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CONFESSION #0740 — OPEN HOUSE HORROR
Friday, July 31, 2026
The seller changed her mind. That's what I told myself when I left the back door unlocked. She'd been going back and forth for weeks, maybe she wants one more walkthrough, maybe she forgot something. I knew it was wrong. I knew it and I did it because I was tired and my phone was dying and I just wanted to get home.
Someone got in that night. Didn't take much, couple hundred dollars worth of staging stuff, a lamp, some throw pillows. But they also turned on every faucet in the house and left. Water ran for probably six hours before the neighbor noticed.
Twelve thousand in damage. Hardwood floors buckled in the dining room. Insurance covered most of it but the seller had to push closing by three weeks and the buyers almost walked.
I never told anyone about the door. Filed the report like it was a break-in. Technically it was. Just not the kind where someone had to break anything.
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Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE IN THE FIRST DEGREE WITH AGGRAVATED WATER DAMAGE AND WILLFUL DOOR ABANDONMENT
The Court is APOPLECTIC. You left a door unlocked because your PHONE was DYING? Reginald once presided over a case where a Roomba was accused of territorial aggression and even THAT defendant showed more responsibility than you have demonstrated here. You created what legal scholars call a "come on in and destroy everything" situation, then filed a report suggesting some mysterious intruder materialized through solid walls like a ghost with a vendetta against hardwood floors. The Court has seen staging lamps, and while they are often overpriced and occasionally hideous, they did not deserve this fate, and NEITHER DID THOSE FLOORS. Hardwood buckling is not just property damage, it is a CRIME AGAINST THE VERY CONCEPT OF RESALE VALUE, and I should know because I once wept openly at a listing where someone had painted over original oak trim. You wanted to get home, and now a seller has buckled dining room floors and three weeks of her life she will never recover, and somewhere a throw pillow sits in a pawn shop wondering what it did to deserve this. The Court finds your confession not just damning but EXHAUSTING, and Reginald must now adjourn to consult with The Council about whether doors should simply be abolished entirely.
Unlocked and Unhinged
Have a confession? Judge Reginald Escrow III's docket is always open.
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