My name is Luis, I’m 34, and I rent a small apartment in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The place itself is fine — nothing fancy, but the rent is reasonable and it’s close to my job.
The only real issue I’ve had is with my landlord.
For the first few months everything was normal. Rent paid, occasional maintenance check, nothing unusual.
But after the first time my rent was a few days late, something strange started happening.
Two days after the late payment, my landlord texted saying he needed to stop by and “inspect the AC unit.”
Now, in Albuquerque that’s not completely unreasonable. AC units get a lot of use here during the summer.
So I said okay.
He came by, looked at the unit for about thirty seconds, nodded, and left.
I didn’t think much of it.
Then it happened again.
The next month my rent was late by about three days because my paycheck deposit got delayed.
Suddenly I received another message.
“Need to stop by to check the AC unit again.”
Same thing.
He walked in, stared at the unit for less than a minute, and left.
By the third time this happened, I started noticing a pattern.
Every time rent was late, the AC apparently required urgent inspection.
But when rent was paid on time?
No AC concerns whatsoever.
Still, it wasn’t causing major problems, so I mostly ignored it.
Until last week.
My rent was late again — this time by two days — because my bank flagged a payment transfer.
That afternoon my landlord texted:
“Need to check the AC system.”
At this point I already knew what was coming.
He came by while I was at work, using the spare key he keeps for maintenance access.
When I got home later, my cat was acting weirdly excited near the front door.
Then I noticed something strange on the living room table.
My landlord had left his sunglasses behind.
Which meant he had definitely been inside longer than the usual 30-second AC check.
Out of curiosity, I checked the security camera I keep pointed toward the living room.
And that’s when things got weird.
The video showed my landlord walking in, glancing briefly at the AC unit…
…and then spending the next five minutes playing with my cat.
At one point he actually pulled out his phone and started taking selfies with the cat in the background.
My cat, for the record, looked extremely pleased with the situation.
After the impromptu photo session, my landlord finally remembered the supposed inspection, tapped the AC unit once like he was checking if it was still there, and left.
So now I’m trying to figure out what the real story is.
Is the AC inspection just a convenient excuse to check on the apartment?
Or has my landlord secretly been using late rent as an excuse to visit his favorite tenant cat?
Either way, if my rent is late again next month, I’m pretty sure my cat will be expecting another photoshoot.
And honestly, I might have to start charging pet modeling fees.
