I had to hold myself back from calling her a pathological liar, but in reading the definition, a pathological liar tells lies that are "so bizarre and excessive" and I guess these aren't exactly that bizarre.
It's not the first time I've been connected to a "habitual" liar. When I was in college, I had a roommate that could not physically stop herself from saying things that weren't true. The example that stands out to me the most: One morning, my roommate Tammy heard her car starting out in the parking lot. She looked out the window and saw our other roommate driving off in her car. About a half hour later, Katherine comes back in with groceries. Tammy asked her, "How did you get to the store?" And she replied "My friend Abby drove me."
Now we have a tenant who lies. When you talk to her, you fall in love with her. She's so nice and sweet. But she lies. She lies a lot. She stole one of the other tenant's checks (along w/ the cash she left out for January's rent) and swears someone stole it. She didn't resist too much when we told her she was going to have to pay January's rent again. Almost like she expected it.
A week later, a guy was lurking around the parking lot at the fourplex asking for this tenant. She had bought a new car with a bounced check (I don't know what kind of dealership lets you buy a car w/ a check, but whatever.) Anyway, he was waiting around for her to come out (since the front door is always locked). I called her finally since two of the other tenants called me and told her someone was looking for her outside about the stolen car--I told her it was "something about her new car." She responds "Oh, the windshield has a crack. I had to give him the keys so he could fix it."
I've been fed up. I get calls every other day about her. I just want her gone.
But last night, she called me. She told me that one of the other tenants called her a thief. She proceeds to tell me that she doesn't want to be despised by her housemates and that she has just been diagnosed with cancer. Would we be able to let her out of the lease?
Now I'm stuck. I can't tell if I should believe her about the cancer or if she's just plain out lying and is trying to get out of her lease. I offered a simple truth about me--that I was diagnosed with cancer. I offered, "if you ever need to talk." She said she did, she's been crying all night.
What do you think? Is she lying again?
