My home was deleted, and I was banned for no reason

[Xzoximon]

I recently paid 2 weeks rent ( 1,580L$) for a sky platform so that i could build my new home. Just two days after I paid the rent I TP'd to my new home and found myself falling through the air, it had gone. I had no warning about this from the owner, and naturally i wanted to know why my home had been removed. So i ask in the rental group chat, i then immediately get ejected from the group, so i send an IM to the owner, asking why my home is gone, and what is the problem, he doesn't answer me. I TP to his main office where he is working, and i ask him in chat what is the problem, why is my home gone? He still doesn't answer me but instead he bans me from the region. I had no explanation why my home was removed or why i was banned, i don't know why this was done to me at all because i had done nothing wrong. The owners didn't speak to me at all to explain anything they just ignored me and banned me. I paid two weeks rent to them and didn't even get a refund. I am very upset by the way they have treated me, and would like an explanation from them why this happened and if possible a refund, but they will not communicate with me at all, so where do I go from here, and will they be allowed to carry on treating their customers badly and get away with it.

[CatWoman1234567]

Wow! I didn't know that could happen on here. Thanks for letting me know before I actually tried to do anything on here. I don't know why the real world has to be so tough, but you'd think we could at least create a virtual world that's O.k. I guess it's great for them. They get your money and you get nothing. Now what to do? I guess that's why some people wonder the streets alone. Not even love can save them because someone will just come along and take that too. 

[Malanya]

Hmm...

[Darq Viper]

Any landlord half serious about being professional in SL would have, at the very least, given you a reason or a warning if you were violating some rule. I'm sorry this happened to you and I hate that there are landlords out there that take advantage of people. It makes the legitimate rental companies that are trying to do good things and help people out with homes a very bad name.

[Valen Serpente]

Ouch, sorry to hear that, but yea, you could file a ticket but LL has a general policy to not get involved between user disputes.

Solution is to never rent land from anyone for any reason. Sounds extreme, but I have been burned even by "legit" well known and established land renters, It's all about business. Had a nice 1/4 sim I was renting awhile back, had it for almost a good year and the land owners were helpful if I had an issue, but one day, they wanted to flip the sim and rent it to peeps looking for PG land (land was mature at the time) so one day "poof" stuff was returned and land was reset with no notice.

Good thing I wasn't running a business or store there, lol.

But on the bright side I do have a funny reverse story. My first week in SL back in '08, I really wanted land to do stuff on so (since LL had a time limit on when you could purchase lindens, think account had to be a few weeks old) I got some L$ from a 3rd party site and purchased a 1/4 plot.

Didn't know about tier so I never paid it and had no idea what that object was in the center of the plott that said "rent box" so I right clicked it and returned the object to the owner, lol. After I was on SL for awhile and learned about tier and how land rental works, then it dawned on me why all my stuff was gone one day, haha.

[beethros Karas]

Not all the "fingers" are the same sized.

Dont let a post judge a world.

As in every other world, reputation is what mutters.

Clear words makes good friends.

I have payed for a week to someone and then they gave me another one for free..

does that makes the balance equal now?

Or do i need to mention those wonderfull people who have been studying

graphick design and meanwhile they have build sims that are masterpieces

and they just let it free for the people to use?

Im not taking anyones side in this.. i was just wanted to answer to you, about when you said:

"Thanks for letting me know before I actually tried to do anything on here."

As for the original poster ..

well..

i do read very carefully what the creators/landlords have to offer me in their Notecards/marketplace.

so when i am sure that i have been in a fraud, or in a mistake situation, then i just fill a ticket to LL and they take care of it.

 

 

[Alicia Sautereau]

One thing i`ve learned is that there is always two side of the story
Another thing i`ve learned is that some estate owners operate without a conscious

Some times people don`t get the warning or simply click the accept covenant without reading and immediately violate it and refuse to accept it

[Ren Toxx]

As I understand, Linden Labs doesn't get involved with resident-to-resident disputes, and this, for better or worse, falls under that category. You could still report him for fraud.. it's highly unlikely that your report alone would fix your problem, but if he does the same thing to others and they report him, too, then *that* may 'stick to him'.

 

Other than that... there's the possibility of contacting all the other tenants, at least those you can find out about (yep, already having been ejected from the group won't help)... and warn them privately, one by one. Don't ask them to believe you, because you just cannot prove anything, no matter how many logs and transaction details you have... only LL can verify those, and as I said...

Consider, though, that this may amount to 'declaring war' on your ex-landlord... whether he was right to eject you like that (as usual, we only have your version of the story, so... *shrugs*) or not. He could, reasonably or not, retaliate on the grounds of diffamation.

 

 

In the long run, I guess the only way to be protected from these things is to research a bit before renting to see if your potential landlords are a trusted company.

[beethros Karas]

Im a landlord my self..

and as someone said:

a half serious landlord will give an explanation.

i agree 100%

I would like to add something in this post..

a fear of mine that i have many years..

What if i just die?

What will happent to the ppl who rent from me?

What will happent to my reputation then?

well you will say:

Your DEAD why you care...

What i want to mention here is that opposite of what we call: real life,

in this one, you can easily loose something that have been promised that it will be yours, not

always because of a fraud, but because of many other reasons.

 

 

[Thinkerer Melville]

That sounds like bad business.  I have been running a series on long time rental estates in SL.   This page has links to the articles I have published on such estates:

Land and houses 

TKR

 

 

[Melita Magic]

What doesn't make sense to me is that the person is by your telling, still in SL and still running a realty office. Do they still have other tenants?

If so and you really did not do anything wrong, and really do not know the person, they must have either gotten a story about you from someone else or think you are the alt of someone they disliked or had banned.

There isn't a whole lot else that makes sense. Have you read the covenant and landlord's rules and are you still sure you didn't break any big ones? Or SL TOS?

Can't tell you what happened as I know less than yourself and am not in the landlord's mind. Sadly you have no recourse within SL.

[Xzoximon]

Hi, thankyou all for your replies, although i have not heard anything from the rental company, i think i have now come to my own conclusion. It seems now there is a problem within the business that has just reared its head and i just happened to be there at the wrong time, although i asked a simple question as to why my home had gone, i think the owners were under a lot of stress at the time and didnt feel like dealing with me or anyone else. the sim my home was in is now empty. i had no fault in anything i was not breaking any rules, but the company are definitely having problems so thats what i shall settle at, i was just there at the wrong time when usually they are very nice to their tennants from asking others of their experience they are usually a very good rental company, so i close my case.

[Staralien]

That is a fear of mine as well, that something will happen to me, I will die or something will happen beyond my control that keeps me from SL. When you build up a business, it seems like real property, something you should be able to leave behind. I have been thinking a lot about who I could leave it to, who would care enough and be responsible. Unfortunately, there is only one person in my RL family that would care enough, and at the moment, she is only 7. In a few years, she could definitely be my heir in SL, but now, she is far too young.

I have a very dear friend and mentor in SL who has his own rental business as well, so my thought is to give him all of my info (log ins, other stuff), so in the event anything happens to me, he could take over my business as well. At the moment it pays for itself, and pretty much runs itself except when tenants need help, so he could easily log in to my account, take care of what needs done and pay tier as needed. My estate owner is trusted and stable, so I expect to remain there many years to come. My mentor could keep things going long enough for Makiyah to grow up enough to take over. Just some of my thoughts.

I wonder if others have left behind a legacy to someone else in SL or if anyone has ever seriously thought about it. You can inherit RL land or business, so why not in SL too?

For the OP, I am sorry that happened to you. Regardless of what may have happened, the right thing to do would be to refund your money. Your later post states that the land has been cleared and they seem to no longer be in business. If something happened to my land, the honorable thing to do would be to refund all of my tenants even if it drained every linden from my account. Too bad not everyone in RL or SL has integrity.

[Alicia Sautereau]

If they closed shop, ban and no refund as you just payed, i find it bad business

[Malanya]

I am glad you found out what actually happened and didn't have to keep wondering. I have to say, even with very reputable rental companies, if something happens in rl, and that can be anything an illness alone can take down someone's finances and it's possible they were not financially able to repay any tenants back runused rent owed. It doesn't mean they are bad people, things happen that can spin rl out of control and possibly that was a reason they didn't answer even while inworld. The land owner may not have known what to say or maybe it was personal. We don't walk in other's shoes when it comes to businesses on sl and how it ties into someone's rl. I am very sorry this happened to you because no matter what the reason they had to close, you didn't deserve to lose your money.

[Malanya]

---

Staralien wrote:

For the OP, I am sorry that happened to you. Regardless of what may have happened, the right thing to do would be to refund your money. Your later post states that the land has been cleared and they seem to no longer be in business. If something happened to my land, the honorable thing to do would be to refund all of my tenants even if it drained every linden from my account. Too bad not everyone in RL or SL has integrity.

---

Staralien it's not always about integrity and they may not have had many lindens in their account. You can lose a whole lot in rl in the blink of an eye even being prepared for rl complications. Some things require urgency and a lot of money off the top of my head a cancer diagnosis. I don't take what I have in life for granted because I know how easily it can be taken and none of being my fault or negligence.

You are fortunate to have someone take over for you in case that ever came up and hopefully you will never have that situation evolve.

eta; I agree that an sl business is the same as rl one as you put your hard work, money and care in it. It's obvious you are very passionate with your rentals.

[Tex Monday]

---

Staralien wrote:

That is a fear of mine as well, that something will happen to me, I will die or something will happen beyond my control that keeps me from SL. When you build up a business, it seems like real property, something you should be able to leave behind. I have been thinking a lot about who I could leave it to, who would care enough and be responsible.

---

 

Your mention of (G-d forbid) dying, reminded me of something I read concerning that topic.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Death_and_other_worries_outside_Second_Life

Makes you think you should almost have an SL "will" or instructions to someone as to what to do if something happens to you.

[Dresden Ceriano]

---

Xzoximon wrote:

where do I go from here

---

It's unfair for sure, but when you consider that 1,580L is less than 7 USD, it may not be worth your time and effort to do anything but move on.

...Dres

[Tex Monday]

---

Dresden Ceriano wrote:

---

Xzoximon wrote:

where do I go from here

---

It's unfair for sure, but when you consider that 1,580L is less than 7 USD, it may not be worth your time and effort to do anything but move on.

...Dres

---

True Dres, but it's a lot more difficult to earn $1500L than it is to earn $7USD. That's a lot of dancing and..um...other assorted stuff.....:matte-motes-sunglasses-3:

[Czari Zenovka]

---

CatWoman1234567 wrote:

Wow! I didn't know that could happen on here. Thanks for letting me know before I actually tried to do anything on here. I don't know why the real world has to be so tough, but you'd think we could at least create a virtual world that's O.k. I guess it's great for them. They get your money and you get nothing. Now what to do? I guess that's why some people wonder the streets alone. Not even love can save them because someone will just come along and take that too. 

---

Just wanted to post to you and other new residents to SL and not getting into the OP's specific incident:

Just like there are unscupulous copybotters in SL, there are unscrupulous people (I won't even deign to call them landlords) who buy or rent land (depending on mainland vs estate) for the sole purpose of getting a renter, taking the first rent, then ejecting/banning/muting renter - rinse/repeat.  It's so totally wrong but where a quick buck is to be made, there will be people in RL or SL who will attempt to work the system.

However, there are way, way more ethical, honest, and VERY hard-working landlords, be it one parcel or a chain of sims, who are AMAZING in how they treat their tenants.  IMO, being a SL landlord is one of the hardest jobs in SL due to the loonies they sometimes have to deal with.  Yes, this can be seen in reverse - renters who try to scam landlords.

I have rented 3x in SL - when I first began I rented a studio apartment on a rp sim.  Despite the fact that I accidentally deleted the doors twice and a wall once, the landlord was extremely caring and professional.  Rentals 2&3 were both on lovely mainlaind sims. After 6 months LL #2 sold off his land due to VAT tax being added, but he gave us ("Us" being me and my then partner) a few weeks notice.  That is how we landed at rental #3, also mainland.  We rented here for approximately 1- 1/2 years before I began buying land on the same sim.  LL #3 was also professional and responded immediately to any questions.

As fate would have it, I am now back renting on the same parcel my former partner and I rented from LL #3.  Same LL - I think he has owned this parcel for 6+ years.  During my 6 years in SL I have spent 3/4 of it on this parcel in my two times renting.  I can't say enough positive things about this LL.  He is absolutely amazing and I am so fortunate we found him.

Point is - don't fear renting; just be diligent in checking some credentials, talking to current or past renters, etc.  I love renting my parcel because it is less expensive for me than if I purchased that exact parcel (which would mean having to go Premium and pay that monthly fee) as well as higher tier than what I pay in rent.

[Christin73]

Sounds like the landlord forgot to pay tier. If thats the case the platform and everything else associated with the land on or above it is gone. Also LLs suspends your account till you can pay tier. Try TPing there again this time fall all the way. Then click on the actual land to see if it has been forfited.

[Malanya]

Couldn't have said it better than that, you always have great advice for people. Being a landlord is hard at times and very demanding, especially when you make customer service your priority. As you said there are many landlords that are honest and very hardworking. I am sure it's hard to trust anyone after an incident like this no matter what the cause.

[Dresden Ceriano]

---

Tex Monday wrote:

---

Dresden Ceriano wrote:

---

Xzoximon wrote:

where do I go from here

---

It's unfair for sure, but when you consider that 1,580L is less than 7 USD, it may not be worth your time and effort to do anything but move on.

...Dres

---

True Dres, but it's a lot more difficult to earn $1500L than it is to earn $7USD. That's a lot of dancing and..um...other assorted stuff.....:matte-motes-sunglasses-3:

---

I wouldn't know about that... but I'm willing to learn if you care to show me how it's done. :matte-motes-wink-tongue:

...Dres

[beethros Karas]

Hello again.

1rst of all i want to send a "prize" for the best tenant... if there is one..

the original poster send another post saying between others:

"i was just there at the wrong time when usually they are very nice to their tennants from asking others of their experience they are usually a very good rental company, so i close my case."

When someone who had lost their 1.580L$. Witch are One thousend five hundred and eighty linden;

act like this, they deserve a prize! Espessialy when in a virtual world where rude rules.

I never seen it b4, such an understunding!

Excellent! Congs, Bravo and all the words of prize to you!

 

"And these are hard to be collected as someone mentioned. Or if you like to name it 7 dallars.. sure i take it... let me tell you what i have done irl to earn 7 dollars in one hour: i had clean W.C. and more i have been insulted from the boss.. for 7 dollars... So believe me. i CARE those 7 dollars like everyone else and i dont want anyone to take them from me!"

 

Another think that i want to say about leaving a business to someone else as a legasy..

I will do it. I have a 16 yo and a 2 yo.. kids. But im sure they cant run it.

I believe that no one will be as good as you.. or better, no one will do it as you was doing it.

So, yes , its good to let the business to the young ones.. but i will not excpect that they will keep it as it is, or they will do it as i wanted, and i guess thats how it has to be done..

i will be dead after all... so why i would care?

So far i had tenants who had passed away.. looks like i will have company "up there" L O L

 

and i will close my 2 cents with my big thanks to: Thinkerer Melville for that URL !

[Phil Deakins]

---

Staralien wrote:

That is a fear of mine as well, that something will happen to me, I will die or something will happen beyond my control that keeps me from SL. When you build up a business, it seems like real property, something you should be able to leave behind. I have been thinking a lot about who I could leave it to, who would care enough and be responsible. Unfortunately, there is only one person in my RL family that would care enough, and at the moment, she is only 7. In a few years, she could definitely be my heir in SL, but now, she is far too young.

I have a very dear friend and mentor in SL who has his own rental business as well, so my thought is to give him all of my info (log ins, other stuff), so in the event anything happens to me, he could take over my business as well. At the moment it pays for itself, and pretty much runs itself except when tenants need help, so he could easily log in to my account, take care of what needs done and pay tier as needed. My estate owner is trusted and stable, so I expect to remain there many years to come. My mentor could keep things going long enough for Makiyah to grow up enough to take over. Just some of my thoughts.

I wonder if others have left behind a legacy to someone else in SL or if anyone has ever seriously thought about it. You can inherit RL land or business, so why not in SL too?

For the OP, I am sorry that happened to you. Regardless of what may have happened, the right thing to do would be to refund your money. Your later post states that the land has been cleared and they seem to no longer be in business. If something happened to my land, the honorable thing to do would be to refund all of my tenants even if it drained every linden from my account. Too bad not everyone in RL or SL has integrity.

---

In the past, giving your account to someone else was not allowed without LL's explicit consent, except when the account had been acquired by someone via your Will and, even then, LL had to see evidence before they allowed the takeover. But I read something recently that seemed to imply that there may have a change to that policy. I may have misunderstood though. Even so, if you are concerned that your account goes to a particular person, you ought to include it in your Will, or the person who inherits the residue of your estate can get it if they want it. That's what I did when my SL business reached a level of profitability that was well worth having.