will become further and further apart, which means that he will be able to go longer before being fired, and may be able to build up enough good will to have the occassional fuck up without getting fired.

@Ravenor 's long post made me think. Places like Cutco are known for preying on people who are desperate for work. That doesn't apply to Chris. What was Chris' motivation to work there? My best guess is that Bob pushed him to work, and he found that Cutco was the most willing to hire him.
 
Marvin said:
Now, what would be interesting is if Chris got an apartment post-Barb. His tugboat would cover a cheap apartment in Charlottesville, probably with a roommate. However, he'd be extremely poor without a part time job. Not being able to afford his toys and all the low quality restaurant food he eats would be very stressful. But a job would be stressful too. Chris would be between a rock and a hard place.
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Here's the thing about Chris getting a roommate:

  • The roommate would have to not take advantage of Chris. I think Chris is a reasonably bright enough cookie to know if he's being financially swindled, but I could see someone taking advantage of Chris by doing something like doing all of the cooking and cleaning (not to the extent of a housespouse who earns their keep, but just doing barely enough so that he'll miss it) or giving him the bare semblance of a social life or even just having the only car available after Chris finds himself unable to pony up the $1200 to repair SONCHU's A/C Compressor and electrical wiring.
  • The roommate has to be fairly stable and settled in. I've done the roommate deal several times before and I've never had anyone stick around longer than 18 months. Not because of disagreements or anything, but because people get jobs and families and get out of the service and shit. It's something you just learn to live with, but you know how Chris is.
  • Most importantly, they'd have to get along somehow. I really don't think that Chris or his roommate is capable of this unless they're a matron who's henpecking him mercilessly or they're in a vegetative state.

I think the best bet for Chris would be to get a studio apartment or one-bedroom unit after being forced to sell his stuff and then just coast off of the tugboat for the rest of his life. He's going to struggle with his finances, but assuming a monthly budget of $600-$800 dollar rent, $150 for utilities (electricity, water, garbage, Internet), $50 for clothes, $50 for gasoline, $200 for food (Doofus is going to have to cut down on convenience food whether he likes to or not), $50 for consumables like paper towels and shampoo, and $250 on minimum payments for his credit card, he could have just barely enough to splurge on a new toy every other week and cheap fast food as a twice a week thing. Of course, Chris is fucked if his car or computer breaks down or something.
 
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I just can't see Fatty existing without 14 Branchland Court

He just doesn't have the fund to live the life he wants. Plus I am concerned that Barb is spending his inheritance.

Does any know in position know if she's done something stupid like a reverse mortgage or borrowed against her life insurance?

If she has Fatty may well be truly fucked financially. I guess the question is; is Barb that much of a bitch she'd used up Chris's future for her present?
 
Sweet and Savoury said:
If she has Fatty may well be truly fucked financially. I guess the question is; is Barb that much of a bitch she'd used up Chris's future for her present?
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Uh, yeah? They already spend literal tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees thanks to Barb's stupidity. I mean, I don't know for sure if she borrowed against Chris's life insurance but what's another 6000-8000 dollars compared to, what, the 30,000 she already pissed away? I think that grabbing a reverse mortgage would be slightly less likely for her. She's 74 years old right now and while I'm not sure of her life expectancy (or more importantly, her expectations of her life expectancy), I don't think she wants to risk 10-20 years paying a 5-8% interest rate on a house that's probably a little less than <100K in value right now.

That said, if Barb thought that she was going to die in a few years I bet that she'd have no qualms taking out a reverse mortgage and stiffing Chris with the bill, forcing him to abandon ship and find a place on his own.
 
Sweet and Savoury said:
Does any know in position know if she's done something stupid like a reverse mortgage or borrowed against her life insurance?
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Pretty sure she's tapped out anything she can and that the property is mortgaged to some degree. Not sure how much. I'd guess there's some equity there, but I really don't know.

I'd also think that a reverse mortgage operation would want to be sure the house wouldn't be destroyed by hoarding behavior before granting it and would turn them down on looking at the property. Usually they want at least a walk-through, I'd think.

I'm purely speculating on this. Others may know more about the probably perilous financial circumstances of the Chandlers.
 
I'm just talking out of my ass at this point, so feel free to ridicule me if you know more. But I think that unless the hoarding is causing actual structural damage I don't really think that the bank would care that much. They could get the place in reasonable shape again by calling on some working stiffs to aggressively dump the hoard out, clean the walls and carpet, and then fumigate the whole place. It'd cost money, but in the realm of a few thousand dollars. Branchland Court is a reasonably nice property from a structural perspective and rather than turning Barb down completely they might just offer her a smaller payment/charge more interest.

All bets are off, though, if the hoard falls through the ceiling or causes the corners to crack open or so on.
 
General Juicer said:
I'm just talking out of my ass at this point, so feel free to ridicule me if you know more. But I think that unless the hoarding is causing actual structural damage I don't really think that the bank would care that much.
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Animal waste can cause structural damage and can contaminate wood to the point of ruining it. I'm not sure if the situation is that bad considering they have fewer animals after they let them die in a fire.
 
Depends on where they're relieving themselves. If it's on linoleum or engineered veneer flooring and/or it's in a small area, it's not a budget-buster. If the animals are excreting all over the damn place onto solid wood (or through thin carpet) then that's a considerably bigger problem. If I recall correctly, though, don't the animals have a designated shitting space on top of newspaper that the Chandlers replace regularly?
 
Unrelated question: is Chris smart enough to avoid predatory lenders? I'd like to think that he is, because if he's gone this long without taking out a payday loan then he probably knows better. Nonetheless, desperation does some pretty evil things to your common sense. Even reasonably smart potatoes panic when they have a hot job interview with no suit or they have car trouble or the tile in their bathroom ceiling falls through. Whereupon they hit up those vile fuckers for $500 and things get nasty. Chris does have his unsinkable tugboat, fortunately.
 
If the recent recordings are anything to go by, Barb is more than a little senile. I think it's telling that she's no longer going to his hearings. She sounds like a total shut-in now. As disease magnifies her paranoia, don't count on her making rational decisions. At least Chris will have Chumly collectors' coins to put on her eyes when she dies.
 
I think it would be good for Chris to get an apartment just because I don't think he can handle home ownership. Do you think he could handle the financial burden of the home needing a sudden repair from a burst pipe or other issue? He already doesn't keep up on basic maintenance. Do you really think he'd know when to get the roof repaired? Change the air filters? Or other fairly simple things? Better for him to have landlord handle all that.
 
Chan the Wizard said:
I think it would be good for Chris to get an apartment just because I don't think he can handle home ownership. Do you think he could handle the financial burden of the home needing a sudden repair from a burst pipe or other issue? He already doesn't keep up on basic maintenance. Do you really think he'd know when to get the roof repaired? Change the air filters? Or other fairly simple things? Better for him to have landlord handle all that.
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You're right. Even if he had someone giving him gentle reminders and had Chris put money away specifically for repairs, Chris would drag his feet any home issues to avoid the cruel responsibilities of the adult world. Chris might get lucky and have no major issues that he can't take care of with a tugboat + credit card + emergency Ebay purchases such as a clogged toilet or yearly property tax for 10 or so years. But it will eventually bite him in the ass.

Chris being able to stay in the house is also dependent on, as mentioned earlier in the thread, Barb having enough foresight to only include Chris in her will so that Cole doesn't swoop in and have it sold off (which is likely but not assured) and her not taking out a reverse mortgage that there's no way Chris can pay off (which is much less likely).
 
General Juicer said:
but assuming a monthly budget of $600-$800 dollar rent, $150 for utilities (electricity, water, garbage, Internet), $50 for clothes, $50 for gasoline, $200 for food (Doofus is going to have to cut down on convenience food whether he likes to or not), $50 for consumables like paper towels and shampoo, and $250 on minimum payments for his credit card, he could have just barely enough to splurge on a new toy every other week and cheap fast food as a twice a week thing. Of course, Chris is fucked if his car or computer breaks down or something.
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You're forgetting Son-Chu's monthly payment. There's no way they paid for that car in cash and Chris probably had to pay a fairly high interest rate so factor that in as well.
 
That Guy said:
You're forgetting Son-Chu's monthly payment. There's no way they paid for that car in cash and Chris probably had to pay a fairly high interest rate so factor that in as well.
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the new focus is indeed financed and the car needs to be taxed and insured as well.
 
General Juicer said:
I'm just talking out of my ass at this point, so feel free to ridicule me if you know more. But I think that unless the hoarding is causing actual structural damage I don't really think that the bank would care that much. They could get the place in reasonable shape again by calling on some working stiffs to aggressively dump the hoard out, clean the walls and carpet, and then fumigate the whole place. It'd cost money, but in the realm of a few thousand dollars. Branchland Court is a reasonably nice property from a structural perspective and rather than turning Barb down completely they might just offer her a smaller payment/charge more interest.

All bets are off, though, if the hoard falls through the ceiling or causes the corners to crack open or so on.
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One problem is, in perfect shape, the house and property of 14 BLC are only worth about 150K.

And even if it is salvagable, both the house and the property need a lot of work. I am not sure I would put in the realm of a few thousand. Just clearing the hoard out could be a few thousand. Then you would have to re-paint, re-carpet, fumigate, fix up the plumbing and wiring. The property is a decent size and needs to be entirely re-landscaped. Each of those jobs is a pretty good size that could cost well into the thousands.

That is really starting to eat in to the value of a not particularly valuable house. It still has some positive value, but the general shittiness and poor upkeep might easily chop 1/4 or 1/3 off the value.
 
Is there such a thing as "affordable housing" in VA like there is in Canada?
If so, Chris should start looking into it now, because I'm sure there's a waiting list.
 
anusaurus said:
Is there such a thing as "affordable housing" in VA like there is in Canada?
If so, Chris should start looking into it now, because I'm sure there's a waiting list.
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Yes, there is section 8 housing
And yes, there is generally a waiting list for those apartments.
Chris however will not look into anything until the whole thing with 14BC blows up, which will not be for at least several months or years.
Assuming Chris is planning anything in advance is pretty optimistic.
 
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