My apartment is gone -- what's the deal?

Hello all, first post. Must say I've found some really valuable insight here, and hope maybe someone can shed some light on my current dilemma:

Last Thursday I dropped L$1000 for a month's rent on an apartment in a rather new, interesting role playing build. Four nights later, I get a group notice saying the build has been closed because the owner couldn't pay his bills. Whoops. So not only am I out the rent, I'm also out the objects I had there (Right? Didn't see them anywhere in my Lost and Found). Now, I'm not sure if the build was actually deleted, or just closed off. Either way I'm out 1000 and some furniture (thankfully I hadn't unpacked too much).

So my question is -- what can I expect from the owner? He's promised everyone their rent will be rolled over into his new build, as if I have any interest in making my home again in another sim that could go poof at any minute. No thanks.

Should I just take my lumps and move on? 1000 is no small chunk of change to a newb like me, and could buy me a skybox to call a permanent home. And really, it's the principle of the thing for me.

Guess it's a good SL learning lesson, if nothing else. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom you all might have.

Well, something similar happened to me, and the reality of the situation is that there is nothing to be done about it. Linden Labs doesn't get involved in policing scams.

You only lost $1000L. In a combination of rip-offs associated with land I "bought," I lost about $54,500L. Even if you "bought" the land, the estate owner can do anything he or she wants with impunity, such as reclaiming the land from you after you have "bought" the land, and/or paid rent or tier.

You did the right thing, though, by "renting" rather than "buying." You only lost $1000L.

Oh, and if you are interested, my land-buying disaster, along with responses in the forum, are contained at:

/327/00/222377/1.html

and

/invalid_link.html

I wish all I had lost during my time on SL was only 1000L and some stuff (I know it doesn't make it any easier for you but it is actually only a small amount)

during my time I have lost the equivalent of an easy $2000 US on SL, between inventory loss of no copy items, and ppl ripping me off when I was selling lindens

selling lindens was so not worth it

as for items and inventory loss, not much we can do except report when it happens

Reax,

If this build was on a private island that is no longer available on the grid, you can contact Linden Lab; they've been known to open up islands for renters to come get their stuff. If the parcel that the build was on just got sold, chances are, your stuff has been returned to you and is either in your Lost and Found or Trash as one big conglomeration. Look for a symbol of a bunch of blocks stacked together; this would be all your stuff lumped into one batch. You'll need to rez it inworld in order to separate out all the individual items.

Just remember that L$1000 is only like $4 USD. It seems like a lot at the time, I know.

Thanks so far for the replies. I know 1000 isn't much. I'm more just fumed at the lack of consideration from the dude. But I suppose that makes me sound like the naive newb I am.

What makes it even tougher is the fact I lost another 400 on rent just two days earlier, when I made the mistake of renting a place across the street from a griefer set on making my life a living hell, who happened to be buds with the estate owner, who had no qualms kicking me out (and keeping my money) after I complained about the griefer.

So right now I'm technically paying rent on three places, only one of which I can still visit. Gotta love it.

Reax, have you rezzed some of the latest items in your lost and found folder? When an entire area is autoreturned, its possible that all of your objects are clumped into one. This means you will need a similar size or larger parcel to rez your items in the lost and found folder. I am not sure how someone can hold your possessions hostage unless it was a private estate, which as Oryx mentioned, LL can flip the switch temporarily while you clear your personal belongings.

i rent my land out, and not only would i never ever do that to someone, i actually schedule events and crap like that for my tenant!

there are good landlords out there. don't give up.

The message I just received from the landlord/builder states that the sim owner just flat out deleted the island. Not sure what that means, but doesn't sound good.

Oh well, I'll write this one off as well. If I'd bothered to search this forum for some info on the build before renting, I surely wouldn't have.

So I think it's time I stake down some roots and buy some land. I found out I can actually buy a replica of the skybox I'm currently renting (and love). Now I just need a cheap 512m to drop it on...

Thanks again for the replies.

Who promised this? The same guy who closed the other build or has he found a new owner?

you were advised to contact LL to have them allow you on to the island to retrieve your no copy items. i suggest you at least do that.

Since you are going to have a skybox and don't need your ground level view to be pristine, you should be able to get a 512 for under L$4500. Not a huge price to pay for a plot to call your own as long as you are premium. Make sure you have For Sale: Mainland selected when you search for your parcel.

One word of caution though: in about two days you are going to wish you had more than 117 prims.

your addiction has only just begun!.....

168.000 meters and 56,000 prims annnnd i ran out of prims yet again


god i love SL

so yes 117 prims will not take you far at all you may want to check how many prims the skybox you love is before deciding on a 512

Agreed with the earlier poster, I too rent out land and try hard to help tenants get the most out of their SL experience. Sorry you got stung, for every bad apple/experience, there are many more nice and exciting ones out there. There is a group in world called SL Land Answers Unlimited, maybe join and and ask in that group for a recommended land owner who can assist. Plenty of reputable people in that group can help you out.

Sorry to hear your bad news. As can be seen from a thread I recently posted, one doesn't need a third party, like a landlord, to wreck things. I inadvertenly deleted my home yeaterday and it's nowhere to be found!

I'm SORRY, I have felt tempted to ask where that apartment was for the last 24 hours or so and now I can't hold back anymore. I sure want to know. Yes, I know, no naming names here. I had just been wondering, well, as Chaos wants to buy another, new sim, that maybe it was his sim that's gone belly up? Just askin'.

Whilst I sympathise with the OP's situation, let's remember here that L$1000 is only four real dollars, about the cost of a magazine?

Broccoli

But we're not talking real dollars

Lindens should make part of their procedure of reclaiming land (either mainland parcels going into the Gov's ownership, or islands about to be removed) an automatic return of all items on the parcel.

Not only would people receive their stuff, but it would notify them that something happened.

if you are interested in a nice sky condo for rent check out cinda hoodoo and martanthony they have some great condo's in a sim called thorstar..great prices and they have been doing business for years my first character rented from them back in 2005 and i rented from them for months till i got a bigger patch of land on a family members island

i highly reccomend them they are great landlords and the skye condos are really nice

I can neither confirm nor deny these rumors.

/me only wishes he'd dome some basic forum research first.

My condolences.