I applied to live in apt 501 on March 8th 2006.

I told Jim Carrey, the manager, that my credit is lousy due to marital problems from the years 1998-2004. My divorce became final February of 2004, finally, thank God.

I wrote a full page of excellent references to back up my integrity in the past couple of years since the divorce from my ex-wife of 23 years, (who was responsible for paying our bills and taxes for the last several years of our marriage and didn't pay anyone on time or at all, but spent her money on high priced lawyers to bury me instead.)

Aside from marrying the wrong woman,(and I guess you really know what kind of person you married when you hear from her divorce lawyer, I am a decent, honest and respectable professional photographer, have a corporation called KRS Enterprises LLC, incorporated in the state of Delaware, and recently decided to locate to Nashville to be near my children in nearby Jackson TN.

Living 600 miles away in Northern Virginia, 24 miles south of the White House in Washington DC, was too far away to see much of my precious 3 children.

I was very pleased with the reception I got and the condition of the apartment and the view out the window from the 5th floor balcony.

The next day, positively sure I was moving into the apt., I called the manager, and left him a message to call me.

He called me back prompty and informed me he was sorry he hadn't contacted me earlier, but that the plumbing in the building had backed up that morning, and flooded 20 boxes of their accounting records on the second floor, an urgent situation I am sure.

Here's the crux of my story:

Apparently my credit score means more than my integrity to this complex (corporation) and to the management up the ladder in their corporate offices.

I was totally honest with Jim about my credit record and even told him I have worked hard for over a year to have sterling credit and if he had even called my bank, insurance company, landlord, or anyone else on my list of references, he would have found out that my word is good as money in the bank by all and all accounts.

I even put down as references, my former mother-in-law, who has known me for over 25 years,(and whom I am still on good terms with,) and my best friend from high school (who lives in silver spring, MD, near DC, where I have lived for the past year and a half.)

But, Jim apologetically informed me that my credit record is just too bad and that he was sorry he couldn't accept me as a tenant.

I told him how much I was hoping to live in the Capitol Towers building and that I guess I can never redeem myself because his company obviously considers a number (FICO score) in a computer as the defining record of someone's whole life.

For almost 20 years I had what the car dealers refer to as "gold balls," a perfect credit score. I doubt the Lexus dealer in El Paso, TX would have leased a brand new 1992 Lexus LS400 to me with the $725 a month lease payment, if my credit score was poor.

Additionally, I have always had a sterling reputation, having managed stores for Wal-Mart, Walgreen's Drug, and Borders books, held numerous sales positions with big companies and owned my own businesses, twice, onc3 26 years ago and again now.

I have been on Social Security Disability for over a year and am doing my damndest to get my photography business established in the Nashville area so I can get off of disability for good and become a tax paying citizen, once again, and not rely on government handouts, as I have for much of the last two and a half years.

But, I guess the sins of an ex-wife will haunt me forever. She defacto, stole my identity from me and ruined my reputation for no reason, except a vindictive, vengeful end to our failed marriage

Jim told me that if I had several credit card accounts in good standing, for two years or more, he could have accepted me as a tenant.

Well, frankly, the credit card companies are strictly a bunch of crooks at best. Just refer this comment to Dave Ramsey, the nationally know radio show host and author, who is based here in Nashville, TN.

I had to pay a ridiculous $59 a year, annual fee, to even get a credit card a year ago, and just paid it again, so that I could begin to repair and rebuild my good name with the big three credit reporting agencies.

You can't do this overnight and they were only willing to give me an initial credit limit of $300. Oh yes, I almost forgot, when I requested a credit limit increse to $500 a couple of months ago, they said they would do it for a one time fee of $15. I declined.

I have paid in full every month since getting that account, and before the due date, every single month.

Cingular Wireless apparently considered me a good enough risk when they signed me up for a two year contract recently, and allowed me to carry a Treo 650, one of the most expensive PDAs on the planet.

My bank in Virginia apparently has had no problem holding onto my thousands of dollars.

State Farm has had no problem selling me car insurance, life insurance and renter's insurance, even though I didn't pay them on time when I was going through the divorce.

I have done business with State Farm Insurance since I learned how to drive in 1977.

Only during my time in hell,2003 and 2004, did I not have their insurance coverage because frankly I didn't even have a car.

My ex took all three of my cars too, as well as the kids, and all of the worldly posessions that I had earned, through hard work and sacrifice, for 42 years of my life.

But, I have recovered through two years of exhausting and diligent effort, to get my life back on track, and I only spent one day as a homeless person in 2003, and that convinced me I was never going to let anyone ruin my life again.

I would rather live in a cave somewhere with a dog for the rest of my days, and hold my head up high, rather than ever get involved in a marriage to a vindictive, leech of a wife ever again.

The only positive aspects left of my 23 year marriage are the three kids I helped conceive, and raised for most of their lives since my ex is and was a workaholic and never spent any time with them, or me, all of their lives.

I have a 19 year old in college, and a 16 and 13 year old in high school.

If I ever did anything right in my life, it was that. They love me and respect me for the sacrifices I made to be both father and mother to them. They've told me so many many times.

Now, after putting my life back together for over two years, Jim Carrey tells me that a number in a confounded machine, speaks to my entire worth as a human being, and it doesn't matter what a dozen real human beings, who have known me all through my life have to say about me.

I cannot accept this kind of attitude.

What happened to the days when someone trusted your word, and checked out your assertions of character, by verifying and checking your references with real people from all walks of life'

These references are real people in highly prefessional positions with reputable organizations and advanced college degress and certifications, who are very highly educated and successful individuals, who can ,and will, attest to the outstanding way in which I conduct my personal business.

I believe a person's worth can't be measured by a number on a computer.

I may be old fashioned in this respect, but, I'll be damned if, as long as I'm breathing, I will allow some infernal machine to dictate how I live and where I choose to live.

I fought hard to get into the Capitol Towers and ended up feeling like a bum, not because Jim Carrey treated me with anything but professionalism and respect, but because my credit score kept me from living in a place of my own choosing that I am fully capable of paying for. I am even willing to pay six months rent, in advance, if that's enough good credit for them!

CASH!

What do you people out there in the world think about my 100% OUTRAGE in this rant'

I still want to live in apartment 501 in the Capitol Towers building, in downtown Nashville Tennessee, (a place I want to live for the rest of my life, and conduct what I hope to be a highly regarded and successful business.)

I hope someone out there will relay these concerns, and it may help keep others from going through this awful, stressful and overwhelming despair, for something as simple as getting a place to live.

Sincerely,

Karl Shellenberger, professional photographer
KRS Enterprises LLC
3907 Dutch Elm Court
Woodbridge, VA 22193
(703)650-8056

letterstokarl@yahoo.com
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